Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!)

CREATE!s mission is to partner with rural West African communities for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and climate solutions with women as the drivers of change. At the core of our program is the idea of self-sufficiency and economic empowerment of the women to improve their and their communities wellbeing. Our core program service is to train and support women in rural Senegal, our main country of operation in West Africa, on the four developmental sectors of renewable energy, water, agriculture, and income generation. Our programs are based on the concept of community well-being as defined by the communities themselves. Since our founding, we have engaged, mobilized and supported trusted leaders in the villages we have partnered with to identify their needs and to come up with solutions that bring the assets of their communities to address those needs while transforming the lives and livelihoods of local residents. Some of the main needs identified by communities in rural Senegal are that of clean perennial water and improved availability of nutritious food. Our climate smart programs strive to help women meet those needs.