University of Michigan's Mtrek Group Works Firsthand with blueEnergy

By Casey Callais -- A University of Michigan M-Trek trip recently visited blueEnergy for four days to get a taste of what working with blueEnergy is like. M-Trek is a program that brings small groups of MBA students together to bond before they begin their classes.

The trip was organized in part by Lizzie Reisman, former blueEnergy Development Director and current Ross MBA student.  Lizzie convinced a handful of fellow adventurous students to visit Bluefields, Nicaragua for their bonding trip experience.

The M-Trek group spent their time building water filters, conducted interviews with local families to determine energy access needs and distributed solar-powered lamps to the families for testing. One of the locations for lamp distribution was Rama Cay. According to Eric Lopp, blueEnergy Program Coordinator and organizer of the Rama Cay visit:

"After the wet 35-minute trip by dory (a small boat carved out of a log) blueEnergy and the M-Trek group received a gracious welcome at the Moravian Church where over 100 natives dressed in their customary white greeted us. A leader from Rama Cay gave us a short tour of the island explaining their customs and showed us a number of the solar energy installed by blueEnergy."

Click on the video below to see what the group had to say about their time with blueEnergy.

 blueEnergy extends a special thanks to Lizzie for her work in putting together such a great trip!

From Berkeley to Bluefields and Back: Cal Energy Corps Student Symposium

By Kate Graham --blueEnergy is known for going to the edge, working where others won’t to provide energy access, clean water and sanitation solutions to those living along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. But, who are these individuals choosing to cross borders and spend their time working on the periphery, navigating an area lacking roads, modern equipment, tools, and power? Many are participants in blueEnergy’s Global Leadership Program, a program geared to provide the next generation with the opportunity to witness and respond to the needs of the most isolated poor.

bE co-founder Mathias Craig speaking at the symposium

This past summer three Cal Energy Corp students, Casey Finnerty, Mauricio Castillo and Jonathan Lee traveled to Nicaragua to participate in blueEnergy’s Global Leadership Program. The Cal Energy Corps is an undergraduate internship program created to engage the best and brightest students from UC Berkeley in the design, development, and delivery of sustainable energy and climate solutions across the world. Through Cal Energy Corps student research efforts, blueEnergy is able to test and pilot new solutions that have the potential to become services providing great value to blueEnergy’s beneficiaries.

Superstars! Casey, Mauricio, Jonathan

Casey, Mauricio, and Jonathan spent 9 weeks with blueEnergy (details from their time in the field is documented here and here) and arriving back at Berkeley were given the opportunity to present projects and blueEnergy experiences at the Cal Energy Corps Symposium. As they stood beside posters highlighting their work, each student spoke about the challenges associated with project implementation in rural coastal communities and the best practices that emerged after weeks of researching and testing.

Well rounded audience

The Symposium continued with a welcome by Dr. Graham Fleming, Berkeley’s Vice Chancellor for Research. Dr. Fleming mentioned blueEnergy as a key Cal Energy Corps partner committed to providing meaningful experiences for students. Dr. Arun Majumdar, former professor of materials science and engineering at Berkeley and expert in transformational energy research and development, spoke to the audience in a key-note address about sustainable energy access as a human rights issue and encouraged Cal Energy Corps students to continue a path focused on global solutions.

Jonathan Lee: “Improving Longevity of Small Off- Grid Solar Photovoltaic Installations"

The symposium ended with a panel discussion, which included Mathias Craig, blueEnergy Founder and Executive Director. Mathias mentioned his summer visit to Nicaragua, where he witnessed Casey, Mauricio, and Jonathan working on the beginning stages of their projects – identifying beneficiaries, creating schematics, strategizing with blueEnergy technicians. Mathias also noted how well the students integrated into the culture and community of Bluefields. He praised Cal Energy Corps and called on Dr. Fleming to “send more students to Bluefields.”

"Send more students to Bluefields!"

blueEnergy is thankful for the ongoing relationship with Cal Energy Corps and appreciates following and supporting the progression and growth in projects and students from Berkeley to Bluefields and back. blueEnergy believes that through facilitating opportunities at the edge, in places far off the radar, stronger, more capable leaders, like Casey, Mauricio, and Jonathan will emerge, with the capacity and drive to create a more equitable, sustainable world.

(L to R) Tiff Dressen (New Initiatives Manger: Vice Chancellor for Research),
Casey Finnerty, Mauricio Castillo, Jonathan Lee, Mathias Craig, Kate Graham

For more information about blueEnergy’s Global Leadership Program and opportunities to work with blueEnergy in Bluefields, Nicaragua, please e-mail US Development Officer, Kate Graham at: kate.graham@blueenergygroup.org.

Check out our Picasa album for more photos!

WE CARE Solar Suitcase Shining Brightly in Rural Health Clinic

By Casey Callais -- The health clinic in Rama Cay is in a dire state with a rusted leaky roof, gates that don't close and access to only eight hours of electricity each day provided by a diesel generator. According to the nurse in charge of the three-room clinic, Maria McCrea the clinic receives no help from MINSA (Nicaraguan Ministry of Health) and patients are required to bring their own candles if they have to stay overnight. blueEnergy teamed up with WE CARE Solar to help alleviate a large problem at the clinic, the problem with light. 

WE CARE Solar designs portable, cost effective solar suitcases that power critical lighting, mobile communication devices, and medical devices in low resource areas without reliable electricity. By equipping off-grid medical clinics with solar power for medical and surgical lighting, WE CARE solar facilitates timely and appropriate emergency care, which greatly reduces maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. 

The Solar Suitcase is a complete 12-volt lighting package with battery, charge controller, waterproof LED lights and cellphone charging adapters that are neatly set in a portable plastic box. Usage habits are monitored monthly and the information will be sent to WE CARE Solar to help improve future versions of the Solar Suitcase.

blueEnergy supplied the solar panel and connected the device in the health clinic with the help of two French interns, Antoine and Claire. The install was led by blueEnergy staff member, Chris Sparadeo and members of the community pitched in to help make sure the install went smoothly.

There is much work still to be done in the clinic in Rama Cay, but now that they have the Solar Suitcase, they will not be working in the dark.

INATEC and blueEnergy Give Solar Install Class in Rocky Point

By Chris Sparadeo -- Since November of 2011 blueEnergy has been working with the community of Rocky Point to install small-scale solar photovoltaic systems. Although the national electric grid cuts through Rocky Point on its way to Pearl Lagoon, issues of high energy cost, geographical isolation and frequent blackouts have deterred its application.

A community of roughly 35 families, Rocky Point relies primarily on subsistence farming. The accompanied lifestyle of these isolated farming practices is ultimately as follows:

Wake up an hour or two before the sun rises. Cook in the dark. Work and socialize in the day until the sun begins to set. Cook in the dark. Go to bed before 8 pm.

This routine, affected by the lack of access to electricity, creates quite a challenge for students and community organizations wanting to work past natural light limitations. With the sun setting around 5 pm, most people are forced to buy candles and costly batteries that produce eye-straining, dim light. The high costs and low effectiveness of these subpar solutions often times entice countryside denizens to relocate themselves, in search of television and entertainment, to Bluefields.

The 70-watt solar photovoltaic systems allow the people of Rocky Point access to light and electricity. The electrical capacity of the system is specifically designed to power three CFL light fixtures and allow for the moderate use of fans, radios, cell phone chargers and small televisions. Since November of this year, blueEnergy has helped illuminate 12 houses in Rocky Point, all of which were supported and subsidized by blueEnergy Service Learning Interns participating in the installations.

To fortify future sustainability of these installations, blueEnergy thought it best to establish a group of community members trained in technical and maintenance aspects of the systems. Along with the unfaltering support of blueEnergy’s long time partner INATEC (National Technical Institute), a community capacitation was given at the Rocky Point communal house the first week of July. A total of 12 community members participated in the full day, INATEC-recognized workshop. Course topics included battery maintenance, wiring of electrical circuits, system component maintenance and troubleshooting. Accompanying the theoretical concepts, course participants got their hands dirty installing a 70-watt photovoltaic system in the community. The course was directed by INATEC professor Ismael Castillo and co-taught and designed by UC Berkeley Energy Corps volunteer Jonathan Lee and blueEnergy technician Chris Sparadeo. The course participants received recognition of technical completion from INATEC.

Students taking notes

Ismael watching Johnny explain electricity

With a continually growing interest in solar technology from blueEnergy Service Learning Interns, Rocky Point installations are projected to seguir adelante with its community-verified successes. House by house the small farming community of Rocky Point is gaining not only support from renewable energies, but also the knowledge and capacity needed to achieve lasting sustainability and meaningful impact.

Cal Energy Corps students research and implement alongside blueEnergy

By Casey Callais -- blueEnergy was privileged to have three students from the UC Berkeley's Cal Energy Corps working with blueEnergy for nine weeks this summer.

Johnathan Lee, Casey Finnerty and Mauricio Castillo spent their time researching, teaching, building and installing alongside blueEnergy volunteers and staff. They kept journals of their experiences, which are well worth a read:

Overall, I have really enjoyed getting the practical experience of actually building and installing solar systems, and I am looking forward to doing a larger system on Rama Cay. The experience of planning and budgeting a project has also been very valuable and interesting, and I feel like the entire experience is complementing the more theoretical education I received at Berkeley. On top of all of that, it has been a fantastic cultural experience living in Bluefields and learning about how they use energy here, what energy development means to the communities, and what kind of impact energy development can have on their lives.

Read more about how Johnathan Lee installs, teaches and builds databases with bE energy team.

blueEnergy’s approach to implementation is based on “participatory methodologies to understand the needs, desires, and capabilities of the beneficiary communities.” An excellent example of this approach is their current water filtration project. Roughly 75% of the population along the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua does not have adequate access to clean water. In response, blueEnergy has undertaken many projects to promote healthy living practices and make clean water more accessible. To help ensure the sustainability of this project, blueEnergy has the beneficiaries attend workshops on the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene. blueEnergy also helps community members construct their own filters and perform follow-up visits to all participating families.

Casey Finnerty talks more about his experiences working with the water and sanitation team

 After interviewing several potential beneficiaries I have chosen to build a stove for a family of 5 nearby the blueEnergy office. This family cooks solely with wood, which they collect themselves from a nearby forest that is a 30 minutes away. The mother cooks in an enclosed space on a traditional cook stove which consists of the pot being placed over three stones with the firewood placed underneath. These traditional cook stoves require a lot of wood because the heat generated is not concentrated and escapes around the sides of the pot. The mother expressed concern about the smoke inhalation because her young children are always nearby and often times there is enough smoke produced to cause discomfort while she is cooking.The stove will heat two pots at once, though there will be reduced smoke emissions, l will also construct a chimney to channel smoke up and out of the kitchen. I have enjoyed the design and building process and look forward to seeing my project come to fruition.

Check out Mauricio Castillo's time working on building a more efficient cookstove

Johnathon Lee Shows how to wire a solar panel in Rocky Point

To learn how you can be like Johnathon, Casey, and Mauricio and make a difference in the lives of those living along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, check out blueEnergy's Service Learning Internship Program.

Intern Experience Firsthand: Sam Rhoads

By Sam Rhoads -- I arrived in Bluefields Nicaragua in the end of May to begin a two months study abroad program for my university. The study abroad program was at the Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University (BICU) where I studied Spanish in the afternoon. I came across blueEnergy because I was looking for some work that I could do or somewhere that I could help out in the mornings when I did not have class. Many people that I met from Bluefields mentioned blueEnergy to me during conversations, and the work they do in the area aroused my interest. So, I headed to the blueEnergy office to inquire about working with them for my two months in Bluefields as a sort of volunteer intern. The wonderful workforce at blueEnergy was very accommodating, and they found work for me with their Water and Sanitation team.

My work with the Water and Sanitation team involved a number of different projects. Some of these projects included: constructing water filters with the beneficiaries, carrying the filters to beneficiaries’ homes, providing training on the usage and maintenance of the filters, performing follow-up surveys to ensure proper usage of the filters, testing water samples of filtered and unfiltered water to ensure that the filters work, assisting with the drilling of water wells, and much more. Besides being very interesting work, learning a lot about the construction process of water filters and well drilling and construction, I also found the work very meaningful. Each day beneficiaries came to help with the construction of the filters; this gave them the sense of responsibility and ownership over the filters. It was incredible to see how inspired they were to come work on their filters. The looks of satisfaction and happiness on the faces of beneficiaries when we delivered and installed the finished product at their houses gave the work more significance. The same went for drilling the wells. Well drilling is arduous work, but every day without fail, rain or shine, the beneficiaries would be there with smiles on their faces - working away to help finish their well.

Sam talking about his time with blueEnergy

Living in Bluefields and working with blueEnergy for the past two months has been a very significant time for me. I have learned a lot, and it has definitely helped to shape the way I think, live, and what I will do in the future. It was great to be able to provide people with a basic amenity that many of us in the United States and other more privileged countries take for granted: clean drinking water. For thousands of people in Nicaragua (and many other countries around the globe), clean drinking water is something that they don’t have. This time that I spent working with blueEnergy has reinforced my desire to find a way to use my civil engineering degree when I am done with school to help provide less privileged people then myself with services and facilities that are necessary for living. Working with blueEnergy has been a great privilege for me and is a time that I will never forget.

What is a Service Learning Trip really like?

So what is a Service Learning Trip with blueEnergy really like? Invest two minutes to find out:

http://youtu.be/Gwt9ld87MfE

My week with bE

By Chakriya Srey -- Fresh out of my freshman year at American University, I volunteered with blueEnergy in Bluefields, Nicaragua for one week in June. Unsure of what to expect, I traveled to Bluefields prepared to experience anything and everything. As I soon found out, my time with blueEnergy was much too short and left me with a lasting desire to return and continue volunteering with blueEnergy and help make a real difference in the isolated communities along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.

During the fleeting week that I spent with blueEnergy, I assisted in the installation of a 70-watt solar panel system to provide electricity at the house of a local family in the community of Rocky Point. Throughout the installation, Tyson, an 11-year old boy living in the home assisted the volunteers in installing the solar panel and lights. He also learned about the intricacies of wiring the house and how each system worked. To me, watching Tyson engage in the installation truly embodies blueEnergy's mission of building capacity in rural communities. Not only did Tyson walk away from the project with two lights for his home but with knowledge, understanding, and a new spark for true innovation and forward change. Tyson animatedly chatted with his father after the completion of the installation and excitedly explained how he used a drill for the first time and learned to cut wires. This further solidifies that blueEnergy projects have positive impacts on communities - whether it be with the young or old, big or small.

Tyson connecting the plug end of the extension

My time in Bluefields with blueEnergy left a lasting impression on me. Through working with poor communities in Nicaragua, blueEnergy proves that global change is possible, through the simplest of ways, and that methods are meant to be tried and changed, evolving constantly, as no one model fits the whole. I hope to volunteer with blueEnergy again in the future, as they truly exemplify sustainable development through their work in Nicaragua.

Chakriya with the panels under the house

Photo credits -- Johnny Lee

How to Stay Involved Stateside: Past Volunteer Runs FUNdraiser for blueEnergy

By Monica Ralston -- I spent two months working on a development project in Bluefields, Nicaragua with blueEnergy shortly after my 2009 college graduation. My time with blueEnergy left a lasting impression through the following years, as I taught in Colombia, interned in DC, and subsequently moved to San Francisco for a job at a solar energy company. When I found myself in the Bay Area I decided to find a way to again become involved with blueEnergy.

After a lengthy discussion with blueEnergy’s Founder and Executive Director, Mathias Craig, I determined that the best way to start my stateside relationship with blueEnergy would be to participate in a marathon fundraiser. My training for the Avenue of the Giants Marathon in Redwoods, CA (Humboldt County) was already underway, and I was familiar with the process of fundraising through races, so it was a natural fit.
44 donors gave a total of $2,398 to support blueEnergy through my fundraising site, and the process was surprisingly easy!

Here are 5 tips for a simple yet successful race fundraiser:

1. Pick a race that matches your interests and will be challenging for your personal fitness level.
2. Create a FirstGiving Page, a safe and easy way for people to donate. For an example see my FirstGiving page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/monicaralston/itsallaboutenergy
3. Brainstorm a list of potential donors (Family, friends, co-workers, etc).
4. Contact these people via email and/or facebook.
5. Follow-up with progress updates and thank those who have donated.

Monica crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles

I had a lot of fun training for the race, and this fundraiser helped me reconnect with blueEnergy and share their mission of working with Nicaragua's most isolated poor with a whole new group of people. So, if you are looking for a way to work with blueEnergy from your home state, this is a great way to do it. You can also come up with your own creative fundraising ideas and contact Kate Graham (blueEnergy’s Development Officer) at kate.graham@blueenergygroup.org for assistance.

Next up: Bringing back bE trivia night. If you live in the Bay Area keep your eye out for information about the next bE trivia night fundraiser, located in San Francisco.

Monica with her boyfriend Jaime and her mom Carla,
who ran the marathon and the 10K

Monica Ralston volunteered with blueEnergy for 2 months in 2009, primarily working on a development project. She thoroughly enjoyed her time in in Bluefields, Nicaragua, running with friends, making large group dinners, and going on wild panga rides. Monica grew up in Portland, OR and went to Middlebury College in Vermont, where she studied Environmental Studies and Economics. She currently lives in San Francisco and works at a solar energy company.

One intern's bE experience

By Mostafa Aboul Dahab -- When thinking of the necessities of living, the first things that come to mind are light and clean water.

Building the battery box

In our day to day lives in the developed cities over the world, we became accustomed to having light and water available all the time. To fortunate people such as myself, both having water and light at my disposal has become such a norm that I find it incredible that there are others out there who struggle without it.

Securing the mounting brackets on the solar panel

I never imagined participating in any volunteer work, especially in Nicaragua! However, when I received the first email from the economics department in my university informing me about blueEnergy, I started looking at the picture from a different perspective. As I was always fascinated with renewable energy, this was the main reason that made me make the decision of volunteering to work at bE.

Wiring the inverter

I had a great experience with blueEnergy; I learned many things about the culture of the country and how minor events can make huge changes in people's lives.The best experience was going to one of the communities for the solar panel installation. We spent a day in the workshop at blueEnergy preparing for the installation. We then went to one of the isolated farms in Rocky Point to make the installation. After a panga (speed boat) ride, a bus ride and a walk in the rain forest, we finally reached the farm. The owners of the house were very pleased to see us. We spent the day making the installation and after we finished installing the panel and installing the light bulbs, we saw the extreme happiness on the peoples' faces and how such small things can change the lives of the entire family. 

Mostafa and Leonie with the beneficiary of the solar panel

All in all, my experience with bE as a whole was one of the greatest experiences in my life, and I would definitely go back to Bluefields and do more work there if I were to get a chance in the future. All the people who were involved were very helpful and I am very appreciative of all the things I' ve learned from everyone in it.

Casey, Mostafa and Leonie all give it thumbs up!

Intern alumni teaching what she learned with blueEnergy

By Ashley Ciglar -- Engineers Without Borders USA, Santa Clara University Student Chapter is implementing a bio-sand filter pilot project in northern Honduras in a rural village called El Pital. The project will help determine if in-house or community wide potable water treatment will be used for a community water distribution system.

 In August/September 2012 a group Santa Clara University students and professional mentors will travel to El Pital to teach community members how to use and maintain bio-sand filters that were donated to community members by Rotary International two years prior. Nearly all the community members who have a bio-sand filter don’t use it properly resulting in a fear to use them. Students will teach members of the community water board how to use the filters in their household. The water board members will then be required to teach another family how to use the water filter and those families will teach another until all families in El Pital have been trained. Students will visit annually and communicate through email periodically to monitor the project. Additionally, community workshops about health, hygiene, sanitation, and the water cycle will be taught. 

EWB and water board members from the community of El Pital standing in front of the water tank

The current president of the Santa Clara University Student Chapter, Ashley Ciglar, first learned about bio-sand filters when she volunteered for blueEnergy in June/July 2010. This previous experience with bio-sand filters led to Ashley's idea of the pilot project for the chapter. Find out more about the SCU chapter of Engineers Without Borders at www.scu.edu/ewb.

Ashley (far left) and other bE interns with family in Rama Cay

Meaningful Impact from a Service Learning Trip

By John Bowman -- I came into this weeklong internship questioning whether I could make a meaningful impact. I was short on time, with only a single week allotted by Duke University for spring break, and short on relevant experience or expertise, despite my fascination with solar energy and international development. Furthermore, I spoke minimal Spanish and absolutely no Creole English. My interest in solar energy and its role in economic empowerment stemmed from a two-week internship with a social business in Guatemala. The company sources small solar-powered devices to rural communities, and I was interested to see how a nonprofit’s approach to solar power differed from that of a business.

My experience began with a tour of Bluefields. I slurped a tamarindo, a juice made from a locally grown fruit, from a plastic bag while exploring Bluefields’ many barrios, or neighborhoods, visiting its pier, and wandering through a local market replete with fruits and plants with which I was entirely unfamiliar. Following the tour I attended a distinctly Nicaraguan baseball game with blueEnergy’s staff that pitted “The Coast”—the Caribbean coast’s only baseball team—against one of its many Pacific rivals. The atmosphere was electric; fans cheered loudly only a few meters from the players while reggae music blared. The game concluded in thrilling but disappointing fashion, with the crowd chanting “Si se puede” as the Coast’s star player hit a slew of foul balls at the bottom of the ninth, with loaded bases, two outs, and a full count before grounding out. The next day I trekked to a finca, a small farm in the middle of Nicaraguan jungle, hefting a sack of compost through the jungle while enjoying scenic views of the surrounding forest.

I spent the first half of my week learning both about blueEnergy and about solar power in general. I learned about how blueEnergy marries praxis and policy to deliver renewable energy and clean water to Nicaragua’s poor, collaborating with a conglomerate of renewable energy providers to push for policy reform while implementing its own solar systems in rural communities. Part of the hope of installing solar panels, as I learned, is that the implementation of this very modern technology will in fact preserve the traditional family unit and agricultural lifestyle. The light provided by the solar panels will allow children to study at the rural homes of their parents instead of being forced to remain in cities in order to have access to the electricity necessary to do their homework. I spent several hours in the workshop preparing for the installation by constructing a battery box, painting it, and attempting to master the basics of solar power in preparation for the installation that would take place later in the week.

The day of the installation, I left in the morning with two other blueEnergy volunteers, taking with us a pair of boxes full of supplies, a toolbox, a pair of solar panels, and a heavy battery. After arriving in Kukra Hill, a town near the home where the installation would take place, we boarded a bus that took our supplies and us directly to the home. There the elderly couple that owned the home and a menagerie of animals greeted us. The house was a model of sustainable development, already sporting a biodigester and a compost bin, and the couple were gracious hosts, cooking us meals while we worked, telling us stories in Creole while we ate, helping us whenever given the chance, and letting us spend the night in their home after the installation was finished. Though my inability to speak Creole limited the extent to which I could interact with the family, I left the installation with a deeper understanding of blueEnergy’s work. It had been one thing to learn about blueEnergy’s general approach to sustainable development, about how solar panels work and how to strip wires, but meeting the family put a human face to sustainable development. Having witnessed their hospitality and excitement to have light, I could appreciate the impact of blueEnergy on a different level.

John (center) with family in Rocky Point

So at the end of one week, I do feel like an impact has been made. But while I consider the installation of the solar panel a substantial part of the impact of this week, the more meaningful impact had been the impact of Nicaragua and blueEnergy on me. I experienced the culture of Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast in ways that the typical scuba diving, beach-going tourist would not. I sampled local cuisine made from scratch by two local women (affectionately dubbed “the mamas” by blueEnergy staff) and visited a museum housing relics of Bluefields’ past, including the throne of a Rama King. I experienced the finca and reveled in the baseball game. I picked up some more Spanish and learned just a “likky” bit of Creole. More important than the cultural experience, I gained a greater appreciation for blueEnergy’s work by learning about the organization and meeting both the people who do its work and for whom its work is done. Most importantly, working with blueEnergy inspired me and challenged me to continue to think critically about sustainable development and to continue to seek out experiences in the developing world like this one.

Intern Austen Brings the Gift of Light to Rocky Point!

As an intern at blueEnergy, Austen Sybert, a junior at John Hopkins University, USA, helped design, build, and install a solar panel lighting system for a home in Rocky Point, Nicaragua. During his two week trip, Austen also had the opportunity to visit three more communities in the Southern Atlantic Region of Nicaragua: Kahkabila, Pearl Lagoon, and Wawashang, to better understand both the joys and complications of development work in marginalized areas.

~

By Austen Sybert - Paint was still drying, the solar lighting system was neatly packed and all the tools and spare parts double checked – the design and build phase of my project was coming to a close. The next morning I would load the installation materials on two taxis, a bus, a boat and a horse (not too remote by Nicaraguan standards), to reach the site of my solar install in Rocky Point. The solar array provided 60 watts, an amount sufficient to light two CFL bulbs, convert DC current to a versatile AC outlet and empower a household with the basic service of electricity. The family now had the opportunity to improve their own lives.

Chris Sparadeo and Austen Sybert holding the solar panels in a taxi

The final phase of my project, educating the household about their new solar system, proved to be the most difficult but rewarding phase. The household had a teenage girl, Kyoni, enrolled in a technical course on how to install solar systems. Naturally, she was engaged in acute oversight during the installation. Due to her keen interest I explained the steps and components to her as the installation progressed. When it came time to illuminate the dim home by connecting the battery to the system, I requested Kyoni make the connection and be responsible for lighting her family’s home. She cautiously agreed, connecting the red positive wire to the negative battery terminal and the black negative wire to the positive battery terminal which blew the current inverter. No light. This lapse in my supervision was far from a catastrophe to the installation process. I reminded her of the current charge of the wires and handed her the spare inverter to connect, which lit her home. 

Kyoni connects the charge controller

Several days later I had the opportunity to tour the P.L.A.C.E. school (Pearl Lagoon Academy of Excellence) with the blueEnergy board of directors. In one of the classes we visited, I spotted the girl who lived in Rocky Point and illuminated her home with the solar system I had the opportunity to design, build, and install. This class happened to be the Kyoni's technical course on how to install solar systems. I walked over to her, reminded her of my name and asked, “Do you feel like you know more about solar systems then your classmates?” She nodded, easily making this stop at her school the most rewarding point of my trip. To share a laugh before my tour continued I asked, “What’s the charge on black electrical wire and what’s the charge on red electrical wire?” Of course, she nailed the answers.

The Alternative Spring Break Alternative!

blueEnergy Nicaragua’s Spring Break Internship Program 

is a unique one-week opportunity for individuals who want to learn hands-on about community development, experience new cultures, work hard and have fun doing it! Interns will have the opportunity to learn about and participate in solar panel installations, water filter construction and community development initiatives that directly impact the lives of those less fortunate. Have the experience of a lifetime during your Spring Break while participating in blueEnergy’s renewable energy, water, and community development work on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua!

Internship opportunities

Rural Solar Panel Installations: blueEnergy’s energy team is committed to bringing clean light and the opportunities that come with it to the people of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua. From construction in the workshop to installation in the community, interns will be involved in providing single-home lighting systems to beneficiaries and their families. 

Water Filter Installations: blueEnergy’s water team works to provide access to clean drinking water to beneficiaries in Bluefields, Nicaragua. This is a region that lacks municipal water and sewage services. From training to building to installing, interns will be involved in the process of ensuring access to clean water to those who need it most!

Highlights

· A close-up look at international community development

· Hands-on experience in renewable energy implementation

· Hands-on experience in clean water initiatives

· Language immersion

· Exposure to the rich culture of Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast.

blueEnergy’s Spring Break Internship Program is a real-world experience that aims to empower young people to take a leadership role in their home communities and in international development. It will set them apart from their peers and provide necessary skills to help accomplish their academic and career goals. Interns will gain leadership skills, learn to work in culturally diverse groups and expand their knowledge of project development.

More Info

The Spring Break Internship Program runs for one week, with flexible start and end dates. Fees cover room, board, internet, laundry, emergency medical insurance and project-based travel and a one-of-a-kind experience.

Visit our website at blueEnergyGroup.org and click on “Get Involved”

Questions?  Contact Emily Castello at Emily.Castello@blueenergygroup.org

Luke Hulsenback Reflects on his Internship Experience with blueEnergy

A third-year student at Brown University in Rhode Island, USA, Luke Hulsenbeck, interned at blueEnergy for two weeks in January to apply his engineering skills and knowledge within a real-world setting like Bluefields, Nicaragua. In just two short weeks, Luke helped design and build a new, more user-friendly pump handle for blueEnergy’s baptist wells. The new handle is double acting so that water comes out on both the up and down strokes. It also has a fixed spout, making it easier and quicker for beneficiaries to collect water.

~

By Luke Hulsenback - The notion of the experience I was about to have didn’t really hit me until I was about to land in the rainforest at the end of my flight from Managua to Bluefields. At first impression, Bluefields, blueEnergy’s project headquarters on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, was beautiful, surreal, lush and inviting. I had never been to a tropical region before and I was amazed at how green everything was (although I was coming from mid-winter New Jersey). In less than an hour after my arrival, I found myself consumed by the energy and work on one of blueEnergy’s work sites. The blueEnergy energy team was working to install two large wind towers for a wind study. It was exciting to watch blueEnergy in action and I couldn’t help but get involved. I think that’s one of the characteristics about blueEnergy that makes it so appealing–the people really are just full of positive energy and are extremely passionate about and dedicated to what they do. Though the project didn’t go as planned that day (which I came to learn is normal when working in the field), everyone on the blueEnergy team remained motivated to see the project through. This level of commitment and motivation exhibited by blueEnergy staff and volunteers was something that stuck with me throughout my time interning with blueEnergy.

Luke helps prepare a wind  tower on El Bluff within an hour of arriving in Bluefields. 

The staff at blueEnergy are like a family. They all truly care about each other and are extremely supportive and involved in each other’s endeavors. I had a chance to work in the workshop with a lot of the local people, and even though I knew no Spanish, by the end of my time I found I could joke around with the local technicians and laugh with them just as easily as I could with my friends back home. The combination of working in a beautiful, remote area with great people and working on a project (a hand-pump for the community wells) that had direct impacts on the beneficiaries made for a great internship experience. I am looking forward to returning someday.

Luke (L) learning to use a grinder

blueEnergy Experiments with its First Solar Latrine

By Andrew Peterson and Mark Allison -- As the world population approaches eight billion people, basic sanitation and waste management will become an increasingly difficult and important topic. Mismanagement of waste can contaminate potable water sources, spread disease and contribute to diarrhea, the second leading killer in developing countries. To address this issue in the Bluefields community, blueEnergy gave Service Learning (SLI) interns, Mark Allison and Andrew Peterson, the task of implementing  solar latrines into the water and sanitation department of blueEnergy. Overall the goal is that solar latrines will help offer a sustainable and sanitary solution to waste management in Bluefields.

Many latrines in the Bluefields community are basic pits dug into the ground and have the possibility of contaminating gound water sources, affecting the families that use them. This was the case with the family that was selected to be the first beneficiaries for a blueEnergy solar latrine. The family was selected due to their location (solar radiation, a garden, no close ground water source, and available space for construction), their interest in the solar latrine project and the need for a more sanitary waste management system. The latrine that the beneficiaries were using before blueEnergy’s project was a rustic latrine that had one pit for garbage, solid, and liquid waste. The rustic latrine also did not have adequate walls for privacy or ventilation for bugs and smell.

fig 1. Solar Latrine Beneficiaries

fig 2. Rustic Latrine previously used by the Beneficiaries

As mentioned before, solar latrines are sustainable and sanitary. Using a solar collection chamber (fig. 3) human waste is cooked and dried, effectively killing any harmful bacteria and leaving rich compost that can be used to improve crop yields. The chamber is divided into three sections into which waste is raked every 15 days. To make sure that the human waste dries completely, the solar latrine has a toilet bowl that contains two different bowls (fig. 4). Solid waste goes into the larger back chamber, while liquid waste goes into the front bowl and then into a separate pit outside the latrine (fig. 5).

fig 3. Solar collection chamber

fig. 4 Toilet seat with divisions

fig. 5 Urine filtration chamber

In the following weeks blueEnergy will be performing follow up evaluations and further education with the beneficiaries. As part of the contract that was signed, blueEnergy will be permitted to make regular visits to the site to take temperature readings of the chamber, evaluate the compost and make sure that the beneficiaries are using the latrine correctly. Depending on the outcome of these visits blueEnergy will be able to determine if solar latrines are successful in Bluefields or if a different type of latrine should be built and tested by future SLI’s.

Mark and Andrew and future latrine builder

Teaching kids to teach themselves about the environment

By Marcy Ostberg -- For the past four years I have been a teacher in Boston, Massachusetts. During the school year my focus is devoted to the student’s questions and interests. As a result I like to spend my summers traveling and exploring my own personal questions. This year I had the opportunity to spend three weeks as a service learning intern with blueEnergy. I came to Bluefields wanting to learn more about alternative energy, but as I reflect on my time here I realize I have learned far more than originally expected. I have witnessed the resilience of a community up against many challenges and along with the bE staff have grappled with the complexities of finding sustainable solutions to these problems. I have filled many pages of my journal with new ideas and deeper questions. In this Blue News article I will focus on one small snapshot of my experience here, an opportunity I had to see how education can be used as a catalyst to change.

Marcy distributing trash

Unfortunately one of the first things I noticed as a visitor to Bluefields was the trash. The streets and waterways are littered with plastic bottles, water bags, chip bags, and other items such as diapers, cigarettes and beer bottles. I began asking questions looking for the cause. I learned that part of the problem is an ineffective waste management system. There is an open dump on the outskirts of the city yet the trash pickup is inconsistent at best. Although the dump trucks have a schedule it is rarely kept and therefore the residents are unsure when to bring out their trash. It is also difficult to get trash to the trucks, especially for families who live down winding alleyways, deep within the barrios. This ineffective waste management leaves few options and many choose to pile and burn.


One of the first steps to improve this situation is teaching the community to reduce the amount of waste they produce. blueEnergy wanted to capture my experience as a teacher and asked me to develop a lesson plan around this topic. The goal was to help students in Bluefields critically think about this issue and introduce waste reduction as one part of the solution.

Gabriella helping Marcy teach about waste in Bluefields

The lesson was designed around a teaching strategy called experiential education. The basic idea is that students have an experience with the topic, reflect on the experience, learn more about the topic and then apply what they have learned. I wanted to use this strategy to help the students really engage. For the initial experience students made hypothesis about the type of trash that would be most common. They then tested their hypothesis by sorting through trash I had collected from the street and counting the most common items. They found that the small blue bags for drinking water were the most common item, followed closely by chip bags and plastic bottles. Following this experience students brainstormed questions in response to the prompt. They came up with some excellent questions about why this problem exists, how does waste management work in Bluefields and what are possible solutions. I was impressed by their concern for their city. One student said in her reflection, “I love the topic because I learned about how to help my Bluefields.”

Students asking tough questions

Many of their questions were then incorporated into a lesson about how to reduce waste. There final reflections demonstrated that they learned a lot from the lesson. Many of the students made comments about no longer throwing their trash on the streets and had ideas of ways they could improve the situation. One student wisely commented, “It starts from home with your family.” Some students left the lesson really wanting to make a change. One such student said, “We can try something. I promise you when you have a next visit you will see everything change.” We even had some future environmentalists in the group like this student who wrote, “And a word of advice to all. We have to learn that if we continue putting the rubbish in the street it will harm the environment and can cause many diseases such as malaria or dengue. Please do not throw trash on the street and protect our environment.” With comments such as these I felt the lesson was a huge success and left hopeful that the situation would change. I turned back as I left the classroom and saw the school motto painted brightly on a sign. It read “knowledge is power” and after my experience here I would add to that, knowledge is the first step towards change.

Creole-speaking high school, Bluefields, Nicaragua

From Boards to Blades: Challenges working in the developing world

By David Olmos -- The past two months in Bluefields, Nicaragua has given me a fresh perspective on the challenge of implementing renewable energy technology in the developing world. As a Mechanical Engineering student at UC Berkeley, my studies focused on optomizing design for peak efficiency using cutting-edge design techniques. However, in Bluefields the objective was to build a robust and reliable turbine using as much local materials and workmanship as possible.

My first week in the office was spent mostly on the computer, sketching CAD models of what I envisioned the turbine would look like and investigating what would be the optimal airfoil shape for the local wind conditions. In the following week I spent time helping to refurbish “el taller” and getting to know the people at the workshop who were able to demonstrate local blade manufacturing techniques that cannot be found in any coursework or textbooks.

These techniques made it possible to transform 2x4s into fully functioning wind turbine blades. However, this process is not easy. The main challenge faced was figuring out how to make bent pieces of wood into straight turbine blades. It was somewhat of a jigsaw puzzle, choosing where to lay each of the sections of 2x4s that composed each blade in order to avoid weak knots, cracks, or bends. I was impressed by how staff member Gilberto was always able to use what was available in the workshop to overcome such obstacles. A recurring challenge that blueEnergy has faced has been passing on accumulated information from one volunteer to the next. I was glad to help document the techniques and knowledge that I had learned this summer so that it may be compiled into a consoldated manual that will guide future volunteers.

Gilberto, Jorge, Matthieu, Alex, Marcy, David, Pedro and Guthry

By the end of my stay, the three turbine blades were successfully constructed and I have come away with a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience regarding implementing alternative energy solutions in the developing world. With the completion of this 3kW turbine, this installation will have the potential to provide energy for three times the amount of households compared to the current bE turbine system. All in all, it was a summer I will never forget.

Service Learning Intern Guillaume talks about his experiences with blueEnergy

Guillaume Miltin is an intern that participated in our Service Learning Program in August, 2010. Guillaume worked with us for three weeks before starting his freshman year in studying business in his hometown of Paris, France.

Digging wells using the baptist method

By Guillaume Miltin – I spent one month at an NGO call blueEnergy located in Bluefields on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. I was there to help, learn and understand how an NGO works.

I was very grateful for this volunteer trip because I learned a lot about this country, such as the culture, religion, the different food, how to dance like a Nica and above all I learned to wait and be patient for transport!

During the first part of my stay I worked with Vincent, helping him in his mission to build wells for five families from the same neighborhood. It was very interesting for me because I never worked on such a project and the building was rather impressive. We built one well per week.

Bing Crosby's homemade turbine

After that, I went one week with Casey in the Corn Islands for a special mission: find renewable energy systems on the two islands. It was an awesome mission because we did the complete circle of the two islands to find these systems, and we discovered many amazing things and people.

It was a very good thing for me to travel alone and discover a country of Central America, which is very different than any of the other countries I have visited.

Thanks for all of your help, Guillaume!