By Tom Rosen | Co-Director/Project Manager
Firstly, The Branch Foundation team would like to wish you a happy Earth Day 2015. This is a day for us to pause and look at our impact on this precious planet which we all share. For many people across the world, renewable energy solutions are not just a choice but a necessity due to where they live. This is true for the community at Loi Lum Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, where there is no access to the electrical grid, thus the residents used to rely on kerosene lamps and candles to light their homes.
Fortunately, with the help of generous people such as yourself, we have managed to bring clean and efficient solar lighting to each household which has since increased safety within the camp and also allowed children to study and adults to continue working into the night. However, we are still short of our goal of supplying a solar system to the community's school so that the children have enough energy to power computers. Access to information technology will not only help the kids to study for existing subjects but it will also introduce them to computing skills which are vital in today's world.
The Branch Foundation installed a solar system for a computer in a refugee camp in 2012, which enabled reliable access to this resource by both the children and adults of this community. Sai Oo, the computer teacher at the time, told us the following in an email he wrote on that same computer:
"All the people in the camp benefit from the solar powered computer. You and your supporters have helped protect the environment, save on electrical bills and support education therefore we would like to thank you very much."
We would be extremely grateful, if on this important day, you choose to help this community with your 'act of green' by either donating again or telling your friends and family about this project.
Sincerely,
Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team
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