Engineering students from Finland learn about the CMP approach

Akva is a student association for environmental engineering and water resources engineering at the Aalto University in Finland. Akva organizes excursions to destinations interesting to its members both in Finland and abroad. In May 2012, 17 water engineering students and one professor travelled to Ethiopia for a two-week-excursion in order to familiarize themselves with the Ethiopian water sector. The voyage was an unforgettable experience for everybody.

The students describe their excursion outcomes with related to the CMP approach as follows: "A valuable part of the trip was getting to know the CMP approach in Ethiopia. First we visited the Embassy of Finland to hear about the CMP approach in general and Finland's role in its development. Our second visit was to the Ministry of Water and Energy of Ethiopia where COWASH project's employees told us more about the theoretical side of the CMP approach. Later on the group visited two sites that have been implemented using the CMP approach near Lalibela. The field trip was one of the highlights of the whole excursion. The trip was kindly arranged and hosted by Plan Ethiopia. The group visited a village which had a solar powered pumping station and another village with a new hand dug well. A few students interviewed one of the WaSH Committee members who gave a very positive feedback of the CMP approach in their village."

The Finnish students got a good understanding on the CMP approach and experienced its potential in practice. Furthermore, the Akva association would like to thank everybody involved in the organization of their excursion.