UNB in Malawi

A new university in Malawi has benefited from a cooperation agreement with the University of New Brunswick to modernize its property surveying system. The focus of the exchange has taken place at Mzuzu University, an institution newly founded in 1999 and located a four hour’s drive from the national capital of Lilongwe. Under the direction of Professor John McEvoy of UNB Law and the UNB Centre for Property Studies, the project involves UNB student interns  Erin Riley (LLB III) and Robert Kingdon (M. Sc. in Geodesy and Geomatics).

The students have begun a twelve week internship experience – Erin Riley is working on a housing and governance project in cooperation with the Department of Land Management at Mzuzu University. She is meeting with governmental and non-governmental officials, as well as local residents, to develop a report focusing on identifying the best practices in land management as well as identifying initiatives to empower the voices of poor women in relation to  housing issues. She will prepare her report as a comparative study of three local cities and, based on her report, give a Departmental seminar and presentation to local municipal officials.

Robert Kingdon's internship focusses on geodesy and geomatics matters in his work with the Department of Land Management with a specific focus on curriculum development.  He will work with a variety of stakeholders and surveyors including the Surveyor’s Institute of Malawi to assist in the development and upgrading of course content and the establishment of new courses.  He is supported at UNB by the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering through its chair, Professor Peter Dare and others including Professor Sue Nichols and Associate Professor Marcelo Santos.

The UNB Team has already assisted Mzuzu University by providing equipment and training as well as four boxes in books in order to bolster scarce resources.  A meeting with the Surveyor General of Malawi on the 18th of June lead to agreements to work upon updating the Malawian land surveying system.

The UNB Team (Robert Kingdon 2nd from left, Erin Riley center, Prof. John McEvoy right) poses with the staff of Mzuzu University

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