History

The history of CASEP

The Central American Solar Energy Project was founded as a formal organization in 1991 by Bill Lankford, retired professor of Physics at George Mason University. While studying Spanish in Costa Rica in 1986, Bill was introduced to the idea of solar ovens by Siam Nandwani, a Costa Rican professor.  Siam shared with Bill his design for a solar cooker.  A test model was immediately built, and the seed was planted.

Later that year, while studying Spanish in Antigua, Guatemala, Bill, with the encouragement of fellow student Sister Jan Gregorich, contracted a carpenter to build a second oven using the Nandwani design.  Upon completion of their Spanish course, Jan and Bill took the oven to her parish in the coastal town of Rio Bravo. The oven worked beautifully in the intense sun there, and received an enthusiastic reception from the local Guatemalan families.  However, it was immediately apparent that the capacity was too small for the large families who hoped to use it for their daily meal preparation.

The next step came to define the uniqueness of the CASEP project. Both the physical oven design and the technology introduction protocol were developed in response to experience on the ground. As the process later spread to other countries, the result was a truly Central American model, well adapted to both the climate and culture of the region. In this case, the oven size was increased by about 50% in the first workshop that Bill instructed in Rio Bravo. From there, the oven building workshops spread to Quixayá, a nearby community of internal refugees. 

In 1998 Bill took a leave-without-pay from George Mason to teach physics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua (UNAN) in Managua where he experimented with different variations of the oven. His students won the national science prize for innovative technology with their ovens that year. 

The first truly participatory workshop was in El Triumfo, Nicaragua with four men chosen by their parish priest because they were good carpenters. Over ten weekends Bill taught oven construction and solar cooking techniques. Finally, the day arrived when the proud builders presented their beautiful completed ovens to their wives. Although the women were gracious their reaction was: “What was wrong with how I have been cooking for you all these years”?  Soon, the ovens were collecting dust. From then on every effort has been made to insure that only the person having primary responsibility for cooking in the home is the one building the solar oven. In Central America this all but insures that women will build their own ovens. This incentive to use their solar ovens has made huge difference in the acceptance of solar cooking by Central American women. Through these experiences, the vision of a Central American Solar Energy Project began to take hold.

As the project grew in Nicaragua and Guatemala, Professor Lankford saw an opportunity to further expand the project across international borders and began a partnership with two women, Judy Blankenship and Vilma Soto who helped organize the first solar oven workshop in Santa Barabara, Costa Rica in 1989.

Several years later after the Costa Rican project had some experience, a team of women traveled to Honduras to conduct a solar oven construction workshop to train and help establish a foundation for a solar energy project in Orocuina, Choluteca. The idea was to position the project to receive substantial financial support from the European Community which was available for large regional projects. However, by the time CASEP achieved this, the Berlin Wall fell and European development aid flowed east rather than west. However, our long range plans have been largely realized using our own funds, although at much slower pace.

Over the years the project has continued to grow, first as a small seed and with the support and nurturing of the CASEP family, then growing into a much larger comprehensive project which addresses a full spectrum of community issues. By the mid 1990’s, due to the hard work and vision of Bill Lankford, and the dedication of the in-country coordinators, the project had successfully spread to five contiguous countries in Central America. 

As the years passed, some programs closed, while others gave rise to new efforts, and new partnerhsips were formed. CASEP sponsored projects in Costa Rica and Nicaragua have given rise to new non-profit organizations and women-led efforts including Sol de Vida, Casa del Sol and FUPROSOMUNIC.  CASEP continues to colaborate with an association in Honduras where highly motivated teams working from resource and educational centers continue to empower their communities by teaching oven construction, building community relationships, and expanding the skills and confidence of women.