WE CARE Solar

I haven’t had a regular source of access to the internet so I apologize for the lack of updates.

I arrived in Nigeria after a brief stop in Italy, where Renaissance artwork depicting night life by candlelight and women who died in childbirth reminded me that until the last century the issues WE CARE Solar addresses were central throughout the world.

On Monday, we flew to Jeremie, a coastal town to the West of Port-au-Prince that would have required a full-day of travel by car.

I'm unable to upload pictures of Haiti from my hotel, but I wish I could share some of the scenes we encounter. Clusters of neatly uniformed school children heading to school with a back drop of rubble and destruction, public parks completely obliterated by a sea of blue tents, street vendors and "tap-taps," the public buses decorated with colorful pictures and messages, and outdoor hospitals with lines of patients hoping to be seen.

One of my great joys in directing WE CARE Solar is getting to combine the talents of so many wonderful volunteers. The list of dedicated souls grows each week, and we now boast a magnificent line-up of engineers, health providers, lawyers, teachers, and students working together to improve health care for women and their families around the world.

When high school senior Jesse Del Bono heard about the crisis in Haiti, he wanted to do something tangible. And he had started just the right club to join WE CARE Solar in making a difference. Jesse founded Club RESCUE, which stands for "Renewable Energy Sources Club: United Educators," with the aim of enlightening fellow students, faculty members, elementary grade students and the general community about climate change, energy conservation and renewable energy (especially solar power!).

Nigeria continues to hold a magical spell on me. No matter how gloomy I feel in the U.S., I am always energized by my connections to friends and colleagues in this fascinating country. This trip, I spent time teaching ethnographic techniques to research fellows at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH). We decided to expand our research efforts by initiating a participatory research process with Kogan Gayan hospital staff.

We're beginning to register people for our Solar Intensive Class, taught by our own co-founder Hal Aronson, Solar Designer and Installer Mike Strykowski, and assisted by our co-founder Laura Stachel. This is a hands-on solar intensive for five days in March, and is geared towards people working in off-grid regions or regions without reliable electricity. It will introduce participants to solar design and installation for off-grid systems, and includes plenty of hands-on experience and practice.

The week unfolded seamlessly. We made the decision to light up the hospital pediatrics ward on Wednesday, and by Friday we had accomplished our goal! Using the solar suitcase I delivered as a foundation, we purchased a 40 watt solar panel in the city of Kaduna, as well as two small batteries and enough wire to permanently install lights along the ceiling of the Pediatrics ward. As the sun receded into the horizon, we were able to flick on the lights to the delight of the hospital staff, who now were assured that they could conduct their job with reliable lighting.

This is my very first time accessing internet since I arrived in Nigeria six days ago. So much to share!
The four hospital solar electric systems were functioning well, and on this trip I brought equipment to increase the safety of each system by adding circuit breakers for the batteries, and boxes to hold the circuit breakers in place. I reviewed the hospital records and learned that the maternal mortality rate in the hospital is one-third of what it was in the past.

I just returned to Nigeria to continue my evaluation of the solar equipment that we have been piloting in Northern Kaduna state. I brought two new solar suitcases with me, which I'll be bringing to local primary health care facilities, and I'll be interviewing health care providers about their experiences with solar powered light and communication.