During the previous mission to Guinea in March 2020, our volunteers received a request for help from the town of Koundian, for electrification of the health post and school. Two additional requests from the villages of Gbangban (school) and Kodiéran (school + health post) made it possible to envisage a third mission in this region.

Initiated in 2020, these 5 projects experienced numerous delays, firstly due to the Covid crisis and confinement, then to constraints on volunteer project leaders, and finally to various administrative and logistical problems. The equipment was finally dispatched in January.

During this mission in April-May 2023, our volunteers Dominique K. and Sylvia B. took delivery of and inspected 5 installations carried out by our partner Dramane Keita, a local electrician who had accompanied and been trained in solar installations during missions in 2018 and 2020. Passing on skills is one of our association’s core values!

 

In Gbangban, a small village of 4,500 inhabitants 30 km from Kankan, the whole village rallied round to welcome our volunteers. The school has been equipped with a 1,200 Wc system, which will enable remedial classes to be held in the evenings.

 

Drumming and singing also greeted our volunteers in Kodieran, a village of 9,500 inhabitants. Electrifying health posts in rural areas greatly improves the quality of care they provide, and makes night-time deliveries safer.
The Kodieran health post has been equipped with an 1800 Wp solar system and a fridge for storing vaccines and certain medicines.
At the school, 3 classrooms and the principal’s office have also been electrified (1200 Wp installations), enabling evening revision.

And what a welcome to Koundian! The ‘Kondé’ mask came out to welcome our volunteers, the 1st Minister of the Children’s Government gave a great speech and the whole village celebrated the light in the health post and school!
Koundian has a population of nearly 37,000, so the health post plays an important role. It has been equipped with an 1800 Wp installation, providing lighting only, as the health post is already equipped with solar fridges. The school has also been equipped with a 1200 Wp solar system.

    

The Koundian sub-prefecture is also lending its ecological support by committing to reforest 10ha, including this plot of former mine land and another chosen to protect the source of a river running through Koundian.

As well as taking delivery of these 5 new facilities, our volunteers checked the 11 facilities built in 2018 (the schools and health posts in Gbilin, Loïla and Faranindoun) and 2020 (the schools and health posts in Oudoumakoro and Balandougou, as well as the Fondation Sidibé gynecological clinic in Kankan), with the great satisfaction of seeing that everything is working well, except for a few adjustments to be made in one village.

In all, our 2 volunteers covered more than 1,500 km of tar and laterite, visited 16 facilities in 9 villages in 6 days, and made a very positive assessment!

As with the two previous missions, a partnership was established with the beneficiaries: the village chiefs agreed to take charge of the reception and transport of the teams and equipment, while Energy Assistance provided materials and expertise, and ensured the training of local managers in the rational and eco-responsible use of the energy made available, in order to ensure the sustainability of the installations. An ecological contribution was also agreed: the Koundian prefecture undertook to reforest 10ha.

Well done and thank you to our two volunteers Sylvia B. and Dominique K., and to Dramane Keita, for this lightning mission, rich in sharing and success. And thanks also to all those who contributed to the finalization of these projects: Christophe L., Roland R., Olivier D.B., and of course Sabine B. and Tony MdH.

It took no less than 8 hours by plane to Conakry and nearly 2 days on the road, not always in good condition, for Olivier, Stephan, Christophe and Sylvia to arrive in Haute-Guinea, in the Kankan region for this mission in 3 parts.

First stage: Balandougou, in the prefecture of Mandiana, a few km from the Malian border. Following various cultural exchanges, Balandougou, birth village of the famous percussionist Mamady Keita, had received a donation of the health post from the inhabitants of the island of Mishima, Japan.  In order to improve the conditions of care during the night and the use of different devices for the laboratory and to allow the installation of a fridge to keep the vaccines, this one was equipped by our volunteers with a PV installation of 3000 WC. The village school has also been equipped with a 1200 Wp PV installation, allowing the organization of evening classes.

The whole village of Oudoumakoro welcomed our volunteers for the second stage of their mission, with welcoming speeches, dances and traditional music.

In less than 3 days, the school and the health post were equipped with a PV installation of 1200 Wp each, as well as a fridge in the health post, and a solar kit in the house of Doctor Sidibe, who will be able to receive visiting doctors.

In Kankan, the third step was to equip the gynaecological clinic Fondation Sidibé with a 4500 Wp PV installation. This will allow the clinic to receive patients, perform ultrasound scans and operations, independently of the network, subject to numerous load shedding and often only available between 7pm and 11pm.

Thanks to Olivier D., Stephan D., Christophe L., Sylvia B., helped on site by Dramane K. and Abdoulaye K. for these 5 achievements in record time, for their availability, their commitment and their unfailing sense of humour and to Roland R., Christophe L. and Sylvia B. for all the upstream preparation. ?

Below, some images shot during the mission

https://youtu.be/r-9Zhx3rzcg