Posts Tagged ‘energy’
One Planet, Worlds Apart
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010
From time to time, I’m struck by how much I, and many others in North America, take certain situations and services for granted. This was one such occasion. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a hospital room – a maternity delivery suite to be precise – when I realized my good fortune, and not just because I was awaiting the arrival of my new daughter.
The hospital room I was sitting in was well light and air conditioned. My wife was hooked up to a myriad of electrical devices measuring everything from her blood pressure to the baby’s heart rate. The delivery room was sterile and it had a private bathroom. Yet only a few days earlier I had been talking with my colleague, Joanne, about a similar situation in Tanzania. In many parts of Tanzania, expectant mothers who go into labour between dusk and dawn and who are able to reach a medical clinic, must pay for the kerosene used to fuel the kerosene lamps at the clinic, in order to provide some form of lighting for the medical practitioner to deliver the baby.
Now, my experience of child birth is limited, but I don’t believe it’s unreasonable to suggest that child birth is a hard and stressful process for both mother and child, even in the most ideal of circumstances. Consider then the additional stress and potentially negative health implications if the delivery occurs in a poorly light, smoky and most likely hot and humid room. Yet this scenario is a common occurrence in many parts of Tanzania.
e4e wants to change this scenario. It will undoubtedly take time, and it can’t be done alone. But e4e is starting with a project that is working with local government to install solar lighting and solar power to medical clinics, high schools and orphanages in parts of the country. This should allow mothers to give birth in well light, smoke free rooms and children to undertake evening study. With hard work and effort, our worlds don’t need to be so far apart.
Tags: energy, energy4everyone, solar light, solar power, tanzania
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Helping Bawjiase Orphanage
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Earlier today energy4everyone returned to Bawjiase Orphanage and donated various cooking and lighting energy technology and started improving the orphanage’s access to modern energy. Importantly, all of the technologies donated were affordable and sustainable for the orphanage. In total, energy4everyone donated four energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, two solar lanterns and twenty crank-powered torches.
All of the staff and children at the orphanage were extremely thankful for the donation of equipment and were looking forward to using the equipment. In particular, they were very excited about having improved access to light and some of them busily set about turning levers to charge the torches. The prize: readily available light! Certainly, seeing the smiles on their faces was very satisfying and reiterated the value of our work and what energy4everyone is striving to achieve.
The donation of four efficient cook stoves for cooking enabled the orphanage to switch from using fire wood to charcoal. The efficient nature of the cook stoves, due to the ceramic liner, means that they retain heat far better than firewood stoves or traditional charcoal cook stoves. Consequently, the orphanage will be able to save money on its cooking energy costs. The orphanage estimates that the cost of a three week supply of firewood is approximately GHc 300 (Ghanaian Cede), which is approximately USD 200. This is in contrast to their estimate of approximately GHc 90 for a three week supply of charcoal; potentially, a huge saving. In addition, the efficient cook stoves produce little or no smoke and will therefore reduce the health risks to the people preparing the food.
The other area that energy4everyone was able to assist the orphanage was lighting. Very few of the buildings at the orphanage have lighting and there is no lighting in any of the twelve classrooms. As a result, the children cannot study in the evening, and walking around the orphanage grounds is dangerous because of snakes, which cannot be seen in the dark. By providing the two solar lanterns, the orphanage now has light in an outside communal area and the twenty crank-powered torches, which are charged by physically turning a lever, can be shared among the children when they walk from building to building.
Over the coming months we will monitor the effectiveness of the energy technology donated, as well as research and discuss the appropriateness of alternative energy technologies with the orphanage. This will ensure that energy4everyone continues to make best use of its physical efforts and financial resources, as it improves the lives of the children at Bawjiase Orphanage.
To view photographs of the orphanage and the energy technology donated to the orphanage, go to our Flickr pages at www.flickr.com/energy4everyone.
Tags: Bawjiase Orphanage, efficient cook stoves, energy, energy efficient charcoal cook stoves, energy4everyone, Ghana, solar, solar lanterns
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