Welcome! ENGhana is an online resource for student engineers. On this site you will find many engineering problems and challenges found in rural communities in Ghana that communities themselves identified.

ENGhana exists to promote appropriate and sustainable engineering solutions in Ghana. These challenges are for students from A level/ high school to PhD and beyond. Have a look through the challenges and find something that suits your ability and interests. If you take on a problem please contact us so that we can provide you with local contacts and further information. If you have any questions email us at team@ENGhana.org.


ENGhana began as a partnership of seven students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge University, and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana.The team spent seven weeks in Ghana during the summer 2004. The students lived in both Northern and Southern Ghana, working with local people to gain an understanding and appreciation of their communities. These discussions were used to identify the problems most concerning villages that could be tackled through engineering.

The team also spent time meeting with several non-governmental organizations in Ghana. These meetings provided additional insight into potential projects, and an understanding of the projects and solutions that already exist. The team also visited additional existing projects, both those successful and unsuccessful.

Research Method

When staying in villages, the team typically split into groups of 2-3 individuals each day to explore different aspects of village life. The team primarily used ‘Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)’ and ‘Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)’ techniques, working with community members in a variety of different activities. Resource mapping activities and discussions were conducted first in order to encourage reflection on availability of local engineering resources and/or past engineering accomplishments by community members. These discussions were followed by additional activities including group discussions and transect walks with the focus on existing problems. Community members of all ages and demographic groups were encouraged to participate when appropriate. In addition, the team had the opportunity to participate in most aspects of the communities’ regular, daily activities. This helped the team gain further insight into the challenges the communities face.

What the ENGhana team is doing now

Initial exposure of this website is being generated with the help of Engineers without Borders UK. The team is continuing to document more challenges from our work this summer. We are open to all suggestions- please contact us if you have any ideas that you would like to share. In the meantime the ENGhana team members are starting PhD's, continuing their university courses, and planning 2005 expeditions.
 

Email us at team@enghana.org
© 2004 ENGhana