Engineering for Education: Luncheon with the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Smith College Libraries

Today we had the incredible opportunity to attend a luncheon with the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Smith College Libraries. The meeting was a fantastic experience for us. We met a number of Smith Alumnae who have remained involved with the college, particularly with the college libraries.

The members of the committee had excellent advice for us concerning the project. They stressed the importance of aligning ourselves with a registered US non-profit in order to make the donation process easier and more legitimate. We agree that this will be an important step for the project as we move from the design phase into the fund raising phase. We plan to meet with the Smith Engineering department within the next week to discuss the possibility of setting up a fund through the department.

The committee members also connected us with a number of valuable resources and contacts, and we look forward to contacting them and seeking their advice and support with the project. The luncheon was a valuable experience for us as we move forward with the project, (not to mention, the food was delicious!).

We offer our sincere gratitude to the the women of the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Smith College Libraries!

About This Blog

Engineering for Education is a project by two students at Smith College: Victoria Henry '12, and Geneviéve de Mijolla '13. The project aims to promote education and literacy amongst Peruvian woman by constructing a library at La Casa Mantay, a home for teenage mothers in Cusco, Peru. Most of the mothers at Mantay have been victims of sexual violence, and left school due to their circumstances and the Peruvian stigma against pregnant teens. By providing the mothers of Mantay with a much needed educational resource, we hope to help stop the prevalence of sexual violence against poor, uneducated women and girls and help end educational inequality in Peru.

Additionally, the library aims to promote and implement sustainable building practices. Victoria and Genevieve have used knowledge acquired in their Engineering classes at Smith College to create a sustainable, low-energy library design. All construction materials will be bought locally in order to stimulate the Cusco economy, and construction workers assisting in the project will also be local Cusqueños. We believe that building the library sustainably will not only benefit the planet and the Cusco economy, but that exposure to the idea of sustainability will be educational for the residents of Mantay.

About Us

Victoria Henry is a Junior English Major and Engineerign Minor from Taos, NM. She spent a year living in South America and was a past volunteer at Mantay. Her time at the home inspired this project. Despite her fair skin and British name, she thinks she may have her roots in Latin America and can't wait to go back!

Geneviéve de Mijolla is a Sophomore Physics and Engineering Major from Southern France. She's a whiz at programming and a master at functioning on very little sleep. In her spare time she hands out smiles like candy.

Paul Voss is a professor of engineering at Smith College....and also, our amazing advisor for this project!

Wzzy – (April 28, 2011 at 1:37 PM): It was such a pleasure to meet you both! Please keep me posted on your progress, and let me know how else we can be of help to you. x
Victoria Henry – (April 29, 2011 at 6:15 AM): Thank you so much! We had such a wonderful time meeting you all as well! We will certainly keep you updated as the project progresses. You all had such great advice for us!

Official Project Proposal

Luncheon with the Executive Committee of the Friends of the Smith College Libraries

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