As an August 2010 Indicorps Fellow, you will promote the implementation of renewable energy programs within the community.

You should begin by understanding the current energy practices in the community. This will require you to spend significant amount of time in the community building relationships, understanding their lifestyle and energy requirements. Shadowing men and women to understand their energy consumption pattern and existing sources of energy would be a good starting point. The knowledge of health implications of existing energy use patterns will be imperative for designing the awareness program content.

Simultaneously, you should explore possibilities of different renewable energy solutions and products, especially the biomass stove and biomass pellets, to offer an array of eco-friendly products to the community. It might be useful to explore the availability of agro-waste, current usage, and variation in availability during different seasons.

Next, you should raise awareness about renewable energy and its benefits. You might want to use creative ways to mobilize the community such as group meetings, exposure visits, cultural events, role-plays, flip charts, and puppetry. Audio visual aids may be useful. Peers who share their own story(s)/experience(s) in harnessing the power of renewable energy could be powerful motivators. Visits to organizations/villages that have embraced renewable energy would help make further in-roads for convincing the local community.

Simultaneously, you will help prepare a sustainable long term business plan for viable renewable energy products that can be implemented by the community, like solar lanterns, biomass stoves and biomass pellets. You will conceptualize how the renewable energy products will be procured, produced and sold within the community.

Target Community:
You will be based in the Sangamner block in Ahmednagar. A majority of the population are dry-land farmers. Most of the people are semi-literate and below the poverty line. They use traditional forms of energy like wood and kerosene. There is seasonal migration to neighboring villages during the sugarcane harvesting season, and to sugar factories in nearby towns like Akole.

Objectives:
• To help communities move towards sustainable energy self-sufficiency
• To explore avenues of income generation in the community by adopting different renewable energy products
• To prepare a sustainable long-term business plan for these products

Challenges:
• Breaking/transforming traditional mindsets about resource usage
• Creating a sense of urgency on energy issues

Team-Based Model:
Each project is designed as a three-way partnership between you, Indicorps, and a partner organization. Each grassroots partner organization – in this case WOTR – will be hosting two to four Fellows. Consequently, the August 2010 Fellowship will have both an individual and a team component.

As a team of Indicorps Fellows, your focus is to empower communities to take charge of their own progress and development. Team members will focus on different areas including: enhancing local livelihood opportunities for youth, raising awareness about renewable energy and encouraging gender balanced development.

You will live with a host family in an active WOTR village. You will be responsible for washing your own clothes and helping with daily chores. You will be provided simple vegetarian food. Internet and international calling facilities are easily available in Sangamner. Local travel between the villages will be by jeep, state transport buses or bicycle. Pune is approximately four hours away from Sangamner, and is connected by bus. Pune is connected by to the rest of India by the road and railway network.

The language spoken at WOTR is Marathi. For this project, a basic knowledge of Marathi is required. If you do not have basic knowledge of Marathi, you can still apply if you commit to learning the language before the start of your Fellowship year.