REGINA – In an inspiring feat of engineering, Mount Royal Collegiate students with SaskTel support have transformed a 40-foot steel container into a living dormitory that will provide refuge to the most vulnerable street youth in Arusha, Tanzania.
The project is part of the SaskTel We See You initiative where since 2006 SaskTel staff has connected with community, business partners and individual sponsors across Saskatchewan to provide humanitarian support. Items sent in past We See You shipments include medical supplies, school supplies, clothing, blankets, artwork, hygiene products, bicycles and other donated materials.
The latest container, the 13th that We See You has packed and shipped to impoverished nations, was worked on by the students of Mount Royal's Electronics class as well as the Saskatoon Trades and Skills Centre. This container is the first that the group has repurposed and transformed into a ready-made home, complete with tile flooring, termite-proof aluminum siding, working lights powered by a generator, bunk beds with mattresses in male and female sleeping quarters, and even two air conditioning units.
“The We See You program is something that we at SaskTel are not only extremely proud of, but the fact that the International Partnership Network has nominated the program for a 2012 Best Practice Award in the Global category for Partnerships that Support Health, Well Being and Learning speaks to the impact programs like this have on the global community” said SaskTel President and CEO Ron Styles.
“This project has provided a truly unique experience for our students – designing and constructing a home inside a shipping container, while also considering the needs of the youth who will inhabit it”, said Avon Whittles, Director of Education for Saskatoon Public Schools. We are grateful to SaskTel for supporting the work of our students and for helping them make a contribution to youth their age who live half a world away.”
Sasktel says the project also would not have been possible without the expertise and assistance of Bryan McCrea and Evan Willoughby from 3twenty Solutions who provided guidance throughout the container conversion process, and the donated space from Saskatoon Trades and Skills needed to house the container. MD Ambulance of Saskatoon has also donated an ambulance that will be shipped along with the container and will provide safe, reliable transportation to those in medical distress.
