Most senior theses stay within the confines of Hanover, but Matt Sueoka '04's took him and the rest of the Dartmouth community to an island in the bay of Bengal.
For his honors thesis, the engineering and studio art modified major designed a new facility for the Charfassion Orphanage in the south of Bangladesh and is now implementing the plan with the Tucker Foundation.
"I knew I wanted my culminating experience to be a true culmination of my campus activities," said Sueoka.
The Charfassion Orphanage, located on an island in the Bay of Bengal, is home to 100 boys. It also doubles as an emergency shelter for the 2,000 villagers who live there during times of natural disaster, because it is one of the few concrete buildings on the island.
In order to make this idea a reality, $259,380 must be raised to cover building costs, as the orphanage currently does not have enough money to cover even its annual operating costs. A committee led by Sueoka and Kabir Sehgal '05 has been formed through Tucker to manage the fundraising.
Possible sources of fundraising include the Dartmouth community, family foundations and international organizations such as the Rotary Club, according to Sueoka.
After the money has been raised, there is a possibility for "alternative spring break" trips to help build the orphanage and a cross-cultural program to allow students to participate in larger service projects in the area.
Sueoka had always been interested in both architecture and community service. He has also served as chair of Open Insulation, a group that does home repairs for those in the Upper Valley below the poverty line, and worked with Habitat for Humanity in high school. So when the time came to write his thesis, Sueoka had a strong background on which to draw.
"For architecture theses, students usually pick an existing site and construct a hypothetical building there," Sueoka said. "Instead of just doing something for my academic benefit, I wanted to incorporate that service aspect."
Last spring, Sueoka met with Stuart Lord, dean of the Tucker Foundation, to look into organizations that would possibly need Sueoka's help. The Charfassion Orphanage turned out to be the most in need and logistically the easiest to work with overseas. From there, Sueoka got in touch with an architectural firm and an engineer in Bangladesh to ensure that he took into account all of the necessary concerns unique to the location.
After working on his thesis for several months, Sueoka finally went to Bangladesh last December and again in March. Sueoka said he learned exponentially more than he could have in the past months, just in talking to the people there.
"There is a whole different sense of tangibility to everything," Sueoka said. "It is interesting to see what they thought was important."
This project has also resulted in an academic collaboration between Dartmouth and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, located in Dhaka, the capital of the impoverished nation, to work on projects to supplement the new facility.
Construction is projected to begin in October 2005 with a finishing goal of October 2007.
