My head is throbbing, I can barely walk straight, and I’m freezing, but I’m carried on by the siren song of “Otra casa, otra casa!” (another house). Its my second day in Peru and I’m at 5,000 meters, a three hour trek from the nearest four-wheel drive track and far, far from any working power lines. We’ve just completed our first solar light installation (3.4 Watt Solar Panel, V11 USB Battery, USB Touchlight) in a remote section of the Andes and our hosts want to do more. It is impossible not to smile.
A successful light installation
How did we get here?
We conducted a BOGO (Buy One Give One) program on our site to fund 50 solar lighting kits, but that was the easy part. Water Solutions Peru, our partner in Lima connected us with an alternative power company in Cusco called Q’ellqa. Q’ellqa then spent months meeting with the Incan Q’eros educating them on the value of solar lights and gaining their trust. The Q’eros, in turn, met internally and came to a joint decision about whether to accept the donation and which homes would receive the first lights. Finally, to ensure long term success of the project, Q’ellqa identified an individual in the community that could function as the handyman and provide maintenance and repair services. The Q’eros have lived for thousands of years in harmony with the earth so we are trying to think about this project in similar terms.
Hiking to the first village
Our hosts admiring the Fuse 4W and 10W
Our helpful pack horse
Solar light demonstration
Photographs 1, 2, and 5 by Cusco Photographer Carlos Garavito. Photographs 3 and 4 by Voltaic Systems.
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