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==News and recent developments==
 
==News and recent developments==
*'''December 2009:''' '''Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa''' were recently awarded a grant from the GEF Small Grants Program to built a restaurant which will promote solar cooking and solar drying as clean and appropriate technologies. [http://sgp.undp.org/print.cfm?module=Projects&page=ShowProject&ProjectID=15377 For more information...]
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*'''December 2009:''' '''Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa''' were recently awarded a grant from the GEF Small Grants Program to built a restaurant which will promote solar cooking and solar drying as clean and appropriate technologies. [http://sgp.undp.org/?module=Projects&page=ShowProject&ProjectID=15377 For more information...]
   
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Revision as of 22:26, 26 December 2009

Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa 22 new cookers 2008

The Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa unveil 22 brand new solar

In an unprecedented show of dedication to the environment and future wellbeing of Nicaragua, the Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa delivered 22 solar cookers from their workshop in Sabana Grande to the city of Estelí this fall. The women’s group is a long time affiliate of Grupo Fenix, and together they have been incorporating and promoting renewable energy in rural Nicaraguan communities for nearly a decade.

The opportunity for the women to spread their solar energy culture to Estelí came by way of winning a solar cooker competition hosted by the Mayor of Estelí and the Universidad Nacional Autónomo Nicaragüense. The Mayor of Estelí then provided most of the funding for the Mujeres Solares to build the cookers, with essential funding also coming from The Body shop Inc.’s ongoing environmental program.

Four members of the Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa presented the solar cookers to the chosen recipients and the Mayor of Estelí September, 13. The women then hosted a solar empowerment workshop demonstrating how to use, care for and assimilate the solar cookers into their daily routines.

Solar cookers heat food using only direct energy of the sun, a fact that Nimia Lopez, President of the women’s group, believes to have many advantages over conventional wood burning ovens that are used throughout Nicaragua. Use of the solar cookers displaces the burning firewood which helps families save money, puts less pressure on the deforestation and environment of Nicaragua, avoids the respiratory health risks associated with indoor fires, and has a positive overall effect in the worldwide effort to curtail climate change.

While the Mujeres Solar de Totogalpa have been building and using solar cookers for years, this is the first major order that the women’s group has received. They hope that the event in Estelí will help spread the demand for renewable energy options throughout the country and that people around the world will be motivated to live more sustainably.

The Solar Women of Totogalpa envision not only economic self-sufficiency but also growing our solar businesses to the point where we can create the infrastructure necessary to share our vision of renewable energy community development with others. Our long-term vision is to create a model sustainable community that hosts the businesses we have started in photovoltaics, solar cookers and dryers, and solar cooked and dried foods and herbs. We also envision a “campus” with a research center so we can continually improve our products, a restaurant serving solar cooked meals, a lodging facility for course participants and others visiting our model community, a children’s playground, and a multi-purpose court for fairs, promotional events, and sports use for community youth.

El Centro Solar is the name of the demonstration solar energy campus in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua run by Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa.

News and recent developments

  • December 2009: Las Mujeres Solares de Totogalpa were recently awarded a grant from the GEF Small Grants Program to built a restaurant which will promote solar cooking and solar drying as clean and appropriate technologies. For more information...

See also

External links

Contact

The Solar Women of Totogalpa
Kilómetro 212, Careterra Managua to Ocotol
Totogalpa, Madriz
Nicaragua

Centro Solar: Telephone: 00-505-915-5722 Cell, Antonina Ortega: 00-505-664 9047 Cell, Nimia Lopez: 00-505-434 0329 or cst_fenix@yahoo.com or thegrupofenix@gmail.com

http://www.grupofenix.org