Usually, a journey begins long before the plane, train or car is boarded to arrive at the destination. And this is also the case with the large delegation trip that will take colleagues from Forschungszentrum Jülich, RWTH Aachen University and the University of Rostock to West Africa. The objective is to visit the partners in Senegal, Togo and Ghana and to open up additional cooperation opportunities.
Travel changes the horizon of knowledge. Image: Pexels
Three countries in one week: this requires good preparation. Booking flights and hotels and applying for visas are the simplest tasks. Coordinating the different activities, organizing transfers, vaccinations and precautions are more demanding tasks.
Ready for Takeoff
In the past weeks and months all these preparations have been done, with the goal to leave for West Africa tomorrow, Saturday. In the three countries many interesting people are waiting for the travelers and an important goal: extending the cooperation with the West African universities and the partner WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use). In addition, a master’s programme is the focus of the trip and thus 60 young Africans studying in this programme.
With the “International Masters Programme in Energy and Green Hydrogen” (IMP-EGH), WASCAL, Forschungszentrum Jülich and RWTH Aachen University want to qualify students in West African countries for the future topic of “Green Hydrogen”; they will be trained on the basis of international standards and best practices.
As part of the training, professors from Germany will give seminars in West Africa. For the final thesis, the students will come to Germany in the fourth semester to work on and write their thesis.
In the coming days, all stations of the delegation trip can be followed on this page. In a small travel diary, the interesting acquaintances and places visited will be reported here.
Teaching in the field of Economics and Policies started
Prof. Peter Letmathe with his students in Senegal. Image: Private
The teaching activities of the professors from Germany have already started a few weeks ago. As a kind of vanguard before the visit of the delegation from Germany, Prof. Peter Letmathe held his seminars in track three “Economics and Policies” this week. “It is wonderful to be here”, he reports his impressions “the students are incredibly motivated and open-minded. In the seminars but also apart from them, I was able to have great discussions and conversations.” During excursions through the Senegalese capital Dakar, Prof. Letmathe was also able to get to know the country and its people. “The people are very friendly and I have never seen so many sports enthusiasts on the street! And that in sweaty temperatures around 30 degrees!” adds the economist with a smile.
Joy and sorrow are close together
Prof. Letmathe will have fond memories of his time in Senegal. But sad news also reached him during his stay. One of his students passed away last week after a longer illness.
The unexpected death of the student has deeply shaken the whole team of the Masters Programme. In these painful hours, our thoughts are with the family and we would like to express our deepest condolences.
More articles on this topic:
Active queuing or: other countries, other traditions: https://blogs.fz-juelich.de/impactandchange/2022/10/31/active-queuing-or-other-countries-other-traditions/?lang=en
International cooperation as a carrier of hope: https://blogs.fz-juelich.de/impactandchange/2022/11/01/international-cooperation-as-a-carrier-of-hope/?lang=en
Internationality at it’s best or achieving great goals together: https://blogs.fz-juelich.de/impactandchange/2022/11/03/internationality-at-its-best-or-achieving-great-goals-together/?lang=en
Road trip in African style: https://blogs.fz-juelich.de/impactandchange/2022/11/05/road-trip-in-african-style/?lang=en
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