September 1, 2008
Incredible cultural immersion experience in Nicaragua. Check.
Learn to make Nacatamales with host family. Check.
Improve Spanish. Check.
Learn to carry a bucket of water on head. half Check.
With hands. Check.
Non profit status for Salud del Sol. Pending…
After an amazing experience in Nicaragua, I am well on my way to the “next steps” in life and what that entails, including more development for Salud del Sol! I learned more this summer than I ever thought possible, about the people, culture, development work, eco-engineering, and how to practice sustainable business development. The time spent in Nicaragua was a juxtapose between the slow paced life style of the relaxed culture and knowing that time was limited and trying to create as many successful projects as possible. The last few weeks of the trip I traveled with fellow Salud del Sol member Lori Hanna and my sister Kelsey to various meetings with NGOs and other potential partners for Salud del Sol.
Exciting development with the product research came from a meeting held with Susan Kinne, Director of Grupo Fenix, Dr. Richard Komp, creator of the autoclave project, Chemical Engineering students from the National Engineering University and their professor, Lori and myself. We spent a Friday morning brainstorming about how to continue the product research of the autoclave in Nicaragua. Salud del Sol has a focus on the importance of appropriate technology with of product research. That being said, it is incredibly relevant that we are able to collaboratively conduct research with teams in Nicaragua. As a result of this meeting held, we have set up to continue communication with a research team of chemical engineers who will be testing one of the current autoclave designs and making adaptations to another for further research. Look for more information about these developments within the project section of the website!
One of the more exciting emails that I recieved last week was an announcement from Susan Kinne that Las Mujeres and Grupo Fenix had been selected as recipients of the SEED award and $25,000 of business support services for a year!! This is such an incredible opportunity for everyone involved with the organization! The women and their partners are at such a critical point in the development of their organization. The passion and dedication are there, the women have shown this with the time invested in building the Solar Center workshop and the countless hours they have all spent constructing Solar Cookers. They have such impressive dreams of surrounding the Solar Center with a campus of projects in renewable energy– a Solar Restaurant to feature their wonderful cooking, a store to sell the various dried fruits, coffee, and other solar products, and an enhanced PV workshop where they will be able to increase manufacturing of PV panels. This fall, I am looking forward to staying involved remotely with the development of Las Mujeres Solares and the realization of these ideas through the support of the SEED award!
This past week Lori, Dan, and I, along with other ETHOS students and UD faculty members had the opportunity to join together and reflect on the experiences this summer over a wonderful dinner held in Kennedy Union on UD’s campus. It was inspiring to hear the stories of other student participants from this summer and how far UD’s service learning experience can reach. From the water pump systems in Guatemala to delivering water to remote villages in Cameroon, I was so impressed with the work that my peers had participated in this summer and the depth of their cultural immersion.
Along with the ETHOS dinner, this trip to UD also allowed me the opportunity to work with faculty within UD’s School of Business to develop a partnership with the ETHOS program in the School of Engineering. There is such a natural fit between the work of Engineers and Business students. My presence this summer in Sabana Grande working along side of the engineering students with the research and development of the autoclave venture and other projects with Las Mujeres Solares was a testimony to the possibilities that can arise when students are working together with integrated studies! Hopefully this will set the path for future SBA students at UD to have similar experiences through the ETHOS program.
After a visit to UD and a few weeks of debriefing from the experience this summer at home in Westerville, Ohio, I have packed up and moved to the east coast! This Wednesday I will begin working with a management consulting firm, The Center For Applied Research (CFAR), in their Cambridge office. CFAR is based out the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and works with a wide variety of clients in many different industries, a mix of non-profit and for profit work. I will be working as a research analyst on a variety of projects. It is an incredible opportunity and I really looking forward to learning more about the east coast culture of Boston!
Along with this exciting opportunity, Salud del Sol as a whole is working to complete the neccessary steps to become a non profit organization. While Dan, Lori, and myself were in Nicaragua this summer, Lauren Dokes, the Director of Finance, made huge progress towards completing this task. Now that we are all state side we have an opportunity to continue this project. Doing so will be a great step towards the development of Salud del Sol and increase our ability to work with our partners in the US and Nicaragua! Check back for more information about this work.
Hasta Luego.
- Anna
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