SOLAR PANELS

A solar panel is probably the greatest gift you can give to a poor family in Rwanda!

In Rwanda, only 37% of the population have access to electricity (https://www.rlp-ruanda.de/laenderinfos/ruanda/wirtschaft/). This means that it is pitch dark in the mud huts at the latest by 6.30 p.m. every day. Besides, many sponsored children in the villages are often unavailable for our project partner for days because they have nowhere to charge their cell phones (usually an old device that can only be used to make calls). And many people do not even know for sure what is happening in their own country, because a radio also needs electricity. There are many examples that make life without electricity and without light extremely difficult.

However, you can change all of this with a donation of € 140 only! Donate a solar system – consisting of 4 lamps, a mobile phone charging station and a solar radio – and in this way give light to a family in Rwanda! Transfer your donation to the project account.

Together with the village chiefs, our project partner then selects a family in need and accompanies the installation of the solar system from ordering it to entering the code to activate the system. You will receive the relevant photos and receipts after the project.

We had the first 51 solar systems installed in 2017 – now there are well over 100 solar systems that we have been able to install on the roofs of mud huts thanks to individual donations!

Read the report by a board member from summer 2017 here:

In the five weeks that we were in Rwanda in summer, we were able to carry out the general project work as well as the large special project “Solar systems for Rwanda”.

Das Projekt war ein großartiger Erfolg: innerhalb von 3 Wochen kamen Spenden in Höhe von knapp 7000 € zusammen, sodass wir insgesamt 51 Solaranlagen anschaffen und mit Hilfe der Techniker von „Ignite Power“ auf den Dächern bedürftiger Familien installieren konnten. Da 8 unserer Patenfamilien keinen Stromanschluss hatten, wurden diese natürlich vorrangig versorgt. Weitere bedürftige Familien wurden von den Dorfvorstehern mehrerer Dörfer in Rusheshe und Rutunga sorgfältig ausgewählt. Da es zeitlich unmöglich war, bei jeder Installation dabei zu sein, schickten wir die Techniker zum Teil allein in die Dörfer, kontrollierten aber zwei Wochen später jede einzelne Solaranlage. Auch wenn wir hierfür an mehreren aufeinander folgenden Tagen mit einem Fahrer stundenlang durch die Dörfer fahren mussten, hat sich die Mühe gelohnt: Wir haben vor allem einen tiefen Einblick in das Leben auf dem Land bekommen und es war herrlich, die Freude über das neu gewonnene Licht mitzubekommen!

It was wonderful to see the lamps during the day, but in the evening, light has a completely different effect, as we were once able to experience ourselves: We were walking with “our” technician on a steep slope in Rutunga (there was no road for quite a distance), on the way to David, our sponsored child. It was already 5:45 p.m. and David’s family was due to get the last solar panel that day. While we were giving David gifts from his German sponsor and he started to write a thank-you-letter, the technician started installing the solar panel. And then suddenly it got darker and darker. In Rwanda, night falls within a noticeably short time until it is completely dark at 6.30 p.m. Someone had a cell phone flashlight ready for the technician so that he could activate the last codes, but otherwise you could see in the darkness: nothing! … And then suddenly the time had come: “There was light”! All the neighbours rushed over immediately, and the children danced to the music of the solar radio – what a life change! In the future, it will be easier for us to reach David’s grandmother, with whom he lives together – thanks to the integrated mobile phone charging station, and David can still study for school in the evenings.

On behalf of the entire team and especially on behalf of the Rwandan families, thank you very much again for the great support! As all Rwandans always say: May God bless you!