This past week has been a whirlwind of adventures and being able to disconnect from the world and technology has been pretty amazing. Debs and Thiemo run the castle (where we have been staying) and we quickly learned about the importance of conserving as much energy and water as possible since everything is run on wind and solar power. The first 3 days at The Castle were spent learning about all things solar related, building our solar systems and connections from scratch, then installing them into two different homes. On our way to the homes we casually saw a herd of zebras just hanging out right near the road, it was our first wildlife sighting! My group was me, Emma, Kelsie, Kendall, Jose, Lindy, and Paul. Thiemo taught us everything and helped us when installing our panels, and although Kendall is going to school for biomedical engineering, she definitely carried our group and was practically a master electrician! The home & kitchen we installed our panel in was shared by a few different families, one of whom was a mother that is Debs and Thiemo’s cleaning lady. It took 6 hours for us to install the 5 lights and the moment we hooked up the final thing, all of the lights lit up and it was the most amazing feeling ever… many tears were shed. Until you see firsthand how these people live and the joy these lights brought them, you will never understand what I am saying. These kids will now be able to do homework after dark which is huge since the sun sets around 6:00. The moms will be able to make more bead jewelry to sell, the men will be able to watch their livestock at night, and they will now have means of charging devices and using appliances. The Napenda Solar Project was one of the best experiences I have ever had, and it was only three days. We have three months. I cannot wait to see our next projects unfold!
Heather Goes Abroad 