Fiona Oates Solar System
A Diocese of Ruaha Project
Iringa, Tanzania
Since 2001 Bishop Donald Mtetemela, Bishop of the Diocese of Ruaha, has had the strong desire to bring solar systems to the wider rural low income population at affordable costs. He invited Mrs. Fiona Oates to come to help work towards achieving this goal. Over the past three years, she has initiated and implemented a project to install small business solar systems in 30 rural parishes to help the pastors live and work. She installed and used her first solar system 22 years ago in Berega, Morogoro. It was a wedding gift from her husband, Ian's, parents!
The Tanzanian government has provided electricity to most of the major towns and some of the rural communities but recognises that at present it does not have the resources to supply all areas. It is estimated that 80% of Tanzanians do not have access to electricity. And, even if there is access to electricity, the costs are prohibitive to a people who are mainly subsistence farmers living on less $1 a day. We have done research which shows that people need to spend between $1.5-$20 a month on kerosene to provide light. This is money that they can ill afford when they have competing food, health and education bills to pay. In many cases it means that families go to bed when it gets dark as they can’t afford ‘light’ or bring dangerous ‘light’ from sticks and cooking stoves into the houses. The fumes from kerosene lights are very toxic and often fallen lamps cause fires.
Houses are without power to run radios. Radios are important to allow people to hear news of the outside world, follow local news and widen their education. Batteries are expensive and can cost $6 or more per week.
In the last 2 years the coverage for mobile phones in this area of Tanzania has become very widespread. Wherever possible people now own one. Mobile phones provide vital help for village life. They are used to phone for help in emergencies which can mean the difference between life and death. They are used to ascertain market values of commodities when people come to buy their crops. They are used to communicate with their families. The greatest challenge, apart from the cost of phone cards is the means with which to recharge the phone batteries. We had one pastor cycling 14kms just to charge his phone.
About 5 years ago we had severe shortages of electricity throughout Tanzania due to drought conditions and hydro-electric dams drying up. We installed a solar system in our house. At that time Fiona was working with Pastor Massawa who was living in one of the poorest villages in the Diocese. He has an electrician’s background and had rigged up a battery and a light in his house. He would bring the battery to town every month to charge up. We started discussing how we might make solar available in the villages and especially to pastors and their families who struggle to survive in parish ministry in places where the offering is minimal and the conditions so poor that they can rarely grow enough food to support their families.
Through the initial support of many individuals we started installing small solar systems in rural parishes which not only gave light and power for a radio but enabled their workers to generate an income through charging mobile phones. To have this means of support, for the family’s food, education and medical needs is making a radical difference to those living in these marginal areas. Often workers are tearful as they describe the impact the systems have made on their lives, it has been so great. We are grateful to Eastern Region, Melbourne, who took on the challenge to provide some of the systems. We now have 30 such systems in place.
The Diocese now has many people asking how they can obtain their own systems at affordable costs. We have been researching how we can expand what we have started with the pastors, to the local community at large. We have also had requests from schools and students.
Over the past few years the government of Tanzania has built many schools in rural areas to help educate their ‘young population’ (60% of Tanzanians are under the age of 20).
Most of the Secondary Schools are boarding and very few have access to electricity. Recently the girl’s dormitory in a local school burnt down killing 12 students and badly injuring many more. The cause was found to be a forgotten candle a student had been using to study by which had set fire to bedding. This and other similar though not so fatal incidents highlight the enormous need to provide safe ‘light’ for students to study by. Fires are not the only danger. Kerosene lamps give off toxic fumes, are difficult to read by and fuel costs money that most cannot afford. At the recent AGM of Tamongsco (Tanzanian managers and owners of non government schools) the need for safe and affordable lighting for classrooms and dormitories was stressed.
Using this experience gained and the current needs we have been working with Barefoot Power, an Australian organization which has developed and manufactures micro solar products suitable for the rural poor, to further develop the type of product that could be afforded by and be of benefit to communities and schools in rural areas. It is not intended to provide the biggest system possible but rather provide light and power at a useful and affordable level.
The most wonderful thing about the desklamps and home kits that Barefoot Power have produced is that they come with all the components and wiring ready for self-installation. They have developed an unique plug and play system for wiring. We used to source all the components individually and what used to take two people over 5 hours to install a system can now be installed in an hour!
It is important that the systems are transported out into the villages to give everyone the opportunity to be part of the project. If money is limited then the poor are unable to travel to the main centres. We are in the process of converting a landrover for the purpose of a mobile shop/sales/savings centre.
We will visit schools to promote the use of solar. We have been given a grant to supply some secondary schools in the Iringa District with both the dormitory and classroom kits and primary schools with desklamps. As well as helping the schools it will give us an opportunity to refine the systems into a definable marketable product. Other schools will be able to visit and see the benefits of solar for themselves.
We have converted a container at the Diocese into a store and office for the project and are at present seeking seed funding to scale up the project to meet the currents demands for appropriate, affordable and environmentally friendly solar power.
It is a very exciting project to be involved with and we pray that through God’s provision we can help to do a little to help improve the lives the rural population around us.
Fiona Oates
CMS-A Mission partner working with the Diocese of Ruaha,
Iringa, Tanzania
March 2010
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