Solar energy for families in Santo Domingo, Panama
Solar energy panama
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Summary
Northwestern University students are providing two communities with training and materials to install household solar panel systems and build educational capacity by equipping schools with computers.
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Received $5,503 from 112 donations from people like:
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More Information About this Project
Project Needs and Beneficiaries
Santo Domingo and Santa Librada are located in Chagres National Park, Panama. The communities do not have access to electricity because of their isolation. Our group has worked with them to install photovoltaic systems which light community buildings and family homes, power a school computer, protect livestock, and power a school refrigerator. We provide technical expertise, training and funding assistance. These projects benefit the communities’ health, economy and environment.
Activities
We work in rural villages of Panama to provide solar electricity for families. Our project focuses on aid that is sustainable: we teach the community members about modern electricity practices and provide them with support to last for a lifetime.
Funding Information
Total Funding Received to Date: $5,503
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $13,933
Total Funding Goal: $19,436
Additional Documentation
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
Resources
Why this Project is Important
Potential Long Term Impact
By using solar energy instead of kerosene lamps, families can save money, protect their health by improving indoor air quality, continue craftwork and studying after dark, reduce carbon emissions, and use solar-energy expertise as an economic asset.
Project Message
Solar energy will change these kids’ lives. Fresh opportunities, from the new school computer to lights which enable studying after dark, will give them a better chance in the educational system.
- Bethany Summersgill, Project lead
Who is Running This Project
Contact
Sumeeth Jonathan
Team Member
48 Gordons Corner Road
Manalapan, NJ 07726
United States
732-682-5088
Email:
Project Sponsor
Organization
Engineers for a Sustainable World, Northwestern U
Harold Kung, Dept of Chemical & Bio. Engineering
2145 Sheridan Road
Evanston,
IL
60201
United States
732-682-5088
http://msgroups.tech.northwestern.edu/esw/panamasolar.htm
Where this Project is Located
Country
This project is located in 
Panama
and can also be found under 
Environment.
For more information about Panama, read the Human Development Report on Panama or the Wikipedia entry for Panama.
When this Project was Updated
Last Updated
This project was last updated on April 28, 2009.
Date Added to GlobalGiving
This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on April 23, 2008
Latest Update from the Field
Exciting news!
By Bethany Summersgill - ESW International Projects Co-Chair, January 28, 2009 09:09 AM
Hey, everyone!
We’ve got some great news for you about the Panama Solar Project! Last year, Santo Domingo’s community members wrote a proposal to a local government representative requesting funding to provide electricity for half of the households in the community. He agreed to pay for 10 electrical systems, and we recently found out that all of the installations are complete!
This is terrific not only for these 10 families, but also for all the local communities—having the involvement of local institutions and funding makes it more possible to replicate and sustain the project. This also means that our group only needs to buy supplies for 4 more households to reach the total of 17! During spring break, we’ll send a team to Panama to buy supplies and supervise these installations. We’re recalculating our budget, but we’d still appreciate donations to help cover travel and supply costs. And we’re not done yet!
Stay tuned--we’ll continue building our relationships with the people of Santo Domingo and Santa Librada. We’re planning to start a new project in Santa Librada: either the installation of a computer at the school to give kids a chance to learn computer literacy, or the electrification of households to improve quality of life. For Santo Domingo, we’re considering designing an environmentally-friendly and more economical version of a machine that removes the hulls from rice—a grueling task when done by hand, which is how the communities process their rice now. Having the machine would free up time and allow the communities to increase their productivity and thus their economic situation.
We would really appreciate donations to help us get started on these new projects. If we raise enough, we could even potentially bring a laptop to Santa Librada on our next trip! Thanks so much for your generosity—it’s made a huge difference for these people!
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