I am a rising Junior at MIT, and I am traveling to Tanzania for a month and a half this summer to continue a project from the spring semester. I took the class, SP.784, Wheelchair design for the Developing world, because a brother of mine, Harry O’Hanley (’10) participated in the class and got the chance to travel to Kenya to work on his project. I knew this would be a great chance to experience something outside of my comfort zone, and fulfill something I have wanted to do ever since I was younger.
I lived in Lagos, Nigeria for five years, and I learned from a very early age that I was given more than most people in the world had worked for. I grew up around a lot of poverty in Africa, but while I saw some of poor living conditions, the joy that the people of Africa lived with was unmatched in anyone that I knew who had more than they needed. When I returned to the states, I knew that I was going to make it a mission in my life to return to Africa and help out in any way that I could. That is why I joined the M-Lab. I knew that this was my chance to return some of that joy that I had received.
If you’re interested in my day-to-day activities, and want to hear stories and see pictures of how the project is going, and hopefully see some cool safari photos, then I’d be happy if you follow my blog for the summer!
