Take a class in the dark? University of Mary Washington students in Guatemala over spring break couldn’t fathom the idea – so they are taking action.
The fourteen students launched a crowdsourcing campaign through Go Fund Me on Monday, March 30, and they’re more than halfway to their goal of bringing electricity to an environmental and sustainable farming program in the Central American country.
The project aims to raise $6,000 to cover the cost and installation of a sustainable hydroelectric turbine that will provide power to the program’s building, which operates without electricity. The center, owned by Community Cloud Forest Conservation, educates young women from isolated villages in the Central Highlands about environmental and sustainable farming practices.
The initiative started when the center’s director asked if the students might consider creating a video to raise money to provide power for building.
“The longer the students stayed, the more they wanted to make it happen,” said Dawn Bowen, associate professor of geography who leads an annual agroecology-based service learning trip to central Guatemala. “They embraced it, planned it, assigned tasks, took photos, conducted interviews and learned how to put a video together.”
The program empowers young women through a 25-day workshop on issues including self-esteem, growing and preparing nutritious food, crop management and environmental monitoring. Participants have the opportunity to lead their communities in sustainable farming by teaching other women and children and sharing the practices with their villages.
Yet the program is limited by its lack of power. Although the building is already wired for power, it lacks a source, impacting the program’s effectiveness in training young women and school children from local communities.
“Power would give them the opportunity to use computers and projectors as study tools,” said Kacie Waters-Heflin, a junior and geography and studio art double major. “And it would give them light for operation.”
The turbine is run by water, which makes it a sustainable and essentially free resource for powering the building once installed. For junior Katie Betts, the result of the turbine goes beyond just turning on the lights.
“This project is important because people are important,” said the geography major. “We’re investing in these Maya children’s education and therefore investing in the future of their country.”
All additional funds raised will go to support the program’s education and scholarship programs. To contribute to the campaign, visit http://www.gofundme.com/powerforccfc.