During the 2011/2012 academic year, ETI and Iowa State University established a partnership in which students from the Global Resource Systems program have the opportunity to help fulfill ETI’s mission in Tanzania. Global Resource Systems is an interdisciplinary major that emphasizes global and cross-cultural engagement. The program equips students with a strong technical competency in an academic area (such as agriculture, environmental studies, or public heath) and geographical region of their choice.
The first group of seven students will fulfill their internships this spring and early summer, with a variety of projects planned, including the following:
- Tree-planting and community health planning in Shighatini
- Grain amaranth studies in Same
- Digital mapping of natural resource and social/health data in the Hedaru area
Eli Kisimbo, ETI’s Development Director in Tanzania, will provide assistance with planning and implementing these internships. While the internships are not a direct component of existing ETI projects, they are being conducted with some of our partner organizations, such as the Shighatini Lutheran Church, the Hedaru Lutheran Church, and the Pare Lutheran Diocese. Furthermore, the work the interns do will help us with some of our ETI projects and directly fulfill our mission of working with rural Tanzanians to improve the quality of their lives.
We are appreciative for this new relationship with ISU, and we look forward to the continued growth of the partnership.