This guest post was written by Koto Kishida, a Green Empowerment volunteer and Natural Resource Specialist with the State of Oregon.Sabah, Malaysia was my home for several months in 2016. As a volunteer for Green Empowerment (GE), I helped develop and kick-start a monitoring program for GE’s local partner Tonibung. The project had an ambitious…

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On August 16th, 2016, more than 90 members of academia, civil society, government, and the private sector met over lunch in Kuching (the Sarawak state capitol in Malaysian Borneo) to discuss the future of energy in the region. The consensus reached by the end of the dialogue offered hope and cautious optimism for indigenous people,…

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[By: Claudia Aber, Stanford University student and GE/AsoFénix summer intern in Nicaragua]10 weeks after arriving in Nicaragua, August 25th was my last day working with Green Empowerment and AsoFénix. I spent this day reflecting on the work done, friends made, and opportunities had during my time here. This summer flew by, and I will cherish…

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[Conducted by Eleanor Burke. Questions and responses edited for brevity and coherent continuity.]Patrick graduated from Purdue University in 2014 with a degree in Civil Engineering. While studying there, he participated in a team collaboration to develop a locally sourced, locally fabricated micro-hydropower facility in the rural community of Bangang, Cameroon, where he gained his early…

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By: Claudia Aber, Stanford University student and GE Intern in NicaraguaI arrived in Nicaragua four weeks ago to work with Asofénix and Green Empowerment, two sustainable development organizations that work together on a broad range of projects in rural communities. Before leaving Stanford University in California, I had my favorite meal, pizza with a chocolate…

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The Growing Esmeraldas with Renewable Energy project (known as Creciendo Esmeraldas con Energía Renovable, or “CRECER”) has won the 2016 National Energy Globe Award for Ecuador! The CRECER project was created to improve the lives and livelihoods of rural cacao-farming families in Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Province through the holistic implementation of renewable energy technologies, eco-agricultural training…

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Indigenous Land Rights and Mega Dams in SarawakIn Sarawak, the state where Green Empowerment implemented our very first project in Malaysian Borneo, the indigenous community members along the Baram River were successful in re-gaining the rights to their land. Prior to this victory, the Native Customary Rights (NCR) land claims of over 10,000 Baram residents…

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GE installs a number of different technologies through our Boaco program. My personal favorites are our residential solar installations.These systems have immediate effects for the recipient families, as they bring newfound light into people’s lives as soon as they’re installed. In this photo, I’m finishing a solar installation on the roof of my homestay’s house.The…

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Out in the hills of rural Nicaragua, you’ll find the communities of El Bálsamo, El Jazmín, and El Jocote. These are the sites where I’ve been working for the last 6 months, installing clean energy and water systems in remote areas of the country. In my short time here, I have had the opportunity to work…

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