Sustainability Projects Abroad

Sustainability Projects Abroad is a registered student organization in the University of Massachusetts Amherst that seeks to serve the world abroad through 100% student-led sustainability projects that locals can take and run without relying on foreign help and technology.

This May 20-30, we are planning a trip to Lombok, Indonesia to identify key water, agriculture, and energy issues faced by local communities there. Our goal is to come up with a feasibility study that can be used by the local people and non-profit organizations working on the island. We will also be setting up water filtration systems in villages that experience droughts and teach locals how to compost and preserve excess food. The money fundraised will go towards the trip expenses like our plane tickets, meals, accommodation, and transport. In addition, each Filter of Hope Hollow Fiber Membrane (HFM) water filter costs $40 and can filter up to 150 gallons of water a day, 7 days a week for a local family. SPA is hoping to collect $2000 for 50 water filters by the end of April. We will also be teaching locals how to use the resources already available around them to compost and preserve excess food.

This trip means very much to us because it shall be the first time many of us will be traveling to Southeast Asia for a community development project. We are students deeply passionate about sustainability, clean water, and human development. The experience we gain putting what we have learned in class into practice shall be invaluable to our future careers.

With permission from the locals, my team and I will be photographing and geotagging households receiving the water filters and compost kits with the Solocator app to show the direct impact your sponsorship has made in peoples' lives. Other perks for generous donations include being personally given a sustainability tour in UMass or receiving a pdf file of an original compost guide we created ourselves.