Daily Archives: December 7, 2015

Kenya, Uncategorized

Solar Kiosks Help Light up Rural Kenya

InterPress Service

By Justus Wanzala

ken12
The Solar Kiosk with goods inside. A part from perishable foodstuffs/soft drinks they include solar energy accessories and phone chargers. Credit: Justus Wanzala/IPS

Olkiramatian, Kenya, Dec 7 2015 (IPS) – This market centre in the arid Lake Magadi region, Kajiado of Southern Kenya is with no grid electricity. The area is inhabited by the pastoralist Maasai community. With climate change affecting their pastoral way of life, the community is increasingly adopting a more sedentary life but without amenities.

The centre is hot and dusty. Much as the area enjoys bright sunshine during the day, the situation changes to pitch dark after sunset. But in the last two years, the market centre is witnessing a transformation. It is becoming a beehive of activity.

This is courtesy of Solar Kiosk Kenya Ltd. that installed a retail kiosk, called the SOLARKIOSK E-HUBB. The E-HUBB, designed by GRAFT (partners and co-founders of SOLARKIOSK AG, the Berlin-based mother company), is a modular solar-powered structure that can be easily implemented in remote communities. Continue reading Solar Kiosks Help Light up Rural Kenya →

Church, Paris, Uncategorized

Pope prays for Paris climate conference

Independent Catholic News

“What kind of world do we want to pass on to those who come after us, to the children who are growing up? For the sake of the common home we share and for future generations, every effort should be made, in Paris to mitigate the impact of climate change and, at the same time, to tackle poverty and to let human dignity flourish.”

Pope Francis prayed for the success of the Paris Climate Change conference during his address after the Angelus on Sunday.

The Holy Father said that as he follows the work of the conference closely, he remembers the question he asked in his recent encyclical Laudato Si’: “What kind of world do we want to pass on to those who come after us, to the children who are growing up? The Holy Father then urged that, “for the sake of the common home we share and for future generations, every effort should be made, in Paris to mitigate the impact of climate change and, at the same time, to tackle poverty and to let human dignity flourish.” Continue reading Pope prays for Paris climate conference →

Church, Uncategorized

Reflecting on Columban Mission to Paris Climate Talks

Independent Catholic News

In the Catholic forums Fr Sean McDonagh has called for a three-year Synod on Creation, developing the ‘Care for Creation’ ministry of the Catholic Church and building on Laudato Si’. It is absolutely clear that new ‘Creation Care’ structures are needed throughout international and national Church structures to work with hierarchy on environmental issues.

Ellen Teague

As the Columbia missionaries’ delegation to the Paris UN climate talks leaves later today, three questions are pertinent in this final blog: Why were we here? What reflections have struck us? How do we continue Colombian mission on Climate Change after COP21?

First, we have continued action on climate change which has been part of Colombian mission work for more than three decades. Second, we have supported people – particularly those most vulnerable to climate change impacts – who are crying out for climate justice.

Greenhouse gases poured into the atmosphere are changing the Earth’s natural cycles on land and in the sea and affecting the stability of the climate that has underpinned human development over the last 11,000 years. COP21 is the latest UN international initiative to address the problem and seek to promote sustainable development, and so we have been a witness to tackling human induced climate change here in Paris. Continue reading Reflecting on Columban Mission to Paris Climate Talks →