Project Partners

Metropolitan State University’s participation in the Peru Project is made possible through a grant by the Minnesota Campus Compact. Metro State plans to continue the Peru Project partnership with the University of Massachusetts–Lowell by sending other students to Peru and promoting this project within Metro State and beyond.

Since 1997 Lowell, under the guidance of Dr. John Duffy, has been sending students and faculty to Peru every six months to perform maintenance on solar equipment and install new equipment. Although the team from Lowell left behind equipment manuals, the villagers—for a variety of reasons—did not use this documentation. The solar equipment, radios, and other technology were either not used or not used to the maximum benefit.

The partnership with the graduate students in Metro State’s Technical Communication program began in the Fall of 2005. Dr. Helen Correll’s class (Technical Communication/International Contexts) created manuals for three two-way radios. Metro State students traveled to the Peruvian villages and field-tested the manuals for usability. The manuals were well received. This experience solidified Metro State’s decision to continue this service-learning project and partnership with Lowell.