Since the electrification of the primary school of Kamsi “A” with solar energy last year (2016), and recently in the village of Djomga, we have seen an increase in the success rate of all the classes.
Indeed, according to Pamoussa, the Director of the Djomga School: “Students have made significant improvements and passed most of their exams, which wasn’t surprising, because with the solar light, they can now read and study at night. Also, we do not dismiss any class early due to the fact that we have electrified all the classrooms, and we can turn the lights on in the afternoon.”
The most significant success rate is seen in the Kamsi 5th grade class which went from 41.66% in 2015/2016 to 93.48% in 2016/2017 academic year. Also, the Kamsi "A" primary school nominated 2 students for the municipality's prize of excellence and they won!
Alyssa, one of the winners jumped with joy, and said: "I have studied very hard with our new lights. And now I am a big winner! Hoorah for me!!"
The Djomga primary school has also improved its average success rate in the final examinations from 50% during the school year of 2015/2016, to now 56% for the school year of 2016/2017.
Haoua, one of the teachers said: "The children have learned about how the sun creates energy. They are very excited to also learn how the solar panels, the batteries, and electricity works. Even now they are bragging and discussing their newfound knowledge. We are extremely pleased."
The electrification of the schools in the villages of Kamsi and Djomga were not only useful but necessary. The positive impact on the students’ education encourages us to do more for helping girls and all children for better education.
Your help gives opportunities to the children for a better education and a sustainable life. As you are aware, CBG-WA built rainwater catchment basins that provide water year-round so that girl children can attend school, and powering the school with solar energy further assists their education.
Please stay involved with us as we move to the next village of Kougny in the Sourou valley, where classrooms in a remote area have no access to any source of power. Your continued support is very much appreciated, and you can see it is helping everyone. Thank you.
Dear Friends
Journey with us from Kamsi, the village you know so well, where 30 households now have solar lighting. We are taking you further north east into the Sahel to the village of Djomga. If you are looking for it on a map it is about 5 miles from the city of Dori.
Yes! We have expanded your reach using solar to include the primary school and the village common meeting area at Djomga!
Our vision is still clear – to support girls’ education in Burkina Faso – so we have installed five 120W solar panels, two 120 Ah/12V batteries, a converter of 500 VA and 15 LED bulbs. This is a fantastic achievement and parents are delighted about the lights at school and in the village meeting area.
Mrs Dicko, the mother of a grade three learner said: “ I am very happy and excited about the installation of the solar powered lights in our village. My children can now study at night. Thank you very much!”
The teachers at the school are also re-energized to find ways to use the new source of power to extend study hours and to make learning more fun.
Mr Pamoussa, the principal of the primary school commented: “With the electrification of the school, we have a sense of relief that every night students can come to revise their lessons. There is also a common area where our village girls find themselves at night to study (in safety). The high school students are also benefitting from the solar light as well.”
Your donation and support for this vision has made this expansion possible! Thank you! We look forward to bringing light to more and more villages in the Sahel. We acknowledge you for your contribution to the future generations of Kamsi, Djomga and beyond!
Until next time!
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CBG-WA local staff and Bio-Solaire company engineers are currently working hard to assembly the solar system equipment and accessories materials for the village of Djomga! You may recall that Djomga is located at 280km from the capital of Burkina Faso, in a remote rural area where there is no public power supply or provision of municipal water.
Last week, on February 2, 2017, CBG-WA team made another trip to the village of Djomga in the Sahel to meet once again with the population for discussing their school electrification project. At the meeting, parents, school teachers and students have all reaffirmed the need of the project for their village.
The solar energy light project in Djomga will have two parts:
*First part is to install a solar light system for the primary school of Djomga. The school has three classrooms and one office for the school director. Classrooms and school director office will be electrified with external power connectors that will allow the use of devises such as laptop with possibility of charging cellphone.
*Second part of the project is to install one community shared solar kit in Djomga. The shared solar kit is an innovative idea of CBG-WA aiming to install a solar kit within the village in an area called study zone accessible to all children at all time. Texas A&M University students helped CBG-WA to design the solar kit with optimal capacity. So, at night time, children can gather to study, and complete their homework.
Interview with Pamoussa; the director of the school "Djomga:" The electrification project of our school goes straight to our heart because the children will be able to work in the afternoon and at night. This is very good news! This will be the first solar light in our school. I been here for several years and we had a very hard time in the afternoon, as it becomes dark inside of the classroom. This makes reading very hard for me and children too. Our plan is to allow students access to the classrooms at night to do their homework and study as needed. Also, adult literacy can be initiated during night. As a school teacher, the solar light will help a lot, and hope to be able to use laptop and charging our devices. Because here we are in Sahel region, very dry and we have not access to electricity."
The head of students' parent association said: “We are very blessed to have this project. I can tell you we all are excited about the solar energy project. We heard about solar system but never had chance to have one. This project in Djomga will help our children education. We were also told that the project will have a shared solar kit that will be installed in an open area as a study zone, definitely this will make a big difference, it will help children to do their homework after sunset. We thank all donors including Global Giving team and Community Building Group staff for helping our village. Thanks.”
Asmaou (see photo), a 4th grader student said that:" I will be happy to have a solar panel installed in my school, all my classmates are also very happy, we didn't see the solar light before, it will be our first time to see it. We are excited and waiting to see.
Abdoulaye student of the school of Djomga said that he can't wait to see the solar light in his school.
Mr. Bassiaka, the Engineer from "Bio-solaire" said the assembly of the solar equipment and accessories materials will be ready this Monday (February 6, 2017) in Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso). Then the team will travel early Tuesday, February 7th to Djomga to install the new solar energy system in the primary school of Djomga.
This is very exciting news for the children, villagers and school officials.
Stay tuned until the next report.
CBG-WA team
Bright school for our girls in Djomga
One more village to be electrified by the end of the year: Village of Djomga. This is made possible through your generous donations. For the school teachers in Djomga: "Investing in our girl’s education can improve life; this is exactly what we need in this Sahelian region, as we have no other source of power here".
CBG-WA staffs visited the primary school in the village of Djomga located in the Sahel region, last month, and met with the students. The students were very enthusiastic and excited about the solar energy lighting project for their school and very impatient to finally be able to study at night.
The results of the solar lighting project in the village of Kamsi, first village of this initiative, are outstanding. The pupils in Kamsi, main beneficiaries of the project, are able to make better use of their time during daytime and nighttime and most importantly they are able to study at night now, thank to the solar lights.
Mrs. Zongo who is the teacher of the five graders class in Kamsi expressed her gratitude saying: "This project is exactly what we need, all the 6 classrooms have their LED installed. Before this project, we had to release the pupils earlier than class end time because it was impossible to see. Now we stay in class according to the normal class schedule as students and I can all read thanks to the solar light. This is great for us!"
Yaméogo, a 9-year-old girl in third grade said: "I am very happy for the electrification of our concession. We do not have to struggle with flashlight or petro lamp. I study every night and prepare my homework and read text book; solar light is fantastic for me, I even have good grade in my English class."
Souleymane, a 10 year old four grader said: “Before it was very difficult for us to study at home in the nighttime, and I often completed my homework in the morning in class. Most students used flashlight at home. The solar energy make studying easier; and having the light give me a motivation, so I am very motivated to study and be successful in school. "
TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC
In our villages in Burkina Faso, having light for the first time is incredible!! Having light powered by the sun makes it sustainable too. The 604 girls in Kamsi village would like to thank you personally. Wendemi, a 9 year old third grader, made us promise to invite you to visit: “Please tell them we are very, very happy!”
Once completing the rainwater catchment basin in Kamsi, the Give Water Give Live program worked closely with the residents to install solar panels for the primary school and solar kits for lighting throughout the village. A total of six school classrooms now have four LED lamps each. The two school buildings each have one (1) LED lamp illuminating the front of the buildings. And the school principal’s office has 4 lamps with a converter, allowing power for a computer and course preparation. Victorine O says excitedly: “Principal S had classes to teach us about solar power and how the sun is stored in the batteries in order to have light after the sun sets. We were also taught how to protect and care for the lights and equipment.”
Elizabeth Y talks about the new Solar Kits installed throughout the village. “This compound was one of thirty to receive a solar kit, which is a package of a solar panel, regulator battery, and lamps.” She continues: “Sang Taaba, the Women’s Cooperative, selected thirty compounds scattered equally around the village. Choices were based on number of children in the family and proximity to others. The lights were put on the exterior of each building so that children from many families could gather and study, read and write. It truly is wonderful.”
Your generous support made this possible.
Details of the solar equipment device installed in Kamsi A elementary school and the Solar Kits include: 30 LED lamps; 24 LED strips of 10w / 12v; 6 regulators of 9w / 220v; 10 modules of 120w / 12w; 2 Regulators of 12V / 50A; 4 Batteries of 120Ah / 12V; Supports for batteries; an inverter of 500VA / 12V; Cable H07 RN-F flexible 2X 2.5mm2; Cable H07 RN-F 1X 4mm2; and Cable H07 RN-F 1X 16mm2.
Installations of the solar panels at Kamsi A School took two days. The training sessions were conducted at the school for people on the care and maintenance of solar equipment. Teachers also held classes for all the children about solar power and energy.
Yaméogo W, a 12 year old sixth grade student, says eagerly: "I am fortunate now we have light at night so I can do my reading and learn to write. It is like a dream." Please see the photos of our wonderful children enjoying the new light.
Also, please know your help is vital. From September 5 to October 6, 2016, Global Giving is having a special matching fund opportunity that can help alternative energy-use programs like ours. There is a 50% match of any donations made during this period. We hope you will consider making another contribution at that time. Your assistance is allowing us to achieve our goal of more light for the school girls in Burkina Faso. Thanks so very much.
Remember September 5!
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