Your BTLP team has been hard at work identifying schools and getting ready to provide a solar electrical system to 14 schools in Nicaragua and Honduras. What an incredible opportunity to help out teachers and kids with lights, fans and outlets for future educational benefits. Please consider supporting our efforts with a financial contribution and letters of support.
Here’s what your team has done so far:
1. Omar has finished the shipping of the panels and batteries to Nicaragua.
2. Jim has finished prototyping and is continuing testing of our school kit, which is a 100W solar system that will provide lights, fans and future outlets for more advanced curriculum.
3. Aurora from BMDMI has planned and arranged the logistics for the project
4. Domingo has identified the schools, completed the measurements with Omar from BMDMI and coordinated with the teachers for the 7 schools in Nicaragua.
5. Larry is building up the solar controller and batteries from the prototype to build up all of the electronics.
6. Trisha from BE Ministries has planned and arranged the logistics for the schools in Honduras with the Superintendent.
Here’s the plan:
1. From Feb 12 to Feb 17, we will install solar electrical systems in 7 schools in the Matagalpa region of Nicaragua that do not have electricity. I’ll show you one school that Domingo has taken measurements.
This one is Escuela 5 Pinos in the locality of Nisperal. The school is a 50ft long building with a divider for two separate school rooms.
There is also a small 16ft long single room preschool next to the main building that the little ones attend. I really want to get some lights in there so they can do their little kid activities…
2. After we finish the schools, we will stay in the area and finish up some training for some local folks to get the battery center and repair center up and going. We will install small electrical systems in 12 more homes in the area around La Mora and El Comejen. This will bring our total number of homes that we have provided electricity to almost 50 homes in the area! We will do this from Feb 17 to Feb 23.
3. We will go to Guiamaca Honduras on March 11 and install the school solar systems on 7 schools in that area until March 17. Trish has said that the superintendent wants us to complete 33 schools by next summer so we need to get going on that. We’ll get a chance to visit our favorite teacher, Anny Medina, in Cruz Chicita. I talked to her the other day and said we wanted to upgrade her system to the 100W system and show her how she can use a computer and projector for curriculum development with the new power system. I am so excited to see her and the kids and talk to them about having electricity in their school since last summer.
That’s the plan…
I want to do a quick shoutout to Domingo. He is one of my heroes and continues to be an inspiration. He is our technician in the area and has been repairing systems, installing systems and has personally identified the schools that we will be working on. He shows his love for his people and community every day. We could all use some of that!
You can help us with your contributions to continue to purchase equipment and other expenses that go along with all of this. We could also use your letters of support for the people that we will meet on the way. This is really a profound opportunity to help others and truly affect their lives for the better. Now let’s get after it!
Jim