Ralph P Hall

community | com ∙ mu ∙ ni ∙ ty |

definition: a unified body of individuals

Above, 20+ volunteers gathered at Kentland Farms to pack the books on the trucks. Next stop… Project Hope in Winchester, VA.

What a joyful day of celebration for the Mzuni Library Initiative and the awesome community that has rallied behind these efforts. Perhaps there has never been a more powerful personification of community, and today we were particularly (wonderfully!) overwhelmed by the community that has supported the Mzuni Library Initiative, as over 20 volunteers gathered at Kentland Farms to see the textbooks on their way- the final leg of their journey to Mzuzu University in northern Malawi.

Here’s a quick recap of the Mzuni Library Initiative by the numbers:

And so, today we offer a humble, sincere thank you to the community members and groups that have been the heart and hands of this initiative…

In May 2016, Mzuzu University opened an interim library.  The former students’ dining hall has been remodeled into a small, but functional, university library. Some book donations have already been received from individuals and organizations in Malawi, the UK, and other countries, and more will soon be sent from the US. However, many of the specific titles needed for student’ course work are missing. Click HERE for more information about how you can help.

Novnit Kashyap, a student in the Department of Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur, has arrived at Virginia Tech as a visiting research scholar. He will be working under the guidance of Dr. Ralph Hall in the School of Public and International Affairs for a period of two months (May and June, 2016).

Novnit will work on creating proposals for short term professional development courses to be offered at Virginia Tech’s India ICTAS Innovation Center. Accordingly, he will carry out research to study the nature of professional development courses that are needed in India and engage with prospective faculty at Virginia Tech.

In India, his research focuses on the sustainability parameters for urban water resource infrastructure in the context of smart cities.

The images below were taken during a recent visit to Radford University’s Selu Conservancy, where Novit and visiting scholar Charles Chirwa (from Mzuzu University, Malawi) were able…

I’d like to thank all of the students and faculty who volunteered their time this evening to sort through and pack the first wave of books that we hope to ship to Mzuzu University in the near future. The pictures below capture some of our activities.