GT-IDEA tackles African issues

All too often, sub-Saharan Africa rings up stereotypical images of malnourished children with swollen bellies and strife-ridden communities at war with each other for decades, but for some Tech students, it presents itself as a world of opportunity akin to the next dot-com boom.

The Initiative for Development and Education in Africa at Georgia Tech, or GT-IDEA, is a newly chartered student organization that fosters debate about economic development issues and programs to tackle them.

The convenient moniker, IDEA, is attracting a number of students who want to get involved and contribute to important needs like using their technical and academic skills towards African socioeconomic development.

"Between all the issues that need urgent addressing in Africa, there is tremendous potential [for social change] and talent," said Karan Chopra, a fifth-year Electrical Engineering major and president of IDEA.

Chopra added that the right mix of technical skill, cultural awareness, and business acumen can work economic wonders for the continent.

The idea that technical skill and business acumen can help lift an entire continent from the clutches of recurring poverty into a self-sustaining, economic force is catching on quickly here on campus.

With prominent personalities such as President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia appealing to Tech's students and academics for technical and academic expertise to help rebuild her country, Tech has been gaining increasing recognition as a source for such expertise.

"A lot of our organization's members have been inspired by last year's speech by President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia to do more by way of academic collaboration with African universities and we've been trying to see how we can go about that," Chopra said.

"To that end, we're organizing a pilot teaching program this summer in Ethiopia with the help of partners and sponsors who appreciate what we're trying to do," Chopra said.

Among IDEA's upcoming projects is a six to eight week teaching trip this summer at the University of Addis Ababa (UAA) in Ethiopia.

Supported by the World Bank and other corporate sponsors, the project involves six Tech students working with a similar number of Ethiopian instructors to jointly teach courses in digital media, engineering economics and information technology for development at UAA.

Other projects include organizing an essay competition for African high school students to get them to voice their concerns on issues important to them.

Though some members in IDEA speak of capitalizing on the large new emerging markets in Africa and capturing the next billion consumers of American products and subscribers of American services, altruism, not corporate foresight, remains the impetus for many members' commitment to their projects.

One such member, Mamadou Diao, a graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a co-founder of IDEA, said that he was motivated to get involved in chartering a new organization because it was the natural first step towards helping people.

Hailing from Senegal, Diao felt a need to contribute to his country's growth as a graduate student through academic cooperation, but saw little means to go about it here at Tech.

"There is a saying in my country that goes, 'If you see something wrong, you should act and do something to change it. If you can't act, then say something to induce change. And if you can't talk, then feel bad about it.' IDEA was, for me, the stage where I moved up from feeling bad about the situation in Africa to humbly acting on it," Diao said.

Like Diao, much of the student involvement in the organization stems from a deep-rooted personal interest in making a difference. What makes IDEA different, according to Diao, is that it involves real solutions to real problems that students can embark on, and not just donating time or money for a good cause.

"[We also] provide students with an enriching cultural experience through real life problem-solving," he said, speaking of the various projects planned for the upcoming year.

Adaora Okwo, a graduate student in Industrial and Systems Engineering who has roots in Nigeria, believes that IDEA has a number of creative solutions to solving real problems on the ground in Africa that she can contribute towards as a member.

"I used to sit around and complain about the problems in Africa," she said. "[Then] IDEA came along with creative solutions to many of the issues I complained about, so I joined."

Speaking about the future, Chopra said that IDEA has gained widespread recognition and a base of partners eager to be supportive.

"Right now, we're only limited by members' participation and our own foresight in deciding the scale of our projects," he said.

"If we plan well, there is no reason we cannot increase the number and scope of our projects and drive a sustainable African development movement on campus."

For more information on GT-IDEA and its activities, check out the organization's site at www.gt-idea.org.