the African Uptimist

The not-so-far-fetched dream of the UAE

Oil-rich United Arab Emirates (UAE) is spending billions to promote its capital, Abu Dhabi as a hub for alternative energy and sustainability.  Writing under the caption "Renewable Energy: Desert Dreams" in time, Bryan Walsh could not have captured it more vividly:

If you want to see the future of sustainable design, drive southwest from Abu Dhabi's international airport, stop when you come to the desert — and use your imagination. You're standing in what will be Masdar City: a radically innovative development powered entirely by renewable energy.

Masdar City, a brainchild of British architect, Norman Foster (watch his video)

...is little more than a dream in the desert today, but the beginnings of Abu Dhabi's transformation are visible in a field of 25 different solar panels sprouting from the sand near the construction site. The shimmering silicon modules are being run through an 18-month field test to determine which kind of photovoltaic technology will work best in this hot and dusty environment. The winner will help power Masdar City — and, eventually, perhaps much of Abu Dhabi, as scientists here learn to tap a renewable energy source that could ultimately be as powerful as the oil that has made this region so wealthy.

The forward-thinking leaders of sun-baked UAE, leaders like 35-year-old Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Masdar's CEO, obviously understand something that other leaders seem to be missing, including those in oil rich African countries.  And what is that something? i think it may be found in a typically precise comment by Klaus Topfer, former head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): "The region is rich in fossil fuels for the time being. But this region will be rich in sun for all time..."

Back from my 'hibernation' with Power Up Gambia!

Power Up Gambia (PUG) founder, Kathryn Cunningham sent email telling me about her initiative yesterday.  i came away inspired and humbled by what this 20-something year old pre-med American senior at the University of Pennsylvania has managed to do in less than  3 years.

It all began in the summer of 2006 when Kathryn was, in her own words

"...fortunate to have the opportunity to work at a rural hospital in The Gambia, a small country in West Africa. For two months, while assisting the doctors and nurses, I witnessed a staff fully committed to providing the best possible care while hampered by the on-going problem of inadequate and unreliable electricity. Imagine a hospital with no electricity. Medical procedures take place by candelight, surgeries are limited, vaccines spoil due to limited refrigeration, infants die without incubators, surgeons scrub-in for surgery using buckets, microscopes and lab equipment lay idle. I came home from this experience, and at the age of 20, I was determined to do something.

She created Power Up Gambia as a non-profit organization through the Delaware Community Foundation to raise the necessary funds for the purchase and installation of solar panels for the Sulayman Jungkung General Hospital.

Currently, we have a twelve membered board dedicated to making this happen. We have garnered the support of a broad cross-section of our local community including; rotarians, politicians, ambassadors businessmen and women, students, parents, educators, and more.  To date, we have raised $150,000 of our $300,000 goal. I am also proud to announce that in early January I returned to the hospital and witnessed the installation of the solar powered water pump – the first phase of the project. The hospital now has full-time running water.

Although proud -- and rightly so -- of these achievements, Kathryn recognizes that there is a long way to go before making electricity a reality at the hospital.  But, as i wrote in my response to her message:

Overall, I am convinced that PUG is an exceptionally inspiring story of human compassion walking the talk – against many, many odds.  PUG's achievements to date pretty much speak for themselves; even the mainstream media has taken notice, and stakeholders are recognizing Power Up Gambia, from the ground up.  I believe it will not be long before the current trickle of funding grows into a flood, enabling PUG to realize all its objectives, and perhaps even trigger similar initiatives throughout the health sector in Gambia and beyond.

Bravo Kathryn! Keep up the good work.