Reflections from a Student: Sarah Robitaille

My name is Sarah Robitaille and I am currently a senior at Messiah College. I have been involved with Africa WASH and Disabilities Study since my freshman year. I remember when our project was the Mali Water and Disabilities Project. Throughout my time here, it has been such an inspiring thing to see this project expand and see its work done in so many countries.

            Some highlights of my time in the project occurred during my site team trip to Ghana in the summer of 2014. This trip was a transformative experience for me. Meeting the people that we dedicate our work to was both inspiring and motivating. Traveling to Africa put our work in context and after this trip, the project seemed so much more important to me. No matter how mundane tasks some can be everything we do is always in a greater effort. I am forever thankful for the opportunity I had to travel to Ghana. This country holds such a special place in my heart and I carry the memories I made there with me.

            I am also thankful for the great experience the Collaboratory has been to me. I watch our engineering and education students in admiration. They use the skills they learn in the classroom selflessly to help empower people with disabilities. Our project has some of the hardest working classmates I know and I am so grateful to work with them. As a chemistry major, my role has always been changing. Chemistry doesn’t directly fit into our project, however after getting involved my freshman year, I knew this didn’t matter. I do my best to contribute to whatever needs to be done.

            This year however I have gotten to explore some of my own initiatives more directly related to my field of academic study. I have discovered a love for public health over the past few years and a large portion of this interest is the result of my involvement in Africa WASH and Disability Study. I have been able to incorporate this interest into our project by beginning to develop some educational initiatives which connect this field with persons with disabilities. The educational portion of our project is the major component to fighting attitudinal barriers that people with disabilities face. I have enjoyed having the opportunity to learn more about this portion of our project and am incredibly thankful for my involvement in the Collaboratory during my time at Messiah College.