The school group ‘Les Cajoutiers’ in Warang, welcomes about 700 poor children from the region and also organizes inclusive classes for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Following the extensions of the school’s buildings to also accommodate children with Down’s syndrome, Energy Assistance was asked to review and adapt the installation completed in September 2016, thanks to the support of the ENGIE Foundation.

For this purpose, the existing installation was divided in two and powered by two new inverters, two lithium batteries, additional solar panels on the existing part and a new solar field to power the new part of the added buildings.

The work was carried out by a local electrician, Djibril Traore, who supplied and installed the locally ordered equipment. Regular monitoring by project manager Freddy A. ensured that the modification and installation of the equipment was completed successfully.

In addition to technical advice during the implementation, Freddy also provided a lot of administrative advice to this local contractor. The transfer of skills is also one of the missions of our association. While he had no official documents proving his professional existence, he now has a trade register and all the documents allowing him to have contracts with the government, and he is one of the few in the region!  And he did not fail to thank Freddy for insisting on this.

At the beginning of March 2023, Freddy A. and Patrick D. went to Senegal to check and accept this new solar and electrical installation and to give a certificate of competence to Djibril.

The electrical supply of the buildings allows not only the lighting of the classrooms in the evening but also the use of projection equipment and the supply of the fridge, which is indispensable for the conservation of food for the preparation of the midday meals offered to the children.

We are convinced that the upgrade of these installations will bring a plus to this beautiful work set up by Sophie Corynen-Camara and all her team.

Thank you to our volunteers for their investment in this beautiful project!

 

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Our volunteers have arrived in Laos for the 1st EAF mission of the year 2023.

A school electrification project with students from the Obernai high school and our partner ADV Laos.

We are now integrating a biodiversity component to our projects: this time, planting fruit trees with the villagers and setting up a nursery.

 

See you soon for news of the mission.

Thank you to the Engie Solutions entities that support EAF via the Mécénat de Compétence.

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On November 10, 2022, our three volunteers Jacques T., Georges D.M. and Julie T. arrived in Umphang for the realization of photovoltaic installations in the boys’ orphanage and in the central building and also in the school-farm a few kilometers away.

The first step was to check the photovoltaic installation at the girls’ orphanage, realized in 2020 by Jacques T. and Georges D.M. It works perfectly!

 

After receiving and checking the solar equipment and accessories, supplied by a local company, and after a fine-tuning with the beneficiary of the work to be done, our volunteers happily set to work with many local helpers, including a painter who decorated the wall of the orphanage with our logo!

The installation delivers a power of 5kVA and allows in particular the lighting and the supply of electricity to the orphanage welcoming about thirty boys. The orphanage is located a few kilometers from Burma. As a result, most of the children are Burmese refugees having lost their parents due to the repression of the Burmese military junta.

The farm, used mainly to supply the orphanage with fruit and vegetables and to house the farmer and his family, benefits from a photovoltaic installation with a power of 3 kVA. This installation provides them with electricity and will soon be used to extend the farm’s activities to livestock.

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Our volunteers have, of course, taken the time to inform the beneficiaries of good practices to ensure the sustainability of the installation.

Thanks to Jacques, Georges and Julie for their dedication during this beautiful mission as well as to the project manager Jacques H.

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In Boko, Benin, the Saint Jean de Dieu hospital is supported by Médecins sans vacances and the “Hubi & Vinciane” foundation.

Our volunteer Sarah O. tells us about this beautiful mission, realized with Steve B., Vincent M. and Jean-Marie T. :

“In September, a team of 4 volunteers left for Parakou – in the center of Benin and 9 hours drive from Cotonou, to install solar panels and batteries and allow the Saint Jean de Dieu hospital in Boko to continue to function despite the power cuts.

 

As a mother, it was very emotional for me to work in the maternity, neonatal and pediatric departments. And it was so satisfying to be able to provide a minimum of electrical safety so that mothers-to-be would no longer give birth in the dark, and that very fragile babies and young children could be cared for with medical equipment.

Accompanied by a nice motivated team, we installed the 42 panels and 4 solar installations and no doubt we also inspired a few young people to continue their studies in electricity – with the fun (climbing on the roof) and not so fun (not rushing and making sure the work is good) sides ????

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How lucky we were to have met so many great people in 2 weeks! Special thanks to Madame Clémence who took care of us and the wonderful Rafiath from ENGIE Parakou who was very helpful with the paperwork and helping us find the missing equipment.

   

My dream for the next mission? To have a young woman electrician in the local team and to inspire the next generation! Rafiath showed us that it’s possible! Weren’t the Amazons of Dahomey from Benin? “

 

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Last September, the Tractebel Challenge gathered the most enthusiastic sports teams around different disciplines: cycling, mountain biking, orienteering, shooting, etc.).

Energy Assistance was very proud to award the fighting spirit prize to team n°5 of Aï-Na, Maximilien and Chloé!

‘Never give up’, ‘go all the way’ are also part of the values conveyed by the EA volunteers who always find solutions to realize their missions and photovoltaic installations and thus allow many beneficiaries to improve their daily life.

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In parallel to the EAF038 project, Bernard, David and Gaëlle’s team electrified the basic health center which includes a hospital, a maternity ward as well as a lodge for the mobile staff and the janitor in Ambodiharina.

An additional 24,000 villagers now benefit from a health center with lighting.

Congratulations to the whole team!

           

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For the mission in Ethiopia in November 2022, the project manager Miklos A. (ENGIE – United Arab Emirates) called upon volunteers from different Engie entities: Armando O.S. (ex-Tractebel – Belgium), the mission manager, was accompanied by Sangeeth S. (Engie Solutions – United Arab Emirates), Muddasssar N. (Engie Solutions – United Arab Emirates) and Ashenafi G. (Tractebel – Ethiopia).

This multicultural team, mixing experienced volunteers with others without field experience, allowed a sharing of knowledge, but also a beautiful human adventure with multiple challenges, meetings and new friendships.

Thanks to our partnership with the University of Arba Minch, the projects contributed to the development of local skills, while ensuring the sustainability of the facilities.

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To provide lighting and power to two secondary schools, we installed 6.4 kWp and 10.2 kWp of solar modules in Kashakashaso and Chaba Beles respectively. Lithium batteries of 14.4 kWh and 19.2 kWh respectively ensure the storage of energy.

These electrical installations, respectful of the environment, have considerably improved the educational conditions of more than 1000 students.

   

Congratulations and thank you all for your commitment and for this great achievement.

Thank you to the NIF Foundation which, by co-financing this project, has made it possible.

 

Have a look on YOUTUBE and watch the video made by the team :

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MMS (Mothers and Midwives Support) called on E.A. for the electrification of 25 health and birthing centers on the island of Idjwi, DRCongo.

After the inauguration of AMISI in Panzi, our colleague and director Tony MdH went to the island of Idjwi to assess the needs, accompanied by the MMS manager (Claire Thibaut) and an administrator (V. Lemercier).

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The visit of 8 centers allowed us to notice that they were all slightly electrified by small, outdated and unsuitable solar systems and that the electrical installation was insufficient and needed to be renovated.

The study of the project has been entrusted to Jacques H. and will be carried out when MMS will have obtained the budget to modernize the birthing centers. Furthermore, MMS will prioritize the centers to be equipped.

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On Wednesday 28 September 2022, François Hollande, former French President, inaugurated the African Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery (AMISI) located in the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, South Kivu.

   

This new health structure, electrified by solar panels thanks to the support of the ENGIE Foundation and Energy Assistance, will serve as a setting for the treatment of women victims of sexual violence and other pathologies by minimally invasive surgery. It is also intended for the training of doctors from all over the African continent.

   

Doctors Denis Mukwege and Guy Bernard Cadière, who are pioneers of this technology in medicine, point out that they and their team have already treated 1,800 patients in the last 10 years.

For his part, François Hollande mentioned that this African institute is a reference in the world, and Energy Assistance is especially proud to have contributed to it.

Furthermore, Professor Guy Bernard Cadière reiterated his thanks to Energy Assistance and underlined the essential role and efficiency of our project manager Luc H.

It should also be noted that this health structure was inaugurated in the presence of the Minister of Health Jean-Jacques Mbungani, the Minister of Human Rights Albert Fabrice Puela and the Governor of South Kivu Théo Ngwabidje Kasi. Our General Manager, Tony Moens de Hase, was also invited.

Read also our previous news on the same subject :

https://energy-assistance.org/project-506-work-is-processing-well-at-panzi-hospital/

https://energy-assistance.org/energy-assistance-receives-congrats-and-thanks-from-dr-mukwege/

https://energy-assistance.org/projet-n-506-bloc-operatoire-de-panzi/

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