SOLAR TO FIGHT DISEASE IN AFRICA

Green Energy Systems Power Fight Against HIV/AIDS in Africa; Solar Panels Save Operating Costs and Transform Remote Clinic’s Environmental Impact
Lauren Taylor, July 16, 2009 (Solar Electric Light Fund)

"The Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF)…[has completed] the largest solar installation at a remote health clinic in Africa. The 10kW solar electric system provides 90 percent of the power requirements for the new Village Health Works (VHW) clinic in Kigutu, Burundi, an unelectrified village 95 kilometers from the nation’s capital.

"To power the clinic, SELF technicians built multiple solar arrays containing a total of 98 panels at 130 Watts each. Ersol Solar Energy AG (Ersol) donated the solar cells for the project, and Cermet Materials, Inc. contributed the labor and materials required to manufacture the solar panels. Without this system, the clinic’s only alternative for generating electricity came from costly, polluting and unreliable diesel generators…"

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"VHW is an international non-governmental organization that was established in 2007 by Deogratias Niyizonkiza, an American citizen born in Burundi, East Africa. Supported by Partners In Health, the NGO cofounded by Dr. Paul Farmer, VHW sought to bring high quality healthcare to the people of Burundi, reported in 2006 by the World Bank to be the world's poorest country. Burundi faces a public health crisis, with a life expectancy of 49 years and over 110,000 adults living with HIV/AIDS in the wake of the recent genocide and civil war. Mr. Niyizonkiza worked with community members to build and operate a model expandable health center in Kigutu, where the nearest hospital is a 14-mile walk. Initial services include comprehensive treatment for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases; as well as prenatal care and prevention counseling for mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The clinic expects to serve over 60,000 rural villagers in the surrounding area…"

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"SELF is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit working to combat climate change and reduce energy poverty by bringing solar power and wireless Internet access to remote rural villages in the developing world. SELF has pioneered innovative applications of solar power such as drip irrigation in Benin, telemedicine in the Amazon rainforest, vaccine refrigeration in Rwanda, online distance learning in South Africa, and microenterprise development in Nigeria. These successful pilot projects culminated in SELF’s whole-village approach, or Solar Integrated Development model…

"Village Health Works (VHW)…[works to bring] high quality healthcare to the people of Burundi, reported in 2006 by the World Bank to be the world's poorest country. To this end, VHW is working with community members to build and operate a model expandable health center in the rural village of Kigutu, located approximately 60 miles (95 km) south of Bujumbura, the capital city of Burundi, situated on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika…"