In this issue:

• Letter From the Executive Director
• AIDG Founder Peter Haas wins Echoing Green Fellowship
• Xelateco continues work on Hydroelectric System
• Summer Interns Design a Change
• Tecotours Begin
• AIDG helps with MIT Haiti training
• AIDG featured in Fast Company Magazine
• AIDG to be featured on a WGBH's Design Squad
• Peter Haas to speak at a World Bank Conference
• How you can help

Dear Friends,

We hope that you have all been well. Many exciting things have happened since our last update. We have been to Haiti, brought in many skilled interns to our shop in Guatemala, been recognized by a major foundation and made significant progress on Xelateco's community electrification project for the Nueva Alianza community. We have come a great distance in the past few months and as always we plan with your support to build on this momentum in the coming months. I hope you enjoy the following update on our work.

Sincerely,

Peter Haas

Executive Director AIDG, Inc.

Back to Top

How you can help

Consider a 10 dollar a month donation to support our work. The majority of our funding comes from individual donors like you.

Give $10 a Month

Host a party

Tell a Friend

Sign up for a Tecotour

Peter Haas, the founder of the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG) was named named one of the "15 best emerging social entrepreneurs in the world" for 2006 by the global non-profit organization Echoing Green for his innovative plan to promote the use of clean technologies in developing countries. Read More...

Read The Echoing Green Profile

Back to Top

Xelateco has been making large strides on its production and installation of a 40-home hydroelectric system at the Communidad Nueva Alianza. Xelateco has been doing the high-tension wire work, pelton turbine manufacture, electronic controllers, manifold, and the penstock tubing work on the system.

Read more about Xelateco.

See updated photos of the finca project.

Back to Top

In the summer of 2006, 14 interns descended upon XelaTeco. Hailing from 3 continents and across a variety of disciplines, these volunteers collaborated with XelaTeco employees to help improve product designs. For example, James Russel, a graduate student in environmental engineering at Stanford, helped to increase the efficiency of our current ram pump design by 300%. Because of the smashing success with interns like James, the program will continue in Guatemala as a year long effort.

Read more about our amazing interns.

Learn more about AIDG internships

Back to Top

AIDG initiated its TecoTour program this past summer under the leadership of Outreach Director Benny Lee. The program is designed to provide an educational outreach opportunity for high school, college, and other groups to provide infrastructure for rural villages. On a TecoTour, folks roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and work on meaningful projects in rural communities using technologies produced by XelaTeco. Tecotour dates and signup information for 2007 will be posted on our website soon. The trip cost is 1200 dollars including food, lodging, materials, and on the ground transport. As we expand our workshop locations we will also expand our Tecotour program.

View the Tecotours Photo Gallery

Learn About Tecotours

Back to Top

An AIDG team just returned from Haiti, where they helped Professor Amy Smith and members of MIT's D-lab do a workshop on making charcoal from sugarcane waste. Sugar cane charcoal is a good alternative to using wood charcoal for cooking fuel especially in countries like Haiti where deforestation is widespread. The AIDG will be conducting a similar training in Guatemala this fall. In addition, the team reviewed several locations for new incubation facilities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Read our Blog of the Haiti trip

View the AIDG Haiti Gallery

Back to Top

AIDG is featured on page 26 of this month's Fast Company magazine. There are some great shots of Xelateco workers in action and a good explanation of AIDG's mission. We are really excited about the introduction of our programs to a wider audience.

Read the article

Back to Top

The AIDG just finished filming with WGBH, for an episode of its new reality competition for teens, Design Squad. The show's goal is to get kids excited about math, science, and engineering by showing them the weird and wonderful things engineering can accomplish. The episode with AIDG involves the creation of a simple peanut butter maker for a women's cooperative in Haiti. This episode is extra special because it is the only one of the series that illustrates how engineering can be used to address important social issues. Read more...

Design Squad Website

Back to Top

Peter Haas will address the World Bank conference "Youth, Innovation and Development: A Global Perspective" as part of the UN week celebration on October 26^th. He will present on the AIDG, Xelateco and the challenges facing entrepreneurs in international development.

Back to Top