We proudly present the new small SLAK project! This time SLAK launches in April 2011 in Botbadjang village, Cameroon to bring solar electricity to a local medical center.
The health center
The health center in the little village Botbadjang, Cameroon was established in 2009. The building has following rooms:
- 2 treatment rooms
- 6 hospital rooms
- 1 delivery room
- Laboratory
- Pharmacy
The building has currently no access to the electricity grid. The village was equipped with solar electricity end of 2009 (see SLAK1) but the solar modules don´t have enough capacity to power the whole medical center which would need another 1 kW (6 solar modules) to ensure 24h medical help. The medical center will take care of the needs of the surrounding villages, making around 2000 potential patients. Medical help in Cameroon is quite scarce: it?s not uncommon in rural areas to have one doctor for 30.000 people. At the moment the building uses petroleum lamps and diesel generators for light which causes respiratory problems for those already in serious state and complicates diagnostics in the evening hours. The electricity in the medical center of Botbadjang will tremendously ameliorate the health situation in the region.
What will be done?
- 6 solar panels with 1kW capacity will be installed on the roof of the medical center
- 40 energy saving lamps will be distributed in the rooms
- one refigerator will be installed to ensure cooling of the medicine
- Local electricians who received their solar tecnical training during the last SLAK project will be doing the installation
- We will instruct the staff of the medical center to maintain the solar panels to ensure a long lifespan of the technology. One staff member will be directly responsible for the solar modules.
- The villages using the medical center agreed to save money to pay the maintenance fees if necessary.
Impact of the project
- will ameliorate the standards of medical support in rural Cameroon
- The medical center may use electrical devices better work quality
- Without petroleum and diesel inside the building there will be less risk of fire
- For the women giving birth will be less risky
- Medicaments will be refrigerated: supplies for emergencies will be available
- Fast medical help will become available in the countryside making it more attractive
