« Older Newer »

India: Supporting Renewable Energy at our BHIL Academy project

February 17, 2011 - India

by Naiara Tejados

Jhabua, India, 16^th of February 2011

RENEWABLE ENERGY AT BHIL ACADEMY

It has really been a pleasure for me to see how, little by little, renewable green energies have become a part of our lovely school, the Bhil Academy (www.realmedicinefoundation.org/initiative/bhil-academy-jhabua-district-madhya-pradesh-india or search Bhil Kids on Facebook). Because of the hard work and dedication of donors, volunteers, and partners, the Bhil Academy is becoming more and more ¨green¨ every day!

photo: eV Renewables´s staff members working at the Bhil Academy

Solar Electricity from eV Renewables and Loop Solutions

In Jhabua, electricity is scarce and typically only available for a few hours a day. After the sun went down, the children could do little but go to sleep: our children could not study at night or even walk to the toilets because of the darkness.

On 26 January 2011, eV Renewables enterprise from Hyderabad (evrenewables.com/) installed solar panels at the Bhil Academy. Thanks to the generous donations from Mr. Alok Brara and India Infrastructure and the incredible generosity, time, and energy of the team of eV Renewables, our students finally have light at night.

The solar panels are able to provide the entire school with at least 6 hours of steady electricity. In addition to the solar panels, Loop Solutions also supplied the school with portable lanterns. These lanterns not only light up the girls hostel, but also provide essential portable lights for the children to walk between buildings or in case of an emergency.

photo: eV Renewables´s engineer Saaketh Preetham and Fabian Toegel

After a brief introduction of how to maintain the panels by the staff of eV Renewables, the 9^th class children have been tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the solar panels and the supply of solar electricity to the school.

The solar panels were inaugurated the 28^th of January by the kind honorable Kalavati Bhuria. I loved to see our children welcoming her with traditional Indian dances and songs! Thanks to everybody to make it possible!

More from Project REV

Also in the news of renewable energy, thanks to the work and steady donations from Project REV and our local volunteers, we have finished the construction of a kitchen-garden. We will soon be able to grow our own crops in the school and provide a valuable learning activity for all of the children! We have now levelled a plot of land and surrounded it with a new fence to keep all animals (mainly cows, goats and dogs) out of the area, bought some nutrient-rich soil for cultivation, supplied the plot with watering-pipes, and purchased some seeds to plant. Our gardener, Mansouk, has purchased seeds for vegetables such as lentils, pumpkins, eggplants, spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, cabbages, and lady-fingers, and will plant as the seasons require.

photo: Kitchen-garden after preparing it to start seeding veggies

Also from Project REV, we have our fantastic compost bins! Every day the school feeds 320 children from Kindergarten to 9^th Class, and every day some food is left. In order to help the children learn conservationism and the usefulness of waste, organic waste will be collected in the compost drums and, after decomposing, used to enrich the soil of the garden. What an incredible way to enhance the education of the students of the Bhil Academy!

photo: Decomposing drums to collect compost

Thanks to all donors, partners, and volunteers that have made all this possible! We will keep thinking of more renewable energies that could help in daily life at Bhil Academy, and welcome your suggestions. The next big venture will be the harvesting of rainwater. We already have a big big hole!

photo: Hole to harvest the rainwater