Rural schools typically have no access to electricity, meaning that teaching takes place without lights or devices. Teachers who reside on school grounds endure unlit nights, making it hard for them to prepare for the next day’s class. In 2021, we received a generous donation from the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario for the installation of solar electricity in the rural schools we support.
We began planning for outfitting solar electricity systems in the fall of 2021 and sought out quotations from local businesses for the required installation. When informed that this was a charitable endeavour, a local businessman in nearby Fort Portal, Uganda, offered to provide the systems at cost. This allowed us to expand the original scope of outfitting three primary schools to now include a fourth school. Our original hope was to also provide electrical power to that school later in 2023 and we were able to achieve this much earlier.
With the help of a local supplier and volunteers in Uganda, installation was completed in January 2022. We are happy to report that all solar systems are now in place and functioning well at the Kakooga, Rugaaga, Kyakayombya and St. John’s Primary Schools in rural western Uganda. Each system provides basic lighting to allow classes to function better during overcast and darker days. There are also plans to allow children to stay at school in the evening to complete special assignments while they catch up from missed schooling during lockdowns.
Solar systems were also installed in staff quarters on school grounds for two primary schools (Kyakayombya and Kakooga Primary Schools) to provide teachers with lighting and electricity at night. Having light also enables them to prepare their lesson plans in the evenings.
