14 DAY TRIAL // Although it has less than one thousand residents, a community near Senegal's capital city, Dakar, shows great willingness to invest time, energy and even some money in leading an environmentally friendly lifestyle.
Thus, while world leaders gathered at various international conferences keep talking about the importance of sustainable development, the people living in this village are actually working towards getting green things done.
The village of Mbackombel seems to have found a successful way of balancing out its herding and farming activities with proper water management, not to mention that, as IPS News reports, the community is presently self-sufficient in terms of energy demands and supplies.
According to the same source, without having to cause significant damage to the natural ecosystems nearby, the residents of this village can pretty much enjoy all of the benefits of a 21st century life.
To be more precise: photovoltaic panels are used to generate sufficient energy to run a computer laboratory and the local library.
The very same photovoltaic panels also provide enough energy for the village's irrigation system, and for carrying water all the way to cattle farms.
It is expected that, with help from the Global Environment Facility and from the United Nations Development program, 14,000 such eco-villages will be built in Senegal by 2020.
Although, from where we stand, green communities are first and foremost welcomed because they safeguard the natural world, it seems that Senegalese high officials hope that they will also succeed in helping the country fight back poverty.
Recent studies indicate that these eco-villages also help keep young folks close to their families and birth places.
Whereas up until recently they had to leave home in order to search for jobs, it seems that implementing sustainable development in this part of the world also created numerous work opportunities and therefore convinced teenagers that it is worthwhile to remain home.