Solar Power for Refugees in Bidibidi, Uganda

The maxim, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step, cannot be truer indeed. More than two years ago when we floated the idea of providing solar energy for critical infrastructures – Health Centres (4), Schools for ICT (4), and Business Hubs (4) – at Bidibidi Refugee Settlement, it sounded like a bogus idea with a scaring budget. After about 2 years, we can proudly announce the solar powering of 4 Health Centres at Bidibidi – Twajiji, Igamara, Bolomoni and Yoyo Health Centres.

With the redesigning of the project concept, the solar energy installations came with added components – provision of basic ICTs in the Health Centres (Laptops, printers and WIFI Internet) which were followed up with training of health personnel on basic maintenance of these devices and leveraging on these to ensure improvement in the health data capturing and the overall improvement of the health services they provide to the refugees and host community.

With the successful finishing of the first segment the project targeting on health, JPIIJPC has shifted its focus on the education segment and has already finished constructing a computer lab at Twajiji Hope Primary School which is awaiting the installation of the solar energy and the computers for computer instruction in the school. That notwithstanding, the request by one of our partners to attend to the only remaining Health Centre still suffering from lack of sufficient power is still being considered. It is a thing of joy that right from the floating of the idea, under the auspices of UNHCR, a total of 14 Health Centres have been solar-powered, namely, Bidibidi Health Centre III, Iyete Health Centre III, Twajiji Health Centre III, Koro Health Centre III, Yayari Health Centre III, Swinga Health Centre III, Jomorogo Health Centre III, Luzira Health Centre III, Kombge Health Centre III, Yoyo Health Centre III, Bangatuti Health Centre III, Igamara Health Centre III, Bolomoni Health Centre III, Yangani Health Centre III, remaining just Okubani Health Centre III.

We are quite grateful to our regulating partners – UNHCR and OPM – who have been very encouraging in JPIIJPC efforts to improve the lives of the refugees and host community under our SOLAR FOR PEACE PROJECT. We are equally grateful to IRC and FINN Church Aid of the health and educational sector respectively who have been working closely with JPIIJPC in this noble project. We cannot wait to launch the first school to be solar powered and furnished with computer classroom where the pupils will be taking their first steps towards digital empowerment to make them competitive with their peers elsewhere notwithstanding the harsh realities of the conflict they have undergone.

We are quite grateful to GlobalGiving for hosting us in their portal. Due to the busy schedule at the Centre, we have not succeeded in devoting more personnel to publicise our success stories in the different social media platforms. We are appealing for volunteers in this regard so that more people will support JPIIJPC SOLAR FOR PEACE project at Bidibidi Refugee Settlement.

We express our sincere gratitude to the Catholic Bishop of Arua diocese and our corporate partners from Spain who have given a substantial push to this project. By the next report we are confident that the computer literacy program would have taken off at Bidibidi Refugee Settlement.