Location: San Antonio De Upa, Nicaragua
Cost: $2,500
Date Started: August 9, 2015
Date Completed: August 11, 2015
Major Donors: Strata Solar
Summary
As soon as the two trucks carrying the construction material pulled into San Jose, a crowd of giggling children and curious adults formed outside the school. San Jose is a beautiful village, a sprinkling of houses in the midst of a massive coffee plantation. It’s a village cut off from the world, but with a window out to the mysteries beyond. Every winter hundreds of temporary farm workers descend on the area to pick coffee beans, exchanging stories and dreams in the process. The way the community immediately warmed to the outsiders coming to install lights showed they are used to the excitement of newcomers and the exchange that comes along with them.
The impact that lights and electricity will have on the community is apparent right away. This is a community itching to be a part of the larger world, and itching for opportunities to grow. United Solar Initiative teamed up with Sister Communities of San Ramon to work with the community and design a system that fits their needs and helps give them some of the modernity that was beyond their reach before they had electricity. Before these projects on dark days or at night, when the adults were done working on the coffee farms and want to learn, the school used kerosene lanterns to light the enclosed classrooms. Additionally, the one connection to the outside world, their cell phones, were unable to be used frequently without a way to charge them. Every week community members sent their cell phones to town with whoever was going that week to pay for charging in town, a drain on an already limited income, and a constriction on their only connection to the larger world.
USI worked together with Sister Community of San Ramon to plan and Suni Solar to construct a 250-watt system on the roof of the school San Jose that will give them interior and exterior lights and cell phone charging and the occasional video or computer lesson rain or shine. We are very happy to say that San Jose now has a sustainable source of energy to use for the education of their community and to connect them to the world beyond the coffee fields.
About our Partners
Sister Communities of San Ramon
SCSRN, a collaboration between San Ramón, Nicaragua and its partner communities in the United States, provides educational opportunities and people-to-people connections through:
- Developing education projects which address community-identified needs in San Ramón.
- Promoting Eco-tourism, hands-on cultural immersion travel, community service and experiential learning.
Suni Solar
Suni Solar is a solar company based in Managua, Nicaragua dedicated to the design and installation of renewable energy systems. Since being founded in August 1999, Suni Solar has developed vast experience in photovoltaic solar energy in its various applications to meet the basic needs of the market with high-quality products and personalized service.
