Impact Stories from Environmental Sustainability Policy Area
Seed grant initiative empowers orphans with aquaponic farm
Fellow(s): Seed grant initiative empowers orphans with aquaponic farm – Chiedza Mugabe, Evangelista Chekera, Henrica Makulu, Tafadzwa Murinzi and Yollanda Washaya
Country: Zimbabwe
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
FOCUS Zimbabwe, a self-sustaining food cultivation initiative founded by seed grant-awarded Team Zimbabwe 2022 fellows Chiedza Mugabe, Evangelista Chekera, Henrica Makulu, Tafadzwa Murinzi and Yollanda Washaya, has successfully launched its pilot program at SOS Children’s Village in Waterfalls, Harare. FOCUS Zimbabwe seeks to enable children in orphanages to grow nutritious/organic food by empowering them through hands-on skills training and mentorship in aquaponics, the cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment. Through this, they hope to cultivate entrepreneurialism, stimulate an interest in STEM and foster a sense of responsibility for the communities in which the children live, while also helping protect them from the elevated risks of drug abuse, crime, prostitution and suicide. To date, approximately 75 people have interacted with the growing system, resulting in local families gaining food to eat, produce to sell, and psychosocial benefits to their overall wellness. FOCUS Zimbabwe was launched with the funding of a $3,000 USD TechWomen seed grant. It has also received support from its aquaponics system vendor, which has donated complimentary training and consultation hours to the project as part of its corporate social responsibility efforts.
Report Date...: 12/05/2022
"Team recognized by BBC & Ambassador after seed grant win"
Fellow(s): Team recognized by BBC & Ambassador after seed grant win – Amara Dar, Sadaf Gul, Ramla Syeda Hassan, Syeda Sadaf Shah, Anum Sadiq and Shehnaz Zakia
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
The fellows of Fall 2022 Team Pakistan, composed of Amara Dar, Sadaf Gul, Ramla Hassan Sadafi Shah, Anum Sadiq and Shehnaz Zakia, were recently featured in BBC News Urdu to acknowledge their having recently been awarded $3000 in seed grant funding for the impact project they developed during their TechWomen program.
The project, AGAHI, will be a mobile technology campaign aimed at raising climate change awareness in the wake of the devastating floods in Pakistan this summer.
In addition to being featured in BBC, the team also recently met with the Ambassador of Pakistan to the USA on 26th Oct. 2022 to discuss AGAHI shortly after the close of their TechWomen program in Washington D.C.
In the meeting, the ambassador expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the U.S. Department of State and ECA for providing opportunities for Pakistani women in STEM to excel through exchange programs. He also encouraged Team Pakistan to complete the project with full dedication, offering assurance of the Embassy of Pakistan’s support in the sustainable execution of the project and the development of future collaborations.
Report Date...: 11/28/2022
"Fellows present EmpowerHER initiative idea to World Bank"
Fellow(s): Fellows present EmpowerHER initiative idea to World Bank – Inobat Allobergenova, Elmira Obry, Emma Mphalele, Hadiza Abdullahi, Hajar Salamt, Iman Dankar and Syeda Sadaf Shah
Country: Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Uzbekistan
Cohort: 2022
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fall 2022 Fellows Inobat Allobergenova (Uzbekistan), Elmira Obry (Kazakhstan), Emma Mphalele (South Africa), Hadiza Abdullahi (Nigeria), Hajar Salamat (Morocco), Iman Dankar (Lebanon) and Syeda Sadaf Shah (Pakistan) recently teamed up to present a multi-national initiative idea at the World Bank in Washington DC. These seven fellows conceived of the project, EmpowerHER, to introduce girls from rural areas aged 12 to 18 to STEM careers. With the motto “Small Money, Big Impact,” EmpowerHER will be focused on raising awareness of careers that address climate change and environmental issues. The presentation was met with great interest by the 35 World Bank personnel who welcomed the fellows at their Washington D.C. headquarters.
Inobat helped facilitate this meeting after having recently accepted a position with the World Bank in Uzbekistan as a natural resource management specialist.
Report Date...: 11/21/2022
Fellow(s): Fellow speaks on LEAP Africa annual conference panel – Damilola Asaleye
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
Fellow Damilola Asaleye (Nigeria, 2020-2021) recently spoke on a panel at LEAP Africa’s Social Innovators Program (SIPA) 2022 conference. LEAP Africa is “a youth-focused leadership development organization committed to raising leaders that will transform Africa.” Damilola highlighted her organizations, Ashdam Solar Company Limited and Girls and Women Technological Empowerment Organization (GWTEO), sharing her mission of “closing the gender gap in technology and bringing energy security to last-mile communities in Nigeria.” She also encouraged African youths to “develop sustainability through monitoring and evaluating their impacts starting from personal goals to organizational goals.” On top of this, Damilola was also recently named one of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society Rising Leaders Class of 2022.
Read More »Report Date...: 11/07/2022
Fellow solar-training initiative forms U.S. partnership
Fellow(s): Gisele Beatrice Sonfack
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Youth Engagement
A fellow-founded initiative, Women in Engineering and Technology (WENTECH), created by Fellow Gisele Beatrice Sonfack (Cameroon, 2016) has recently launched its first solar energy training with a new U.S. based partner, Remote Energy. Since September 12th, 14 young women have started training to become instructors with partner Remote Energy, who has provided training and materials for WENTECH with the objective of developing at least one instructor in each major city in Cameroon to facilitate trainings and impact in local schools. Gisele created WENTECH in 2017 to attract and empower women in Cameroon to STEM fields, following her participation in Techwomen in 2016. Since its founding, WENTECH has trained and empowered over 2,000 girls in Cameroon in solar power with the support of local partners Douala Advanced Vocational Training Center and Limbé Advanced Vocational Training Center. That support system has since expanded to include international partnership with Remote Energy.
Report Date...: 9/26/2022
Fellow holds agricultural trainings for rural women
Fellow(s): Rym Khemiri Moussaoui
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development
In continuity with Alyssa for Rural Women Investment (ARWI), the action plan project developed by the Tunisian team of TechWomen 2020-2021, fellow Rym Khemiri Moussaoui provided a capacity-building training workshop for rural women workers in agriculture. The goal is to enhance their entrepreneurial skills and promote financial autonomy. Rym shares that she was pleased “to use all the pedagogic tools I have learned in my last Training of Trainers (TOT) and Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) certifications financed by the Techwomen professional development stipend,” which was provided for fellows of the 2020-2021 virtual program. This event was carried out as part of the Action and Innovation Fund for Refugee Entrepreneurs (FAIRE) project, co-financed by the European Union and implemented by COSPE, an Italian NGO operating in the North West region of Tunisia.
Report Date...: 9/26/2022
Tajik fellows provide light-bearing backpacks for students
Fellow(s): Hamida Rahmikhudoeva, Dilafruz Mamadjonova, Manizha Khayolbekova, Gulnoza Burkhanova and Rukhshona Saratbekova
Country: Tajikistan
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Environmental Sustainability, Youth Engagement
This fall more than 60 primary school children from a rural village in Tajikistan are starting the school year with solar charging backpacks, thanks to TechWomen’s 2020-2021 Team Tajikistan, composed of fellows Hamida Rahmikhudoeva, Dilafruz Mamadjonova, Manizha Khayolbekova, Gulnoza Burkhanova and Rukhshona Saratbekova. “Enhancing Education Through Light” is Team Tajikistan’s seed grant initiative designed to address the need for school children to have a reliable and safe light source for completing homework after sunset. “Despite significant progress in the field of energy, electricity is still lacking in many regions of Tajikistan,” teammate Rukhshona shared, “especially in rural areas where children are forced to do their homework by candlelight or with dangerous, polluting kerosene lamps. [This] negatively affects both their health and academic progress.”
Each pack features a solar-charging panel on the front pocket that banks energy from the sun during the day in order to power a compact lamp on a flexible metal arm for visibility at night. “We hope that through our project,” Rukhshona added, “we can attract the attention of investors to think about providing this remote area with the clean and reliable electricity.”
Report Date...: 8/29/2022
Fellow empowers 120 girls with Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp
Fellow(s): Damilola Asaleye
Country: Nigeria
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Sustainability, Professional Development, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Fellow Damilola Asaleye of Nigeria (2020-2021) recently helped produce the Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp, a five-day program for high school girls organized by the Girls and Women Technological Empowerment Organization (GWTEO).
The summer camp takes a holistic approach to activities relevant to girls and women that will enhance their self confidence and abilities to become sustainable technology leaders and change makers. Damilola, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Ashdam Solar Company, helped in the production of learning sessions on the topics of basic solar installation, upcycling, sustainable agriculture, financial literacy, information and communication technologies, leadership skills, teamwork, healthy living and visioning. The Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp is not the only stop on Damilola’s summer of women and girls’ empowerment. She is also taking part in the BEMORE Summer Bootcamp in Akure, Nigeria with close to 400 girls over the following weeks.
“My summer of impacting girls started yesterday Monday 15th August with the Green Tech Girls Summer Bootcamp,” Damilola recently shared, “and I’ve got my hyper attitude on with adrenaline pumping.”
Report Date...: 8/22/2022
Fellow publishes paper on magnetic field shielding
Fellow(s): Ibtihal Elshami
Country: Libya
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Environmental Sustainability, Professional Growth
Libyan fellow Ibtihal Elshami (2020-2021) co-published an academic paper, “Magnetic Field Shielding Behavior of Mesh Wire in Low Frequencies”, in the July edition of leading electrical engineering journal, IEEE Xplore. Magnetic fields are waves that emit from many common electronics and wireless communication technologies. Shielding is necessary to reduce performance interference and cyber security risks. Additionally, overexposure to certain low frequency waves has been associated with potential elevated risk of some illnesses and cancers. Ibtihal’s research addresses the rapid adoption of electronic devices that complicate “our daily electromagnetic environment” and explores the under researched magnetic field shielding capacity of thin wire mesh on low frequency waves. Ibtihal has been an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Technology-Benghazi for eight years and has written several papers on the topic.
Read More »Report Date...: 7/25/2022
Fellow leads study that seeks to combat air pollution in Lahore
Fellow(s): Mifrah Ali
Country: Pakistan
Cohort: 2020-2021
Policy Area(s): Environmental Sustainability
Fellow leads research and development to combat air pollution
An environmentally focused research paper led by Pakistan’s 2020-2021 fellow Mifrah Ali was published in the May 2022 edition of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute’s (MPDI) impact factor journal. The study, “Characterizing Air Pollution and Its Association with Emission Sources in Lahore: A Guide to Adaptation Action Plans to Control Pollution and Smog,” identifies low-cost means of monitoring air pollutants and reducing smog with remote sensing. Over a three-year period, Mifrah’s team at the University of Management & Technology in Lahore analyzed real-time remote sensor data on key emissions and pollutants, including carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and methane, at 14 key sites around the region. The study found that “air pollution remained ‘unhealthy for everyone’ for 54% of the time, and ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ for 88% of the time.” By tracking specific pollutant concentrations as well as identifying hot spots and hot times, the researchers hope their findings will catalyze the development of “smart adaptation action plans for immediate implementation.”
Being a mother of two children, Mifrah experienced firsthand the adverse consequences of smog on the immune system. She says, “I felt a dire need to tackle this issue and motivate my colleagues toward multi-disciplinary collaboration.” Mifrah aims to limit air pollution and the spread of communicable diseases by “developing relevant mitigation devices, techniques, and filters for homes, specific industries and automobiles.” In addition to serving as a full-time faculty member at the University of Management & Technology, Mifrah also leads the Research and Innovation team at the startup ENERTEC, where she develops environmentally friendly products and energy generation technologies. She welcomes multi-disciplinary collaboration with like-minded academics and professionals involved in the fight for clean and breathable air.
Report Date...: 6/13/2022
