Nasir was also selected this month on behalf of em[POWER] as a winner for the 2012 Henry P. Becton Volunteer Impact Awards through the generosity of Becton, Dickinson and Company. This award will grant em[POWER] $5,000 towards the goal of better implementing our sustainable model to improve the lives of millions affected by unacceptable conditions in landfill environments. We are happy to announce that Becton, Dickinson and Company plans to match donations already made to us through Global Giving as well for $4000! As if this was not enough to make our month, another generous organization will also be donating $10,000 to em[POWER] through Global Giving in the coming weeks.

We are honored and humbled for the recognition and resources that have been coming our way, yet most importantly we are further energized to build on this momentum towards future phases of our rigorous mission. Giving to em[POWER] will be even easier for donors, already having the option of GlobalGiving.com, and now with the added option GivingSomeThing.org.

Our new affiliation with GivingSomeThing enables donors to send material goods directly to us so they can be shipped immediately to our sites in Bangladesh and Pakistan. This new avenue of giving will help us better provide for the daily needs of many while also allowing our supporters to give in more tangible and personal ways.

And our last but certainly not least bit of news: Nasir was invited to attend the sixth-annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting in St. Louis from April 5^th to the 7^th as a Waste Management Mentor representing em[POWER]. We wish him well during that special opportunity, and look forward to sharing all the details of his experience.

-  Researcher orientation sessions within the Landfill

- Presentations on health safety and hazards as well occupation safety hazard training

- Participatory dialogues with the 250 waste pickers of the landfill and 50 owners and 100 waste pickers of waste collection vans

- Presentation of a laptop to students of the landfill school for purposes of working together via the Internet.

- Provided Gram Bangla with financial support for the school for 6 months provided by em[POWER] Rutgers Chapter

Another six months of education for the children of Matuail Landfill families has been donated by em[POWER]‘s Rutgers Student Chapter. Many thanks, students!

Women’s em[POWER] training group learning work and health safety techniques in a landfill setting                                                  

Mr. Uddin (pictured right) presenting an em[POWER] certificate of appreciation to Gram Bangla Committee members.

]]> http://empowerenergygroup.org/2013/01/09/empower-travels-to-bangladesh/feed/ 0 http://empowerenergygroup.org/2012/11/12/gw-sapha/ http://empowerenergygroup.org/2012/11/12/gw-sapha/#comments Tue, 13 Nov 2012 01:29:27 +0000 Nasir Uddin http://empowerenergygroup.org/?p=741 The George Washington University – SAPHA and Em[POWER] Energy Group announce Project Bangladesh Health Management Team

Somaiah Ahmed

November 12, 2012

Washington, DC – The George Washington University Chapter of South Asian Public Health Association (GW-SAPHA) has announced their collaboration with Em[POWER] Energy Group on Project Bangladesh.

GW-SAPHA is implementing an ongoing service learning project in Bangladesh in which master’s students from the School of Public Health and Health Services will be able to engage in topics such as sanitation and hygiene, maternal health, and nutrition education.  This collaboration will grant students to strategize a unique plan for training and research on multiple health topics for the Matuail Landfill site in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Matuail Landfill is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh and is considered the largest dump site in the city.  The working and living population that surrounds this location lacks access to clean water, is exposed to poor sanitation, loss of healthcare, and limited educational development.

Currently, em[POWER] is engaged in its Phase III of implementing their goals on site, which include waste management, sorting facility, composting and vocational education.

This upcoming summer, SAPHA is driven to strengthen the partnership with em[POWER] help the Matuail community as well as enrich the learning experience and teach civic responsibility.

More information is expected to be released at the GW-SAPHA General Body Meeting in January 2013.

About SAPHA

SAPHA (South Asian Public Health Association) was established in 1999 by 10 individuals in effort to raise awareness about public health issues of South Asians at a national level.  The George Washington University chapter began in 2009.

Our mission is to promote the health & well-being of South Asian communities by advancing the field of South Asian public health through interactions among health professionals & shared resources, focusing on research, education, communication & advocacy in the US.

To learn more about this project, please contact:

Somaiah Ahmed, Vice President

SAPHAgwu@gmail.com

Syed also reached out to Renewing Roots Co., headed by David Cackowski. Renewing Roots specializes in sustainable techniques and methods to ensure the least impact on the environment while aiming to produce efficient and low-cost homes for veterans, homeless people, military families, and communities overseas. Both companies have provided an opportunity for Syed and students to be involved in their CEB research and development and also offered the team the opportunity to begin construction of the first Renewing Roots CEB home.

On Tuesday August 14th, Syed and students  traveled to the CEB manufacturing facility in St. Louis where they were briefed on the properties, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of the material. The students had a chance to build a 160 square foot curing room with CEB. They participated in all the building stages including anchoring steel rebar reinforcement to the foundation, laying a mortar bed, and stacking the blocks. The students broke ground and began the layout of CEB at the actual site where the home will be erected. The students plan to use their experience  to brainstorm innovative ways for streamlining production and develop differing applications of compressed earth blocks for various countries and situations around the world.

What is CEB?   CEB differs from ordinary masonry block in the method it is manufactured and its ingredients. Typical masonry block is made from sand, cement, and water while CEB is made with sand, cement, water and the natural soil found in the vicinity of the construction site.

A major benefit of CEB is that it uses up to seventy-five percent less cement than traditional concrete blocks.  Cement is the most expensive and non-environmentally friendly ingredient in concrete. In addition, CEB earth blocks are compressed together in a manual or hydraulic machine and are able to be handled immediately, as opposed to ordinary concrete which is poured into a form requiring  at least one day to cure before being transported.

Photos of CEB wall system construction: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68318880@N02/sets/72157631080461686/

To learn more about CEB please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_earth_block
To learn more about Renewing Roots initiatives visit: http://www.renewingroots.com/

The following personnel were involved in the CEB project:
David Cackowski: President, Renewing Roots
Jeff Schneider: VP, Renewing Roots
Naveed Syed, CEB System R&D Visionary
Zeghan Malik: Architect
Anlee Orama: CIM Program Specialist
CIM Students: Fabian DeLaHOz, Majile McCray, Gagan Singh, Tyler Hanson

Tamra Fakhoorian, co-founder of the ILA said,”We wish to thank em[POWER] for their support in our organization’s formation. Em[POWER] recognizes duckweed’s untapped potential as a high quality protein and starch source for animal feed, bioplastics, fertilizers, and wastewater remediation. Duckweed is a win/win for our global efforts of sustainable aqua-cropping and animal production.”

Ryan Integlia, co-founder of ILA observed, “Many of our members previously worked in the algae arena and when confronted with ongoing issues of harvesting and robustness, discovered the many benefits of duckweed as an alternative. Farmers in several developing countries already grow and harvest duckweed as a part of their integrated farming systems. The time is right for duckweed production to be expanded on a larger scale to remediate the massive nutrient loads in our current waste water systems and produce value-added products for a wide range of applications.”

Duckweed and Wolffia species are the smallest vascular, flowering plants on the planet and are found world-wide with the exception of Antarctica. They are known to double their mass every 24-48 hours, producing up to 60 dry tons per acre in optimal circumstances. Wolffia holds the record for the smallest flowers in the world, only 0.3mm in length.

For more information, visit www.InternationalLemnaAssociation.com .

Good luck team, you’ll do great!

“Your commitment was selected from a large pool of student commitments as an exemplary approach to addressing a specific global challenge.” – CGI

Thanks to everyone for all the support and we look forward to telling you all about CGIU this year!

Clinton Global Initiative University: “After reviewing hundreds of progress reports, we have identified your commitment as one of the most outstanding. Given the scope of your commitment and your dedication to action, we would potentially like to present your commitment to attendees at CGI U this year.”

We are proud of our team and excited for this excellent opportunity!

View pictures from our all day workshop held at Princeton University!

Day 1 (Dec 26): em[POWER] Project Bangladesh meets with GUC board and Project Manager of Bangladesh

This meeting represented an introduction to some members of em[POWER]’s onsite partner, Gram Bangla Unnayan Committee (http://www.grambanglabd.org/), that included AKM Maksud and Khandaker Reaz Hossain. It also included Sejan Bari, our new Project Manager as well as a recent graduate of Electrical Engineering from AIUB. We spent the few hours on introduction, progress thus far, and my itinerary for the overall trip.

Day 2 (Dec 27): em[POWER] Project Bangladesh looks at Fair Trade Bangladesh partnership with Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and Prokritee!

-       Meeting with Mennonite Central Committee (http://asia.mcc.org/bangladesh)

This meeting steered our initial model that em[POWER]’s been built upon in a new direction. It was an unexpected meeting that was simply to be used to learn more about HIV counseling program that MCC is providing for GUC. MCC partnership would lead to collaboration for recycling program, agriculture program, job creation program, composting program, and water purification plans.

-       Meeting with Prokritee (http://www.prokritee.com/)

Prokritee (meaning “nature” in Bangla) is a service based agency that provides managerial, product design and development and marketing assistance to organizations in Bangladesh.

Output from meeting: identify a fair trade product and processingà Prokritee will market and distribute the product for us. Suggested to Suraiya Chowdhury (Director of Design of Prokritee) that the product that we would target would be glass.

Day 3 (Dec 28): Em[POWER] Energy Group Project Bangladesh meets with Waste Concern’s Maksud Sinha

Output from Meeting: collaboration on 3-R strategy, incentive programs, and potential support and guidance on program using point of contact (Shah Monirul Kabir)

Day 4 (Dec 29): Project Bangladesh is making great strides!

Financial planning meeting with Onsite Project Manager, Sejan Bari, and a great meeting with Department of Environment… getting closer to taking next steps in implementation

Day 5 (Dec 30): in Dhaka, Bangladesh: first visit of em[POWER] US staff in Matuail Landfill in Jatrabari with Women’s Co-op/waste picker, Trash Traders, and Van drivers…we have made great developments!!

Output from the meetings: dimension and design of the sorting facility, need for eco-based latrine, shower area, rest area, storage space for inorganic material, and providing vocational education

-       Source separation at household level is possible through house owner association and discussing isolation of inorganic and organic; we developed relationship with van drivers and they have agreed to help.

Day 6 (Dec 31): in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Sports Day and Picnic at Matuail

The students of the onsite school were given new books for next year.  A sports day was also held which included the 100m dash and musical chairs. Phillip Matthew Birkey from the MCC was also present.

Day 7 (Jan 1st): in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Meeting with Mr. M A Gofran, senior biogas consultant of Grameen Shakti

Meeting Output: Energy requirments and biogas plant facility sizes and costs for onsite facilities were discussed in detail.

Day 12 (Jan 6th): in Bangladesh: all day workshop/meeting with GUC, em[POWER] Interns, and other guests went smoothly!!

Meeting Output:

Better understanding of the National 3R strategy was gained from presentation by em[POWER] Bangladesh Interns. The key components of the future onsite facilities were determined in the groupwork afterwards. Tasks were delegated to participants.

We hope you enjoyed reading what Nasir was up to during in Bangladesh! Check back for more updates and plans soon!