Anna Samwel

Manager WECF Caucasus

12.01.2010

“I became involved as a volunteer in Women in Europe for Common Future when I was studying ecology and development studies, with an emphasis on gender and organic agriculture. I supported WECF’s field work in Romania, building water and sanitation facilities and helping to set up a women’s group. I subsequently became involved in their project work in Central Asia. Since 5 years I am coordinating the WECF project work at our office in Georgia

I particularly like working with people, and the fact that you can achieve concrete things for them in the field of sustainable development, like water facilities or solar panels. The solar energy project is particularly interesting as we are setting it up with a local energy cooperative, so that we can be independent of subsidies or other forms of government support.

The big challenge is to upscale this project: we started with establishing 500 panels, but we really need tens of thousands solar panels in Georgia.”