Candace Stryker, Intern 2002-2003

Background Bio:

After completing my university degree in 2002, I spent 4 months on my bicycle raising awareness about environmental issues affecting Canadians, as part of a group called ‘Cycling for Sustainability'.

Education:

B.Sc. (Environmental Science), Carleton University

Host Country:

the Philippines

Internship Experience:

In the Philippines Yori (the other 2002-2003 intern) and I worked primarily in introducing the Mayon Turbo stove to a new province on the island of Panay. At the same time we were trying to establish a new partnership with a local NGO who was also interested in renewable energy.

The limited funding and resources we were given made it difficult to get the project off the ground, but we made use of the resources at our disposal and were able to start up a small-scale stove program. We also got positive feedback from stove users regarding the benefits of the stove which encouraged us to continue on with the expansion of the project.

My role was in the education and promotion of the stove throughout the Province of Panay. I worked to increase local awareness of the stove through conducting demonstrations in public markets, with rice mill owners, Baranguay Captains, Mayors, and anywhere else I could find. I educated them on how to use the stove, as well as on its environmental, health, and economic benefits. In furthering the promotion of the stove we developed an international stove marketing package, and organized a workshop to bring together interested parties throughout the province.

The village integration I participated in was essential to the success I had as an intern. Through this experience I was able to develop my language skills and a rapport with the locals, as well as see and feel first-hand the needs and concerns of the locals.

It was this experience that enabled me to put the importance of the project into perspective.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to participate in this project. I learned so much about development from REAP-Canada as well as from the Filipinos I worked with in Aklan. I also learned about my own abilities, and developed a new respect for, and fondness of, other cultures. This experience put my creativity, tolerance, and patience to the test, and as a result I feel I am a better person for it.

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Yori Jamin, Intern 2002-2003

Background Bio:

Yori Jamin (left) and Candace Stryker(centre) with the Mayon Turbo Stove in the Philippines

In April 2001, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Calgary in mechanical engineering. Currently, I am pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering also at the University of Calgary. My research is focused on enhanced heat transfer using a porous medium applied to cogeneration systems.

My previous work experience includes working with the Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development focusing on Life Cycle Analysis and renewable technologies, and working as a design engineer at Exchanger Industries Inc. responsible for manufacture of shell and tube heat exchangers.

Education:

B.A.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering), University of Calgary
M.Sc. (Mechanical Engineering), University of Calgary (in progress)

Host Country:

the Philippines

Internship Experience:

Yori Jamin testing the Mayon Turbo Stove

During my international internship, I was responsible for a small cook-stove program in the Philippines. I had the opportunity to work with a local NGO, Sustainable Rural Enterprise. Together, we worked on the Mayon Turbo Stove (MTS) project at the Center for Productive Use of Renewable Energy (CPURE). Our goal was three fold: 1) understand the performance characteristics of the stove, 2) establish a local manufacturing program for the MTS and 3) promote the stove as a low cost alternative to LPG, Charcoal and wood cookstoves. Based on the results of testing completed at CPURE, I wrote a paper while studying at the University of Calgary. The paper was submitted to the International Journal of Biomass and Bioenergy and is currently under review. Through my internship I was able to better understand the effects of increasing demands of population growth and affluence on the earth's finite ecosystem and feel it is necessary to re-evaluate conventional energy use and resource allocation. In short, we need to understand and act toward a sustainable future.