Community Solutions: Water & Energy Access in Venezuela and Indonesia

The Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University brings together rising leaders from the United States and around the world who have demonstrated a commitment to finding solutions to challenges in their communities and countries.

Mustika Wijaya of Indonesia is the Founder & Executive Director of Solar Chapter. Mustika is focused on promoting sustainable community development by increasing access to water, sanitation, and education in rural communities across Indonesia. Mustika Wijaya is an engineer who has developed an innovative community-owned solar pump system that seeks to ensure that all Indonesians have access to clean water. Implemented with the knowledge that the responsibility of obtaining clean water disproportionately impacts women and girls in rural areas, Mustika’s efforts have reduced long-term barriers for women’s education and employment. Women and girls in 10 villages no longer have to walk three to five hours a day to gather water. Solar Chapter’s pump technologies allowed them to participate in Solar Chapter’s educational programs, resulting in higher levels of school participation and engagement in health and hygiene practices. Each Solar Chapter intervention is community-led, with members of each village playing an active role in the development, implementation, operation and maintenance of each water system. Solar Chapter has also engaged 160 young adults from around the world to find water solutions and has collaborated with Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning and The World Bank. Mustika holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and participated in UNICEF’s Young Changemakers initiative.

Jesús Armas of Venezuela is the President of Ciudadanía Sin Límites. Jesús is focused on promoting democracy and human rights in Venezuela through grassroots mobilization, technology and increasing equitable access to water and energy. Jesús Armas is the president of Ciudadanía Sin Límites, an organization that promotes freedom and democracy in Venezuela. Jesús leads the core programming of Ciudadanía Sin Límites, including an online crowdsourcing platform that maps and records power and water supply failures in Caracas. Tracking the number of hours per week that citizens have gone without water, payments provided to water providers, and the quality of water that is delivered, Ciudadanía Sin Límites puts pressure on failing service providers through protests and media advocacy to ensure that the right to clean water for citizens is upheld. Since 2018, Jesús has created a network of 400 citizens to fight for water and sanitation access and his interventions have helped thousands of citizens gain access to drinking water and energy. This approach has created a neighborhood network where community members share information and propose solutions and goals for their communities. Ciudadanía Sin Límites also provides direct support to 1,200 children and families living in five low-income communities, facilitating opportunities for community members to secure positions in food preparation, receive advice and guidance from nutritionists, and participate in training opportunities focused on democratic values.  Jesús received a Chevening Fellowship to complete his master’s degree in public policy at the University of Bristol and he holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas.

Students who are unable to attend in-person are welcomed to join by Zoom: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/99179985255?pwd=UTlPdkp0Tk1LWHljL3JVenVUN0tvZz09

Energy & Environment Concentration | Website | View More Events
Co-hosted with: Economic and Political Development Concentration, Leadership, Innovation, and Design Specialization

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