"We're not trying to be the ones riding in on white horses.

We learn as much from them as they do from us."

In the hills of Rwanda, a group of UW–Madison students has been building a water storage and filtration system — and something altogether more important. They're forging global connections that will change the way they live and work for years to come.

The students are members of Engineers Without Borders, an international service organization that puts talented young engineers in parts of the world that need them most. The central African nation of Rwanda is such a place. Scarred by a brutal genocide in the mid–1990s, it is one of the continent's poorest nations, and many Rwandans live without basic needs such as clean water.

In March 2004, UW–Madison professor Peter Bosscher saw the nation's struggles firsthand, and he vowed to help. A few months earlier, he had helped found the UW chapter of Engineers Without Borders as a way to give students exposure to the global need for their skills. The group eagerly embraced the opportunity to help. In July, nine members spent two weeks working on systems to bring potable water to the people of Muramba, a village about 50 miles from the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

But the commitment goes well beyond a two-week visit. "We don't want to just put the last bolt on and leave," Bosscher says. The goal isn't to build something for the people of Muramba; it's to work with them, creating systems that will be sustained over time. Those are the roots of genuine partnership, from which long-term change can grow.

UW–Madison can rightfully claim strong precedents for such international projects. The university has a long history of sponsoring study-abroad programs, an active program of global research, and a vital network of partnerships with universities and businesses around the world. More of its graduates enter the Peace Corps than from any other university. But projects such as the one in Rwanda demonstrate that the commitment to spread the wealth of the university doesn't just begin from the top. It's in the hearts and minds of students like Ryan Wilson, a fourth-year civil engineering student who helped organize the students' work in Rwanda.

"It's impossible to experience something like this and not take some of it with you in whatever you do," Wilson says. "It's changed my outlook on what I expect from my life. I want to make a difference."

• UW–Madison formed the Language Institute to help coordinate activities among the more than 60 foreign languages taught on campus. The institute promotes the study of world languages through workshops and public events, as well as new curricula and research in language acquisition.

• In its second year, the International Learning Community expanded to add a third language-intensive cluster. Students devoted to learning the language and culture of Italy joined approximately eighty peers in the residential learning community, housed in Adams Hall.

• The Law School and the Office of International Studies created the Global Legal Studies Initiative to promote knowledge and work on issues of international and comparative law. The new program will foster connections between legal scholars at home and abroad and help students prepare for careers in a global economy.

• Chancellor John D. Wiley visited several Pacific Rim countries to bolster the Asian Partnership Initiative, which has helped the university strengthen ties and trade resources with prominent research institutions in the region.

• The Center for International Business Education and Research, a UW program that works with industry to establish and build new overseas markets for businesses, received commendation during the Wisconsin International Trade Conference for its role in promoting international trade among Wisconsin exporters.

• UW's International Institute joined with Borders Books to create the World Beyond Our Borders lecture series. The Madison talks showcased the expertise of UW–Madison faculty on international issues.

• In an event that symbolizes the power of the arts to create bridges between cultures, two UW–Madison musicians traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea, to participate in the Summer Friendship Art Festival, joining musicians from 50 countries in the cultural exchange.