The Ribeira Alta Biofuel Adventure

Okay,
So I've been doing these dailies, like the turtle stuff, interpreting, and helping farmers weed and such, but that's not really where my heart is at. I've been really setting my sights on this thing me and the Association leader from Ribeira Alta, so here goes;

Ribeira Alta is a tiny isolated village west of Cha de Igreja. It does not have road access and is a gruelling two hour hike from the nearest road. It is so isolated that makes Cha De Igreja look like St. Louis in terms of accessability. While for a couple months during the year the sea is calm enough to cut the travel time down with boat access, most transportation of goods and people involves a donkey at some point. There are about 200 inhabitants who live in the sheer cliffsides of the valley. The primary industry in Ribeira Alta is remittances and agriculture. The agriculture is principally sugarcane for making "grog" liquor and cassava.

The town has some fishing potential, and raises a fair amount of livestock as well. Unfortunately, these industries are of limited viability because of the electricity situation in the village. Ribeira Alta is not part of the electrical grid of Santo Antao, due to its location. Diesel fuel is provided by the local government to be put into the town's generator. However, this allows the village to have electricity for only 4 hours a day. Generally from 18:00 to 22:00. Furthermore the village is dependent on expensive imported fossil fuel.

The leader of the development association of Ribeira Alta, Cesario, has spoken with me about the solution to this problem. In Ribeira Alta's cliffsides, the Jatropha Curcas plant grows abundantly. The Jatropha plant's seeds, once processed, produce a biodiesel fuel capable of being used in the village generator. Cesario intends to refurbish an abandoned wellhouse and transform it into a miniature biofuel plant. My goal is to help Cesario realize this goal. We have met a number of times on this subject, and its success is my new all-consuming passion. I intend to help Ribeira Alta not only get the training and machinery necessary for this project, but also help encourage the locals to take advantage of the abundant unused lands to cultivate Jatropha on a small scale. Any thoughts?

Primary Project

Hi World,
I've been in a project soup lately. The last several months have largely consisted of me helping in some small part to the improvements of projects initiated by Cape Verdeans. This has been rewarding, as during our pre-service training (which was now over a year ago) we were taught to make sure all projects are sufficiently led by the host country nationals to ensure both interest and sustainability. This is a philosophy I agree with. People support that which they create, and the Cape Verdeans in my region have created a number of respectable projects. Most notably of those projects, has been the fishing community of Cruzinha which has made a conscientious shift in their treatment of Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta). To my buddies in San Diego "The Caguama". Once a community that ate this endangered species, Cruzinha is now leading the fight in Cape Verde for their preservation. Recently, their efforts have earned them an international prize and some additional resources. I am proud to be a partner with this group, admittedly my contribution to this organization is mostly through my time spent doing turtle watches, and nothing much more sophisticated. The sea turtles haven't been nesting much in Santo Antao this year, but there is still some time left. I hope to participate further with this group in "sensibilization" which is travelling to other communities and for lack of a better word "preaching" the gospel of conservation over consumption.