Please see the University of Rhode Island website for more information and conference registration.

Let me start with the experience. Sunday afternoon, September 14th, during the high-activity period of the storm, all of campus was alive. Everyone was out doing what UD does best: celebrating. Talk was abuzz about “no class tommorrow” or “that gust blew my dog away” or “did you see the tree that fell on that house?” (My condolences to the girls of Irving and Lawnview).

Trees were downed everywhere; branches, black walnuts, and garbage littered the streets. Power lines were down all over, including behind Kiefaber and Lowes, and on Brown Street. Dust and sediment blew into peoples’ eyes at 20-40 miles per hour. Empty beer boxes played the tumbleweed, blowing down Evanston and Stonemill. Houses and power lines made nice little targets for the trees, especially in the case of Mr. Biology Professor, who is looking at quite some damage. In spite of it all, people were out on their porches, enjoying the lovely natural disaster. A few were even windsurfing throughout the Ghetto, with their sheets spread wide atop their longboards (you probably saw me).

Which brings me to my point. We have experienced a night of no television, no video games, and probably no music. So, let me ask you, what did you do instead? Now that you were forced to relinquish those habits, if only for one night (or, from the looks of it, several nights), did you go outside and talk with your house and your neighbors? Seeing that there was no electricity, perhaps you grilled outside with your community, being sure to consume those meats and beverages before they got warm. Maybe you stood in the ridiculous lines at Chipotle or Wendys.

As the night wore on, I saw friends gathered around candlelight, chatting. The guys on Lawnview made use of some leftover blue glowsticks – leftover from God-only-knows – to light their way. Hosts pulled out their lawn/luau torches. Marianist houses offered a place to sleep and be with others for the night. Those lucky enough to have power invited the unworthy over to catch up on the Bengals game. A group of 20 guys in tightie-whities carrying home-made torches went streaking through the quad, past the gymnasium.

Whatever the event, the community had come alive!

Before 1879, before Edison created the lightbulb, the night was a frontier to be conquered. Think about it: when it gets dark, and you have no light, what can you do at night? Hang with your family and neighbors for a bit, then go to bed. That’s about it. People couldn’t work, couldn’t travel, couldn’t cook… couldn’t do much of anything. Since then, though, we have conquered the nighttime, and now the dark poses no issue for us. Read in bed? I’ll just flip the switch. But, this prolonged blackout has brought us back before 1879 and forced us to experience just how much of a barrier night is. That is one lesson I hope people have come to realize. It’s a neat, if not important, lesson.

My other point actually becomes a challenge. As I mentioned, a result of the UD Blackout is that people went out and did activities with their community that they might not have done otherwise. If you did not, and somehow avoided all this, then my challenge applies even more so to you. It is this: I would like this campus to reduce their dependence on television, internet and music. This is cliche, I know, but you’ve already started! Now, just keep it going. I know plenty of people who literally do nothing but go to class, watch TV and use the internet nonstop, then party on the weekends. I think this could be cut down. Whatever you did Sunday night (ahem), do it one weeknight a week.

Or – now this is old-fashioned – you could read a book. Put down the laptop and cook dinner with your housemates. Step away from the lousy Rock Band drum set and play a game with your neighbors. Or, heaven forbid, get some work done.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my video games and music. I take back my Rock Band comment. Heck, I’ve been going crazy without them , and I’m ready to have them back. But, even so, I resolve to spend even more time in the community than I do now. I strongly believe that everyone on this campus is capable of doing it. I just hope that this blackout has made them see the light.

-Daniel

Salud del Sol, the 2008 UDBPC winner, involved business and engineering students who created a business plan to develop and market solar cookers and solar-powered sterilizers and set up companies in Nicaraguan villages to produce the equipment.

Visit UDBPC for more information. Directors of Salud del Sol are available for inquiries about last year’s competition; send questions to info@saluddelsol.org.

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

Read the press release from the SEED Initiative web site here.

Visit the SEED Initative web site for complete details.

An appreciation banquet dinner for ETHOS students returning from international summer experiences will be held Wednesday, August 28 at Kennedy Union, University of Dayton.  ETHOS (Engineers in Technical and Humanitarian Opportunities of Service) is a service learning program that allows students to solve engineering problems in developing countries by focusing on solutions of appropriate technology.  This dinner is an opportunity for students to share their experiences with University faculty and staff; Salud del Sol Executive Director Lori Hanna, Director of Development Anna Young, and Director of Product Research Daniel Hensel will participate to share reflections of summer 2008 in NIcaragua.

I´ve had some good time spent with my host family. Heyling and I went on an excursion to Dipilto, where a holy site called La Virgin de La Piedra is. It was a beautiful area, frequented by many pilgrims. And I had so much fun riding in the back of pickup trucks and eating bananas and peanut butter with Anna, Pete, and Heyling! I also got to go to another Noches Segovianas in Ocotal with my family… Adelina, Heyling, and Alexandra came this time. We got dinner on the street, then watched the show. Alexandra was ecstatic, because she rarely gets to leave Sabana Grande.

We were at work one day, when a guy stopped at the Centro Solar on his bicycle. He was a year and 21 days into his bicycle trip from Alaska to Columbia, where he´s originally from. That´s right… 24,000 km into his trip. He goes 70 to 100 km a day, drinking 7 liters of water a day. When asked why he´s doing it, he said, ¨algunas personas tienen sueños, pero se quedan sueños,¨ or ¨some people have dreams, but they remain dreams,¨ but not his!

The Solar Culture Course arrived while I was sick, so I missed out on a lot of time with them. I did get to witness, or actually, just hear the reunion of Anna and her sister, Kelsey. Lots of squeals! The course participants are so great… really interesting people, from all walks of life. I have been able to join them in some activities. We all went to Somoto Canyon last Sunday, an amazingly beautiful place to hike and swim. During the week, we all took classes from Dr. Richard Komp, a solar energy expert from Maine who is a technical advisor to Grupo Fenix. He taught us all about his passive solar, off-the-grid house in Maine (which of course got me really excited!), followed by a lesson on photovoltaics. These classes were all-encompassing, providing information on everything from the sun to the Roman Empire!

Tuesday night was our Despedida party, as well as that of the course. It was the best despedida I´ve ever been to! It included lots of dances, songs, and games by gringos and Nicas alike. Jessica, Anna, and I really put ourselves out there with a dramatic interpretation of Total Eclipse of the Heart, which is a song also well-known in Spanish. Pete taught the Cotton-Eyed Joe dance–so fun! My sisters and others danced, we all ate, and the members of the community beautifully thanked all of us for our contributions.

Anna, Kelsey, and I spent two days in Managua. We had an amazing meeting on Friday with Onell Morales, his advisor chemistry professor, and three students from the UNI, as well as Richard and Susan. We outlined all of the current autoclave design choices, discussing all of them in technical detail and providing improvement suggestions. We made decisions as to the future, as well. The UNI students, as their theses, are going to work on the lunch tray model improvements, as well as adding reflectors to the pressure cooker model, and doing experiments on both. We´re going to stay in contact regarding progress in both Dayton and Managua.

Friday afternoon, we got a tour and meeting with the Jubilee House (http://www.jhc-cdca.org/jhc.html), a community development organization in Ciudad Sandino. Ciudad Sandino is a city full of people displaced from around Lake Managua by Hurricane Mitch. 15,000 people without homes or jobs, with sweatshops going up around it–strategically placed so as to force hopeless people to work there, and likely come out poorer than they started. We got to see the area, as well as a tour of their two clinics. We talked with their nurse and lab tech about their sterilization needs, and had a great overview of this amazing organization. We learned a lot, and Jubilee House is highly interested in helping us to test an autoclave prototype.

Saturday, we met with Will Burke, a guy who works with a women´s group in Nicaragua to sell their dried fruit in the U.S.  It was really insightful, and encouraging for the work we´re doing, as well as for Las Mujeres Solares to be able to sell their dried fruit and even crafts sometime in the future.

I´m in Leon right now, waiting for a meeting later today with ProMujer, a microfinance institution that also provides some healthcare services. In the meantime, we spent the weekend on the beach Las Pañitas, soaking in the gorgeous rainbows, waves, and sunsets full of lightning. The estuary in front of our hostel acted as a fast-moving, winding river as the tide went out–fun to ride in and try to swim against. Highly recommended if you ever travel here… the hostel is called Barca de Oro.

If I don´t get a chance to write again before coming home, I hope that you all have a great week, and that I get to see you soon!

- Lori

As exciting as it was to have the course arrive, this also meant that Dan Hensel and Matt Wills would leaving for the US. It’s incredible to think about the experience that we have all had together, autoclave testing, daily Spanish classes, new pet pigs and distributing candy to all of the neighborhood kids. It was wonderful to be working with both of them this summer and I look forward to keeping in touch this fall.

With the Solar Culture Course has come a change of seasons for Sabana Grande, called Veranito or “Little Summer.” There is a 4 week period beginning the middle of July and lasting until the middle of August in which the constant rain is halted and the days are filled with sun. After 9 weeks of clouds and rain, this is perfect news for autoclave testing. Lori, Dan, and Pete had a wonderful day of testing last Wednesday morning with temperatures reaching 150 degrees Celsius. Hopefully more to come over the next two weeks.

The days at the Solar Center never cease to amaze me. Just as we were getting back to work after lunch, there was a man walking his bike up the gravel path in front of the Solar Center. Curious, a group of us waited out front to talk. Ten seconds into the conversation, this man was sold as an inspiration to us all. 

Oscar Cañon from Columbia

This past week has been nostalgic, seeing the Solar Center through the eyes of the Solar Culture Course participants who are experiencing everything for the first time. It brought a new wave of motivation to once again hear about the accomplishments of Las Mujeres Solares, the hours they have spent researching the solar cookers and the time spent building a place to grow as an organization. Knowing I will be leaving Sabana Grande brings everything into perspective; the necessity to experience every day to the fullest, rising early with the tortilla makers and working late with the solar cooker constructors. It’s not every summer you have the chance to spend three months living in Nicaragua.

Hasta luego!
- Anna