TNT: Report on Sustainable Development Project in Guatemala

dublin | education | event notice Monday November 25, 2013 12:36 by Latin American Solidarity Centre (LASC) events at lasc dot ie 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2, Ireland +353-1-6760435

Seventh appointament with the Night Talks on Latin America

Elaine Doyle was one of the awardees of the EIL Global Awareness Programme and on December 3rd she will present details of the sustainable development projects she worked on in Guatemala.

When: Tuesday 3rd Dicember, 6.30pm

Where: LASC, 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2

On December 3rd Elaine Doyle will give a talk about her experience living and working in Guatemala this summer

Guatemala is facing a lot of environmental issues and climate change is adding to their impact. Elaine worked with two projects to observe how people in Guatemala are working to develop more sustainably. One project based in the Guatemalan highlands is run by local members of the nearby village. The project is an ecological forest park used for recreation and education. For the 6 week placement Elaine and Nicola (the other awardee) in conjunction with staff in the park painted the children’s playground and built a rainwater harvesting unit.

The second project based on the Pacific coast by the El Salvadorian border is run by a Guatemalan based UK charity. It is a sea turtle conservation and community development project. For one week Elaine and Nicola worked patrolling the beach for turtle eggs, taking note of the bird species in the mangroves and worked with the charities children’s library. In both locations Elaine and Nicola visited the local schools to talk to the children and give them some information on Ireland, including Irish language, music and hurling.

Elaine is the Ashoka Change Nation Change Executive for Transition Towns, on the committee of Engineers Without Borders Ireland responsible for overseas placements and is currently setting up a social enterprise called Boltz Sustainability dealing with environmental education. She is academically, professionally and personally passionate about sustainable development in Ireland and aboard and is looking forward to presenting information about her work over the summer