By Jennifer
Ortiz Lara
Nowadays, 242 families from the Chachi community in El
Salvador, located in the Muisne canton in Esmeraldas, Ecuador, have no access
to the electrical service and their incomes involve less than a dollar per day.
Due to the mentioned reasons, four female leaders from this community initiated
an energy generation project called Mamas Solares.
Mamas
Solares is led by Seneida De la Cruz Pianchiche, Melania Arroyo
Chapiro, Esther De la Cruz Quintero y Lucía De la Cruz de la Cruz. They are all entrepreneur women, who advocate their
territories and became keen on installment and maintenance of solar panels,
with the goal of illuminating the area without candles. San Salvador community
has no electrical energy generation at the present time.
Mamas
Solares (from left to right: Melania, Lucía, Esther, Seneida)
In 2018, the project started with
the aid of an alliance between Fundación Pueblo Indio del Ecuador and the
organization of Barefoot College, part of the Universidad de los Pies Descalzos
in Tilonia, India. Melania, Esther, Lucía and Seneida took a 6-month
educational and technical formation in India, with which they became solar
technology installers and started the initiative of Mamas Solares. In
their formation in India, these four female leaders had the opportunity of
getting trained in installation and maintenance of solar engineering surrounded
by 56 more indigenous women from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Botswana, Turkey,
Gambia, Indonesia, Nauru, Nepal, Namibia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Mali and
Eswatini.
In September 2019, Melania, Esther,
Lucía and Seneida received their official diploma of solar panels construction
technicians. After completing the formation, the four women got back to their
communities willing to develop the project, however, whilst fighting against
their eagerness to provide energy to the community homes, the project had to be
paused due to the pandemic situation and lack of resources.
San Salvador is an indigenous Chachi
village where the official language is chapalá. Agriculture is one of the most
important economic activities in San Salvador and it is mainly based on yuca,
corn and cocoa production. The presence of 26 communities were identified
according to a community, family, and service census in San Salvador. 10 of
those communities are composed of 242 families that do not have access to
electrical services. In their everyday life they use candles and stacks as
energy sources.
For these reasons, Mamas Solares
oversees the distribution of photovoltaic lamps capable of illuminating each
house with four focuses and able to fulfil the battery of a cell phone, aiming
to replace candle consumption. Using lamps with photovoltaic technology, each
family is able to save up to 8 USD per month. Illumination with candles was poorer
quality and affecting family economy.
Nowadays, Mamas Solares’ goal
is the installation of several photovoltaic kits and activation of productivity
in their community, throughout the commerce of innovative and environmentally
friendly technology. Access to electrical services such as illumination and
charging will be improved by providing photovoltaic kits of 50 Wp of power that
cost 450 USD each. Those families who acquire the new technology will be able
to access new energy services and get capable of using and maintaining it.
Mamas Solares have launched a crowdfunding (Link for donations) willing to recollect enough economic sources to
acquire photovoltaic kits due to economic limitations and challenges to access
finance. The main goal is to give access to electricity to at least 150
families. Melania, Esther, Lucía and
Seneida’s mission is to cover energy access gaps in their communities.
We invite you to support Mamas Solares in their
project of bringing access to electricity to families that do not have light in
their houses.
About the author: Jennifer Ortiz Lara.
Jennifer Ortiz Lara. Entrepreneur and business trainer
of Mamas Solares project. Jennifer is a Foreign Trade and International
Negotiation engineer, with an international master’s course in International
cooperation and Public policies management, Programmes and Projects for
development. She also holds a Leadership and Sustainable development
international diploma. She has more than 8 years of experience in social and
environmentally positive impact processes of design, maintenance, and
evaluation. She has worked in several private and public entities in Ecuador,
representing the country in national and international cooperation roundtables.
Nowadays, she is founder and managing director of Pulse Project Consulting
Services Cia. Ltda., where she leads work teams who are in charge of the
enhancement of project abilities focused on sustainable development and
entrepreneur.
Review and correction of style: Andrea Eras Almeida,
Founder of Energy from Women
English Translation: Ana Visa García (Spain), Chemical Engineer, specialist in renewables energies and environment.
Testimonial video
editing: Marcela Fernández (Bolivia), Expert in electric mobility.
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