Pilar Celi, Peru
Five women from Candarave Province, located in Tacna
(Peru), travelled to India to be trained and to learn how to install solar
panels. The training has enabled 272 families to have electricity and improve
their quality of life. Solar panels mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases
and allow to address climate change.
In 2011, Reina Isabel Humiri Mamani, 41, who has two
children and two grandchildren, realized that, sometimes, to make a right
decision, you have to break stereotypes, overcome fears and invest in
knowledge. Although her mother, brothers, and some people in her community
(Tacalaya) were against the idea, she accepted to take part in the Barefoot
College programme, travelled to India for six months, and learned that
electricity can be obtained by sunlight with the help of solar panels.
In December 2011, Reina together with four other women
from Candarave, left for Barefoot College. This institution brings rural women
together from around the world to Tilonia, a village in India, to share life
experiences and most importantly, learn how to install and maintain solar
panels – devices that convert solar radiation into electric energy – and thus
improve daily life in their communities.
"At first I was afraid, because I knew what would
happen. My family was sad, and in the community, they believed that it wasn’t
true that I would come back to help, once I left. ‘My, you’re so brave’, they
said,” Reina said to ConexiónCOP.
Before leaving, the inhabitants of the Candarave
communities, starting from 6 in the afternoon – at sunset – were experiencing
constant problems due to the lack of light. "I decided to travel to India
so that I could have electricity. We used to cook or care for animals at night
and children would study using the light of candles and lights. But we had to
buy kerosene and would inhale the smoke, which caused us trouble breathing,”
Reina explained.
As regards to what Reina said, the health system,
Allina Health, warns that inhaling noxious fumes can cause disease in the lungs
and airways. Moreover, according to a report by the World Health Organization
(WHO), around 96,000 children die annually worldwide due to thermal burns,
which may result from the use of lighters.
Solar
panels in the communities
To participate in Barefoot College, Reina flew almost
30 hours. She arrived in India, changed her diet, and left her family. Reina
explained that while in Tilonia, she mingled with women around the world,
discovered other cultures, beliefs, ideas, and even a new language, and above
all, learned about solar technology.
"At the beginning, our group of Peruvian women
was greatly shocked by the many changes we faced. The food was different and we
did not understand the language, but the teachers followed a method using
colours, with which were able to communicate, and we learned how to install
solar panels."
At Barefoot College, the women learn using signs,
numbers and colours. The method makes learning possible also by illiterate
women. With the help of teachers, they are trained on how to install solar
panels, troubleshoot and repair. Also, the aim of this programme is to be
replicated in other communities.
Coming
back to the communities
When they came back to their communities, Reina and
the others were recognized as engineers, a situation that no one had imagined
when they were offered the opportunity. In each village, a "solar
committee” was set up to organize the population. In January 2013, they
received equipment imported from India, which came in "kits" in order
to install a low-power solar system for electric lighting. The technology is
based on LED lights, which, unlike the traditional types, can be repaired and
need not be changed.
The installation of 387 solar units made it possible
for 1,360 people (272 families) from nine communities in Candarave Province to
have electricity. Alicia Condori Quispe, who was part of the Barefoot College
coordinating team in Peru, told ConexiónCOP:
"The team monitored the distribution process, but it was the five
engineers who installed the panels in the families’ homes. Each beneficiary
paid 35 [new] soles for the installation, and each woman was capable of
installing up to four units per day. The beneficiaries were very satisfied,”
she said.
However, maintaining the solar panels over the years
is an issue that still needs to be improved. Due to the high transportation
costs and the lack of budget and management in the communities, it was
problematic to regularly hire women engineers. However, new populations have
requested additional systems, which shows that the benefits outshine the
obstacles. As a first step, the engineers trained the beneficiaries on the
basic maintenance of the systems, who today can carry out simple repairs
independently.
The
benefits from solar energy in Candarave
Candarave is province that is particularly vulnerable
to climate change. The area lies between 3,500 and 4,800 meters above sea
level, and the inhabitants are mainly engaged in trout and alpaca breeding.
Alpacas have been affected by the increase of greenhouse gases, as frost and
drought are compounded by the effect of climate change, thus affecting their
food.
With the arrival of solar power, the children of
Candarave can study at home with adequate lighting and improve their school
results. The health of the populations has also improved because they no longer
inhale the smoke of candles and lighters. In addition, this resulted in
significant cost savings for families, because the lighting systems previously
used were very expensive.
Villagers on their own initiative also brought power
outside the home, which resulted in an increase in the productivity in
traditional activities. Policarpio Pariguana, who owns a trout farm, installed
five solar panels, which made it possible to feed his fish at night and in the
early morning.
Similarly, Reina explained that the villagers who
raise alpacas as she does, installed solar lighting systems to protect their
alpacas at night and to prevent foxes, which usually eat baby alpacas, from
coming near. Another initiative was taken by the parents in the community of
Marjani, who collected money to pay for the installation of the solar system in
the community school.
Rodrigo París Rojas, journalist, political scientist,
diplomat and director for Latin America of Barefoot College, explained that
when women return to their homes, they become transformative people who
illuminate lives.
"When returning home, women want to stop the
consumption of gasoline or kerosene, which provides feeble light and generates
CO2 emissions. With the help of NGOs and state institutions facilitating the
programme, they also want to do away with the risks of accidents and problems
for children’s health due to the amount of smoke that they inhale,” said
Rodrigo París Rojas.
Electricity
is development
In developed and developing economies, access to
energy is often the difference between poverty and wellbeing. The importance of
the Barefoot College programme, which invests in knowledge and empowerment of
the people, lies precisely in this difference.
Rodrigo París explained that during their stay in
India, rural women learn to fight and to overcome challenges, and realize that
change for the better is possible.
A key component of Barefoot College is that the
students are exclusively women, because there is a philosophical notion that
very clearly indicates that women are the centre of communities. "Women
are generous. They are mothers and grandmothers. They are great storytellers,
sharing knowledge among themselves, and ensuring that it will not fade away.
And they also think about transforming their environment," concluded
Rodrigo París Rojas.
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