Adrian McKerracher
Appropriate Technology Programmer – Sierra Leone

Adrian spent three months in Smithers B.C. preparing for his overseas component by working on a sustainable office initiative that included hands on training in renewable energy, energy conservation, eco-design, water conservation, climate change and solar energy. One Sky is involved in the conversion of an inefficient office building into a sustainable office environment as an educational/outreach project regarding North-South “ecological footprints”. Adrian also researched appropriate technology in preparation for Sierra Leone. While in Sierra Leone Adrian worked at the Hamilton appropriate technology center to promote the use of technologies such as water cisterns, solar dehydrators, pedal powered pumps, a pedal powered cement tile making machine for sustainable housing and alternative water conservation technologies. Much of his work followed up on previous internship projects including water storage and alternative tile making for houses as well as a solar dehydration project. He also worked on improving local understanding of our solar power installation, the use of renewable energies and the use of sustainable building technologies including composting toilets in a rural environment.
 

Kevan Berg
Permaculture Programmer – Sierra Leone

Kevan spent approximately three months in Canada for his internship orientation and training. Kevan set-up a One Sky garden plot to showcase local food growing at our One Sky office in Smithers and assembled a binder of permaculture resources for use in Sierra Leone. He departed for Sierra Leone in October to work with Friends of the Earth Sierra Leone on their organic agriculture initiatives. Kevan became integrally involved in a new agriculture initiative working with women in the eastern district of Kono, supporting four farmer’s groups in the region through workshops on permaculture techniques such as composting and soil enhancement. 

Evelyne Ssengendo
HIV/AIDS Assistant - Nigeria

Evelyne spent ten days in an orientation/evaluation period that commenced in June of 2004 in Smithers, B.C. She then spent three weeks preparing for her trip and working directly with the Cross River Environment (CRE) Project coordinator in Canada.  In late August she traveled to Nigeria where she worked under the guidance of the One Sky HIV/AIDS and Gender ExpertPatricia Eyamaba, as well as the CRE Project Coordinator. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Cross River State is one of the highest in Nigeria and is considered a priority in development programming. One Sky has been supporting the integration of HIV/AIDS into our project by observing and internalizing the existing experiences with mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in Cross River State as well as designing effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by mainstreaming throughout all development activities, particularly given the structural factors central to the epidemic. Evelyne assisted the HIV/AIDS Gender Expert in carrying out workshops, the production of materials, dissemination of HIV/AIDS information, helping to implement recommended actions based on a previous mainstreaming assessment and compiling information for later use in Canada for public outreach. 

Greg Brown
Renewable Energy Programmer– Nigeria

Greg spent ten days in an orientation/evaluation period commencing in June of 2004 in Smithers, B.C.  He then spent two months preparing for his trip and working directly with the Cross River Environment Project coordinator in Canada on the Energetic Solutions International Conference on Renewable Energy held in Nigeria in November 2004. This included reviewing existing policy work on renewable energy that was developed by the Canadian Environment Network’s International Program and reviewing the outcomes of the Bonn 2004 Renewables Conference. In late July Greg traveled to Calabar, Nigeria to commence working on preparations for Energetic Solutions including working directly with renewable energy consultants on preparatory case studies in the area of the Obudu Plateau. Greg prepared materials, sourced funding and organized logistics for the Energetic Solutions conference and assisted with the follow up in Nigeria before returning to Canada. 

Susan Liu
Cross River Environment Project Assistant - Nigeria

Susan joined the One Sky internship team in the fall of 2004 and assisted with One Sky’s Annual Goods and Services Auction. She then traveled to Nigeria to work as a Project Assistant with the Cross River Environment Project. Susan assisted with monitoring and evaluation of project activities, and documented success stories emerging from the project, including highlighting a joint initiative focused on community mapping implemented by project partners Silva Forest Foundation and Nigerian Conservaton Foundation.

Solarin Harding
Micro-Credit Programmer – Sierra Leone

Shola spent ten days in an orientation/evaluation period commencing in June of 2004 in Smithers, B.C. She then spent 16 weeks working to prepare for her Southern component through the study of micro-credit, micro-credit financial management and researching the issue of Canadian social investment and fair trade practices. In the fall she worked with a Friends of the Earth Sierra Leone to further the work of the micro-credit project with eight women’s groups located in Freetown and the rural outskirts including the Lakka Peninsula. The women’s groups are generally small, established groups that approve their own projects, oversee the start-up of individual funds and loans and are involved on a weekly basis in the recovery of loans, the review and support of existing projects, the use of seed money and the development of capital for further loans or community projects.