Renewable Energy in the Third World

Sadly, only a few of us who grow up in our western civilization really consider an alternative to becoming a part of the traditional economic machine. While we try to choose a career path about which we feel a certain spark—a spark that may come from helping others—only a few of us make enormous sacrifices and take on lives of pure compassion.

For a moment, I’d like you to reflect on the story of Steven Bloomstein and his friend Bob Albert who met as classmates at Harvard in the late 1960s. Like all products of top universities, the boys realized they had been groomed to become legislators, doctors, captains of industry, etc.—but when they recognized that none of these pursuits held any real attraction, they decided to go in another direction altogether.

After graduation they bought an abandoned hacienda in a remote part of Sucre, a state in the eastern part of Venezuela—a 3½-hour hike from the nearest road. They built an organic farm, and hired on the local campesinos (rural slash-and-burn subsistence farmers) who were uniformly illiterate, unspeakably poor, and previously unaware of sustainable agriculture practices.

In 1995, Steven and Bob registered a Massachusetts-based non-profit organization that they named The Turimiquire Foundation, after the nearby mountain range, and began to formalize the delivery of a variety of services in education, medical care, and reproductive counseling. Along with dozens of devoted volunteers, including Steven’s younger brother Willie, who runs the administrative operations in the U.S., they’ve dedicated themselves to helping tens of thousands of poorest of the poor to lead healthier, happier lives.

From the standpoint of renewable energy and environmental stewardship, the relevance is obvious: slash and burn, as the name implies, is horribly debilitating to the environment. Not only does it reduce the amount of vegetation that consumes CO2 and produces oxygen, but it pumps CO2 and other far more noxious chemicals into the atmosphere. Thus the presence of Turimiquire has been a considerable boon to the world in which we live in a great number of ways.

To me, the story of Turimiquire serves as a reminder that there are hundreds of different equally valid ways of life. We’re not here forever, and we shouldn’t waste our time foolishly conforming to other people’s ideas of success and meaning.

Please visit http://www.turimiquire.org/. I know you’ll be as impressed as I am by this story of passion and beauty. Unfortunately, the meager donations that my wife and I have been able to make over the past six or so years haven’t been terribly meaningful, but we’re proud to be supporters nonetheless.

PS: Here’s an infographic that depicts the history of renewable energy at a glance.