After an adventurous journey to get here (it’s just not fun
if there aren’t a few travel hitches here and there, right?), we are back in
Brazil and have hit the ground running. The majority of our crew (17 of 19)
arrived yesterday about 1:00PM and enjoyed some swimming and relaxing. Two of us didn’t get in until midnight and
quickly crashed to rest up for today.
After a great tour and cultural orientation (thanks
Marcelo!), we hit up my favorite Brazilian steakhouse, Los Pampas. It’s the kind of place where they walk around
with all sorts of grilled meats on a skewer and cut off chunks of them right
in front of you. DELICIOUS! I must say their desserts are also fantastic. Great way to start the trip!
In the afternoon I had the unique and wonderful opportunity
to be a guest lecturer and conduct a workshop for students in the engineering
programs at UESC (Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz). I have to admit that I was a bit nervous when
I saw large posters hanging up with my photo on them!! Everyone was so excited to have me there, and
I even met (and had my photo taken with) many important people. I feel so honored!
The topic of the presentation was “Engineering for persons
with disabilities.” It really meant a lot to me to share my passion with so
many (there were nearly 100!) Brazilian engineering students. Did you know:
·
Around 15% of the world's population, or
estimated 1 billion people, live with disabilities. They are the world's
largest minority.
·
Eighty per cent of persons with disabilities
live in developing countries
·
19 per cent of less educated people have
disabilities, compared to 11 per cent among the better educated.
·
The World Bank estimates that 20 per cent of the
world's poorest people have some kind of disability
·
30 per cent of street youths have some kind of
disability
·
Unemployment among the persons with disabilities
is as high as 80 per cent in some countries.
Those with disabilities experience greater unemployment
rates, increased poverty, and even larger mortality rates than persons that do
not have disabilities. It seems that
there is a vicious circle—people living in poverty are more likely to have a
disability, and if they have a disability they’re more likely to live in
poverty. We as engineers can help to break this cycle by providing
life-changing technologies to help those with disabilities improve their daily
lives and to be able to work for a living; to empower them.
I challenge everyone, especially my engineering students, to
find a way to make a difference in the world through service-learning. We
brainstormed in small groups to think of projects that they could do right here
in their communities to provide a service as well as learn while doing it (we
call this Service-Learning). One group,
proposed helping communities develop a system for recycling. Another suggested researching and
implementing systems for improved accessibility in the community.
It was really wonderful to hear the great ideas the students
came up with and just to see how engaged and excited they were about the topic.
Several students came to me afterward to ask how they could be involved with
our projects. It’s so very exciting for
me to be able to foster excitement for my work with students!
Thank you, Katie Van Blair, for contributing your knowledge
of Social Justice to the presentation—I know the students found it fascinating!
Thank you, Priscila Suzart, for inviting me to lecture and for all of the
planning you did to make it happen. And
thank you, Marcelo Pires de Oliveira, for all of your hard work and seamless
translation of my presentation to Portuguese. THANK YOU!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment