Great news! The installation of the solar panels in Benin, made possible by the Carbon Negative initiative from Pop!Tech 2006, will commence in the next few months.
Robert Freling, Executive Director of The Solar Electric Light Fund, has sent us some wonderful pictures from Benin, where 44 villages that are currently off the grid will receive clean, renewable energy to homes, schools, health care clinics thanks to the partnership between SELF, Lexus, and Pop!Tech.
The first image is of Bona Kida Setamou, the mother of Mamoudou Setamou, the person who first introduced Freling to the Benin Project opportunity. Note that she is holding a soon to be obsolute kerosene lantern.
Below the pictures is the original letter from Mamoudou. It’s a wonderful account of how SELF first got involved and it is always so rewarding to see the faces of those who are directly benefiting from these types of initiatives.
Dear Friend of SELF,
Hello. My name is Mamoudou Setamou. I was invited by the Solar Electric Light Fund to write this letter as a way of expressing my gratitude to each and every one of you who have helped my country and my people through your support of SELF.
The woman on the cover of the season’s greeting card you are holding is my mother. Her name is Bona Kida Setamou. She is 78 years old, and she lives in Dunkassa, a small village in the northern part of Benin, West Africa.
I live in Weslaco, Texas, with my wife and two children. I received my Ph.D. in Agricultural Entomology from the University of Hanover in Germany, and afterwards, continued my postdoctoral fellowship and professional life at Texas A&M University. Last year, while visiting my family in Benin, I met with the District Council of Kalelé, a region that is comprised of 44 villages, or approximately 100,000 people.
Not a single village in Kalalé District is served by the electric power grid. Not knowing if and when the grid would ever be extended to this remote part of Benin, we decided to
explore alternative energy options. I did some online research, and subsequently learned about the Solar Electric Light Fund.
One thing led to the next, and well, to make a long story short, a local NGO from Kalalé has established a partnership with SELF to bring solar power to all 44 villages in the area. In August of this year, SELF’s Executive Director, Bob Freling, visited a number of the villages in Kalalé, including Dunkassa.
You can’t imagine how happy I was when Bob sent me a photograph that he had taken of my mother. As you can see, she is holding a kerosene lamp, which is presently our only source of household lighting. Thanks to SELF, however, kerosene will soon be a thing of the past for the people of Kalalé. In addition, our schools and health clinics will also be powered by solar energy, and farmers will be able to grow food during the dry season, using a combination of solar water pumping and drip irrigation. And last but not least, a solar-powered wireless Internet network will be set up in Kalalé, enabling local villagers to access online information and communicate regularly with the rest of the world.
So thank you! With your support, SELF is helping the people of Kalalé to emerge from centuries of darkness into a brighter, solar-powered 21st century.
I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Gratefully,
Mamoudou Setamou, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Citrus Entomology
Texas A&M University – Kingsville
