Green Empowerment

We partner with rural communities in the developing world to implement renewable energy and water systems in order to alleviate poverty.

I was recently in Nicaragua where I met various women carrying bags of cement on their heads for building their own electricity system, men constructing a reservoir for water, and children talking about their future goals. With our Nicaraguan partners, we traveled to project sites (Cuajiniquil, La Laguna, El Plan, El Bejuco, and Potreritos) to coordinate work and see community accomplishments firsthand.  Using wind turbines, solar panels, micro-hydro turbines, and a lot of sweat equity, over 800 people in Nicaragua alone will have clean water or electricity this year.  Thanks to generous donors like you, we continue to make real progress around the world, alleviating poverty, protecting the environment and improving lives.

 

For example, the 90 people in the community of Cuajiniquil, can now turn on lights, and will soon have clean water pumped to their homes, instead of having to haul buckets. Their electricity is generated by an innovative wind turbine and solar panels – modeling a sustainable future.

At the core of our mission are the successful projects that directly benefit hundreds of people each year. Communities decide what basic services they need and local partners work with Green Empowerment to devise and implement sustainable solutions.  Village entrepreneurs, like Vincente Espinar who volunteered more than 200 days to build his community’s electricity system, are formulating new uses for their energy. His ideas include, “possibly a coffee processing plant, irrigation pumps, or processing tomatoes!”  Further, we prioritize integrated projects that serve the greatest human need, are sustainable over time, and have a broader impact beyond any one community. We do this by pioneering new solutions, building the capacity of our in-country partners and connecting them with global networks that strengthen their work.

 

Today, we are asking you for two things:  to make a donation, and refer us to five friends, family members or colleagues who also care about alleviating poverty and protecting the environment. We’ll send them our annual report to introduce them to our work. Help us spread the word about rural communities who are demonstrating truly sustainable development.