By Bethany Summersgill | Project Lead
The long-anticipated moment has arrived! After months of planning, this August we will be sending our team members Kari Nigorizawa, Christopher Vega, and Christine Twist, as well as our solar professional advisor Joe Philip and his wife Csilla to Santo Domingo, Panama to start implementing the house electrification project.
During the trip, our team plans to install 3 solar panel systems. The first installation will be an educational demonstration. The second and third will be guided installations performed by Santo Domingo’s solar committee (a small group of community members who will be in charge of installation and maintenance). By the end of the project, 17 systems will be installed. Yes, this is a larger number than the originally requested 14 systems—a good reminder of the importance of flexibility when working in a different culture and environment!
While our teammates are in Panama, they will ensure that Santo Domingo’s solar committee has a complete knowledge of how to install and maintain the systems. They will also make sure that the community will be able to obtain the rest of the supplies, and any needed technical expertise, from local solar vendors.
Before they leave Panama, our teammates will also travel to the small city of Portobelo to work on a wastewater treatment project—they never stop trying to make the world better!
Stay tuned for an update after our team returns. We’ll have exciting stories and pictures so you can learn a little more about the community you’re helping. Thank you so much for your generosity and for helping us to make a difference. And please consider donating again to help us complete the project!
If you have any questions, email me (Bethany Summersgill) at bds@u.northwestern.edu. Thanks again!
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