THE PROBLEM:

Cipresales is an isolated community hours away from the nearest electrical pole, medical clinic and marketplace

Working as cardamom farmers and day-laborers at the finca, they struggle to send their kids to school, hoping they can acquire professional jobs one day. With no possibility of connecting to the electrical grid, educated youth miss out on modern communications, news and market information - keeping them economically marginalized for generations to come. In communities like these, youth are risking their lives to migrate to the U.S. in search of better paying jobs, but lack access to information to make safe decisions.

Solar Power = Health & Productivity

Families relying on candles and kerosene lamps cause women and children respiratory damage equivalent to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day (WHO 2014). In fact, lower respiratory infection is the top cause of death in Guatemala according to the CDC, it also holds people back from school and work, creating a barrier to personal development.

"Access to energy is fundamental to improving quality of life and is a key imperative for economic development."

(Energy Poverty Action initiative of the World Economic Forum)

Family productivity increases with electricity, women can weave at night, children can do homework, cell phones can get charged and communications increases. When public buildings are electrified, we grow the social fabric and productivity of an entire community who can now hold meetings and social events at night.

THE SOLUTION:

Our objective is to provide 840 un-electrified rural villagers with access to electricity and a computer lab to reduce the economic and social isolation of their growing population.

With the help of Fundition donors, volunteer travelers, and community contributions we will install 490 watts of solar power and a small computer lab at Cipresales Public School.

The Mayan Power and Light program educates the public about the important health, economic and environmental improvements that come from investing in small-scale solar power, a water filter and an eco-stoves at home and in public spaces. A local woman entrepreneur offers these free trainings and provides access to these affordable solutions through our nonprofit and social enterprise partners.

A demonstration project like Cipresales is speeding social change towards healthy green solutions. It enables a technological 'jump', where rural communities can engage in modern communications & green technologies and skip the electrical grid!

Who will benefit:

140 families, 180 school children, and 7 teachers will directly benefit from the village’s first electrified building offering a publicly accessible charge station enabling parents to charge cellphones and lanterns while children are in class. Solar electricity will also enable the school to host evening meetings and public events, increasing nighttime productivity in the home and in a public space.

180 children who attend school at Cipresales will have improved lighting to read by, projectors and music in their classrooms. Grades 4 - 6 will have computers to receive basic training on computer skills like typing and internet research, allowing them to keep up with industry standards and compete for work.

School administrators and teachers with new access to computers will improve their productivity in children’s education by accessing more educational materials and expand learning media by playing music and recordings in the classroom.

Needs and Impact:

Needs were identified by the community themselves. Teacher Claudio Chen Suc approached ATC regarding their community’s complete lack of electricity and inability to afford costs of extending grid electricity to their town. He organized with the School Principal, School Board of Directors, the Parent’s Association and the cocode to formally request solar power and computers with internet access for the administration and computer classes for their children.

Because Cipresales is across a river from the nearest electrical connection, and the community income is seasonal due to agriculture, monthly payments for grid-power is likely to fail. Setting up a solar power system on the school and training parents and community leaders how to install and maintain solar power will demonstrate the feasibility of solar on the family level. Families will see the benefits of quality lighting and decide to invest in family lighting systems when they have funds from the harvest. Families that invest in their home solar systems ensures the technology will used well and cared for. By training community members and school administration in Circuits & Solar they will understand how to maintain the school’s system to the benefit of all.

This project will sensitize the community about solar power solutions and create a pathway for families to purchase affordable solar products for their homes. The Circuits & Solar workshop and small-scale solar kits are provided by a local social enterprise, Soluciones Energeticas Apropiadas, started-up by ATC and Rotary International in our effort to strengthen local economies. A regional solar saleswoman participates in the project to create relationships with the community, providing local access to replacement parts and family solar power systems.

The computer lab will modernize Cipresales educational programs enabling future generations to compete with their urban peers for jobs.

Circuits & Solar workshops serve as community outreach and technical training on the topic of solar power systems.

Contributions:

Community: Desks & Chairs for Computer Lab; Secure Doors & Windows for anti-theft; Feed and host work team and volunteers, Write a maintenance funding plan overseen by a recognised committee, Designate a savings account for maintenance fund.

Fundition: $1,200 for solar panels & inverter backed by @ddaily dudes: @buttcoins @neopch @enjoyinglife @artakush @illucifer @camuel @captainbob @leotrap @sergiomendes @travellit @myndnow @tibfox

Volunteer Travelers: $4,000 for technical staff & solar batteries

Donated Laptop Computers from loyal followers like you!

Activities:

1. Train 10 community leaders a technical introduction to solar technology and solar power management in order to:

a) prepare for the collaborative solar installation,

b) ensure various people in the community understand the capacity and maintenance protocol of this self-managed energy solution, and

c) empower them to install their own small-scale solar power system at home.

2. Solar Installation: a collaboration by community leaders, technical staff & donors for:

a) Lights & Electrical Outlets in Classrooms and Community Meeting Space

b) Power for 10-12 laptop computers

c) Power for PA systems and projectors

3. Computer Lab Installation and connection to internet modem

More about Mayan Power and Light:

Mayan Power and Light is a self-sustaining development model that starts up women’s social enterprises who ‘pay it forward’ by training others and selling affordable life-saving technologies in underserved regions.

This model builds a sustainable local economy that is inclusive to women, indigenous, rural and low-income people while providing access to affordable, appropriate technologies to isolated regions in order to improve health and economic productivity.

In 2016 MPL was recognized as a global Top 100 Sustainable Solution by Sustainia and the United Nations Compact for Sustainable Development.

*Photos are from past community solar projects by The Appropriate Technology Collaborative