We are building the tools, the teachers, and the talent pipeline that will power West Africa's energy transition. Here is what your support makes possible.
Support the WorkKOC Bridges to Peace works at the intersection of peacebuilding and sustainable development, connecting communities across Africa through practical energy education and access.
Our Energy Access Programme focuses on one urgent reality: millions of people in off-grid communities live without reliable electricity. We believe that practical, low-cost renewable energy knowledge — placed directly in the hands of local builders and educators — is one of the most durable forms of development.
Everything we do is field-tested. Our approaches are shaped by the communities we work with, not handed down from the outside.
At the heart of our work is a community empowerment framework called Vision Power — adapted from tested international models including the Positive Youth Development framework, UNICEF's Social and Behaviour Change Communication approach, and the RAPID Outcome Mapping methodology.
Vision Power promotes human agency, shifts mindsets, and transforms narratives in target communities — from problems to possibility, and from awareness to action.
In many communities, violence becomes a shortcut to problem-solving — not because people are violent by nature, but because they lack the tools, life skills, and opportunities to channel their energy toward positive outcomes. This vulnerability is actively exploited by extremist organisations that offer belonging and economic advancement in exchange for loyalty.
Most development programmes are built around identifying problems and supplying outside resources — a narrative that inadvertently maintains the very vulnerability that bad actors exploit. Conflict analysis can map the drivers of violence, but often lacks a clear path toward community-driven innovation, vision, and lasting resilience.
Vision Power is designed to cultivate inner resources — the capacity for inclusive, collective decision-making and the pooling of local assets to overcome political and social barriers. Resilience comes when communities work directly with their own visions and goals, not those assigned to them from the outside.
Our energy access work — from the wind turbine field guide to Harmattan Heroes — is grounded in this framework. Technical education is a vehicle. The deeper goal is agency, possibility, and self-determined futures.
A practical field guide for constructing functional wind turbines using accessible materials — developed and tested across off-grid communities in rural Africa.
This guide is the result of years of on-the-ground learning. It is written for builders, teachers, and community leaders who need real solutions — not theoretical frameworks. Using locally available materials and simple tools, communities can construct turbines that generate meaningful electricity for homes, schools, and small enterprises.
The guide is being developed as an open-access resource so it can reach as many people as possible, free of cost.
"The wind is already there. We just need to teach people how to catch it."
Final editing and design of the field guide · Translation into local languages · Distribution to educators and community builders · Field workshops and follow-up support in target communities
A national STEM competition that puts 3D-printed wind turbine kits into the hands of Ivorian high school students — and turns their classrooms into engineering arenas.
West Africa holds immense renewable energy potential, but lacks the educational infrastructure to build the workforce needed to harness it. Harmattan Heroes closes that gap — inspired by the globally proven KidWind Challenge model, active in over 38 US states, and now adapted for Côte d'Ivoire.
3D-printed wind turbine and solar home kits designed for hands-on classroom engineering.
Educators in Bouaké, Korhogo, and Abidjan trained to guide student design teams.
Three months of collaborative engineering — students build and test real turbine prototypes.
A cascading competition structure from intramural contests to city-wide and regional championships.
The pinnacle event — the best student engineers in Côte d'Ivoire compete on the national stage.
Every kit planted today is an engineer trained for tomorrow's clean energy sector.
The Harmattan Heroes model replaces passive classroom theory with active engineering — and uses the power of competition to draw a global audience to Ivorian talent.
Students design, build and test real turbines — not textbook diagrams.
Competition creates urgency, pride, and rapid skill feedback at every stage.
A peer-to-peer digital campaign draws international attention to Ivorian student engineers.
Corporate sponsors fund kits, competition creates visibility, visibility attracts new sponsors.
Whether it's getting the wind turbine field guide into the hands of a rural builder in Mali, or funding the first batch of 3D-printed kits for a school in Bouaké — every contribution moves us forward. You are warmly welcome to support the work directly on GoFundMe.
Support on GoFundMeAll funds go directly to programme activities and field operations.