New capstone focuses on sustainable living abroad

Over winter break a group of Portland State students went to Nicaragua for 11 days and began work in four different rural communities to create a more sustainable lifestyle for residents.

The members of the Nicaragua Senior Capstone project include Dr. John Rueter, environmental science professor at Portland State; Jason Selwitz, director of service learning for Green Empowerment; and student Alex Hutton-Tine, senior environmental studies major.

The group built a wooden wind turbine in Sanzapote that will recharge batteries and play radios and televisions for the community. In Bramadero, students built a solar-powered irrigation system and “practically dug holes through solid rock to plant nearly 100 trees,” Rueter said.

The Nicaragua Senior Capstone group has teamed up with Green Empowerment, a local company supporting community-based renewable energy projects internationally, and non-governmental organization (NGO) Aso Fenix.

Green Empowerment helps support projects in Myanmar, Ecuador, Guatemala, Malaysia, the Philippines, Nicaragua and Peru. The organization collaborates with universities across the United States to provide technical, organizational, financial and media and public relations support to NGOs in less developed countries.

By providing this support, Green Empowerment hopes to create sustainable living in the scope of electricity, clean water and watershed security for undeveloped communities.

In Malayacatoya, capstone students were able to witness the first stages of coffee bean processing as well as tour a micro-hydro system installed by Aso Fenix and powers 30 households, Hutton-Tine said.

Students installed solar panels on individual houses in Corozo, providing enough power for light and battery recharging. Each city had its own specific project need and gave students an idea of possible future projects.

“Dr. Rueter and Jason [Selwitz] created the project idea to have renewable energy in Nicaragua,” Hutton-Tine said.

The Nicaragua Senior Capstone group was started this year and intends to continue for years to come. They are now “working on a food security project with a basis to teach the community members how to sustain themselves year-round without having to leave their communities to work in Costa Rica,” Hutton-Tine said.

Many Nicaraguans are forced to leave their hometowns in order to work and provide food for their families during the dry season.  By providing fruit tree-grafting workshops, students hope to help communities provide themselves with new staple and keep community members in town.

Within this project, students hope to teach residents about watershed and soil improvement (including water quality), health and diet, and fruit production for personal use and sales. Students are currently researching grants to fund this project.

With their partnerships with Green Empowerment and Aso Fenix growing, the Nicaragua Capstone members will be able achieve their goals and improve the lifestyles of many rural community members in Nicaragua.

“It’s nice to have a community partner,” Rueter said. “I’ve learned a lot about the NGO world from the seminars and meetings.”