In September, Project Director Stefan Burckhardt visited the village of Samhun, one of our wind energy project locations. The local men proudly showed him their new 2 Kilowatt-windmill, which they had connected to a generator using a foreign gearbox. Now ten families have electricity in their homes enabling them to watch television or turn on a lamp to read by in the evenings.

The year-old 300 watt windmill has also been redesigned and rebuilt by local North Koreans according to specifications of better models seen by the local team leader, on an Agape fact-finding trip to China last year. He reports with all modesty:

This model has been redesigned and constructed in a unique way that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. And, well, I designed it myself!“

Stefan is excited by the high degree of personal initiative and creativity that the wind energy project has brought out in many North Koreans. He hopes that this model will become even more popular and spread to other village collectives, so that they, too, can benefit from having electricity.

A special training course as well as a windmill design contest have already been held. Nine teams from various institutions presented their windmills, which were judged by a jury and awarded prizes. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dear Reader,  I was recently greeted warmly by both my North Korean and fellow ex-pat friends as I arrived in Pyongyang. One week is only a short amount of time, but the most important things on the list could be crossed off: budget controlling, a visit to the windmill location, planning for the future. My personal highlight was climbing to the top of our new 2kW windmill, at a height of 15m/45ft. Instead of hanging onto a firm rock face, I climbed up the metal rungs on the windmill scaffold – without any kind of safety net below. Luckily it was not a very windy day, so the danger of being „guillotined“ by the blades was minimal! However, as soon as I set foot back on solid ground, the wind gusted strongly for about 3 minutes straight. This gave me a chance to see exactly how well the windmill can turn in windy conditions. It is gratifying to realize that these significant steps are really only the beginning of what we are anticipating for the future. Sincerely yours,  Stefan Burckhardt,  Project Director North Korea

In October Stefan Burckhardt traveled through Germany and Switzerland with four North Korean alternative energy experts.

In addition to learning more about the different wind energy installations, the group gathered information about other alternatives to coal and oil. Wood pellet ovens as well as a solar oven were as interesting as the wind park and the car that had been refitted to run on natural gas, which can also be produced from composting food waste or manure. Stefan Burckhardt was able to assemble a well-rounded program of activities for the short visit, and the four guests were very satisfied with the offering. Each member of the team got to see something in his area of expertise. Technical discussions often lasted long into the night, and many hours were invested searching the internet for the newest information. However, tourist activities also had their place: a tour of Zurich‘s old city, a visit to the Rhine Falls, an invitation from the embassy to visit Geneva. One participant remarked that he had certainly seen the most important sites in Switzerland on his trip.

Anita Burckhardt 

Energetic discussions about the design and functionality of windmills atop the Taggenberg, Switzerland.

16. October 2009: Ulrichstein, one of the largest wind parks in Germany. Despite thick fog we soon found the town, a tourist information and friendly men explaining us the way to the „Wind Energy Hiking Path“. The tourist information was heated using a wood pellet oven. I spontaneously asked if the building superintendent could show us the oven. Although he was not available, our helpful new friend, Mr. Stern, offered to show us the boiler room himself! After this unexpected treat, we said goodbye and headed outside. Suddenly Mr. Stern was standing in front of us again:
Let me drive you to the wind park – it is supposed to rain today, and I would not want anyone to catch a cold.“ In this way we made it to the wind park in no time! Along the road, 13 wind mills turned their turbines. After a short but intense rain shower, the sky cleared and we were able to see more windmills – 64 in total! After this special surprise we headed back to town – Mr. Stern came back to pick us up!

24. October 2009: A spectacular panorama  from atop Mount Soleil. The walk from the solar cell testing area to the wind park led us closer to the Jura mountain chain, with its cows, mountain pastures and horse carriages – all at least as interesting as the wind mills.
When they got home, Stefan cooked a simple meal of rice and kimchi. Mr. Kwon:
That was the best meal we have eaten here with you, it was just like at home in North Korea!“

and pickles with cake, but the others seemed to enjoy it. In addition to technical training, the group spent the time of their trip in intensive cross-cultural and language training courses. Obviously moved and very thankful for a valuable experience, we said goodbye to one another at the airport.
Taschi Manabschida – See you again soon“. Who knows when we might see each other again? But the last three years have taught me that everything is possible – even those things we would not dare to dream!

Stefan Burckhardt 

Newspaper articles from former project locations prove: sustainable help was indeed given, and milk processing continues – even without our supervision

In 2005 the UN signed a resolution declaring that North Korea violated human rights. As a result, all NGOs, including Agape international, were asked to leave the country. Since that time we have not been able to visit many of our former project locations. What a joy it was to see an article about a  project location and its activities – goat breeding at Pyong Pung Dok - in a North Korean newspaper!

Years ago we wrote the following words in a report about this location:
In 1997 21 new goat brigades were formed in the Hamzu District and relocated to the mountainous region of Pyong Pung Dok. This hilly region with an abundance of unused land is suitable for goat breeding. The goat brigades are made up of around 400 inexperienced young people with little agricultural knowledge. They are led and trained by a few families. The region of Pyong Pung Dok is a model location for the settlement of other mountainous areas of North Korea. It is especially important to supervise this pioneer project with expert knowledge and instruction to avoid making fundamental mistakes in the development of pastures and meadows. This is an opportunity to set the standard for North Korea in this area.“
Our agricultural and cheese making experts supervised and consulted with the people in this mountain region over many years. One of their leaders participated in a long-term internship in Switzerland. Even then, we saw how the work grew from year to year.
In recent years no new reports reached us – until we saw the article in „Korea 8/2009“:

Stockbreeding Base on Phyongphung Tableland

Flocks of goats on a vast tableland, modern dwelling houses, production buildings and welfare service establishments at the sunny foots of the valley…
The Phyongphungdok Goat Farm in Hamju County looks like a picture. Hamju County set to the building of the goat farm by itself so as to better the locals’ dietary life by raising herbivorous animals. The huge project covered opening of roads to grazing lands scores of km long in the Phyongphung area 40-odd km away from the county town, building of more than 100 dwelling houses, cultural and welfare establishments and pens for goats and laying of long-distance electric wires. It was very difficult to lay out roads to grazing lands on mountains. The county officials inspired people to the project, working in the van of them. By their united efforts to make their home village better to live in, the project made brisk headway and a large goat farm was built in a few years. Goats flock in vast grasslands and pasturers’ children are educated at the Phyongphungdok branch of Phungsong Secondary School. A room for disseminating scientific and technical knowledge, a clinic, a hotel and youth hostels and houses in branch farms and well-furnished service establishments—everything has no room for fault. The farm is literally a “home over clouds”. Cheese, milk curd, yogurt and other dairy products produced in the milk processing room are greatly conducive to the locals’ life. Phyongphung Tableland is changing day by day

I am delighted to see that we reached our goal of providing help which has clearly led to self-sufficiency. Even without our ongoing input and supervision, milk continues to be processed and the goat herd is prospering!

Anita Burckhardt 

Before and after: the area has changed dramatically over the years!

After Stefan Burckhardt shared the news about his radio interview with a Korean friend, the man visited the korean website to learn more about the interview. In an e-mail response, he wrote:

I really appreciate your commitment for NK. I visited the website, and saw that number of Korean Media had picked up and published the news about your work.  I can sense that they are quite interested in what you’re doing.
I especially value your ways of working with consistency.  I know that challenges and barriers are inevitable no matter what you do with the North Koreans and yet, you never give up and demonstrate your heart with perseverance.  And you always seem to make things happen, making progress toward the ultimate purpose.
I’ve seen a lot of changes in NK.  Although, it still remains as unpredictable.  I am looking for any ways to work with your practically.  Please let me know what I can do to help.“ 

Our goal is to provide sustainable help that empowers local citizens and shows the citizens of North Korea God‘s love. One huge problem is the lack of reliable energy sources. We want to help people who have no access to regular electricity networks: with windmills or solar lamps that can be produced locally in North Korea.
Thank you for your donations, which help provide the rural population of North Korea with electricity and improve their lives. You are valuable partners in our work! 
 
 

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More information you can find in the earlier project updates.