Now back from her trip, Rice University graduate, Jordan Schemerhorn offers a video op-ed on her travels with the New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof to Lesotho and Malawi.
(Video: New York Times)
Also we recommend catching up on the fourth and fifth blog installments on the New York Times website. As a graduate in Bio-Engineering, it’s obvious Ms Schermerhorn’s passion is with seeing the various medical and life-saving practices being used in Africa. We were delighted though to see that she also included a post touching on the important issue of energy for people at the margins in the developing world.
As anyone touched by Hurricane Ike, or even this past weeks rains will attest, going with out power is a hardship; particularly when you are not accustomed to living without it. However, in countries like Malawi the opportunity to advance ones self or survive are limited when your primary source of fuel is far more old-fashioned – impacting not just your finances, but your health and the environment. As Ms Schermerhorn observed:
I was in Malawi for six hours before my laptop fried.
While charging overnight, it became the sorry victim of a routine power surge. Though it sputtered back to life the next day, I was very bluntly forced to acknowledge the power issues Malawians in the cities deal with on a regular basis, along with the complex ecological trade-offs people weigh to meet their needs.
While only a minority of Malawians are actually hooked up to the electrical grid, the consequences of frequent blackouts and surges for all become clear in hospitals. A flickering light or faulty generator can mean the difference between life and death for a woman undergoing a caesarean section or a premature baby dependent on a ventilator.
Yet those without grid access have other options. One phenomenal [brickmaking] entrepreneur we spoke to told us she was saving to buy a solar panel, an expense that is out of reach for most people. The two primary things that use fuel also require wood – lots of it
…All of this presents Malawians involved in agriculture with a quandary and a tragedy of the commons. They need to cook, and they need to build homes, but the effects of gathering the required amounts of wood are dire. The mass effects of deforestation – drought, erosion, and expedited climate change – end up being just as painful for the poor when they come face to face with the consequences in the form of a dried creek or a poor harvest. Many farm workers we spoke to were aware of the relationship between these activities but at a loss for what to do about it.
Read the full article at:
Too Much Wood, Too Little Power (New York Time Blog)
For Houston, renowned for calling itself the ‘Energy Capital of the World’, this is a topic that we hope will get more attention in the years to come. Looking beyond just gas and oil, we have a big role to play in bring sustainable and affordable energy to all our cousins, on the ground in the world’s poorest places.