November 2009 Archives

My name is Claire Pedersen and I'm a new volunteer here for SolarAid. I've come out here to Tanzania, through VSO, for two years.

We've just returned from a trip to Homboza, a small village 50km from Dar es Salaam and nowhere near the grid. This was my first visit out into the field and I was pretty much in awe of everything around me. It was such a great experience meeting the franchisees, hearing the villagers' stories and seeing the micro-solar products in action.

The road leading to rural Homboza.

We visited a number of typically rural homes and saw the micro-solar kits in action. Even in daylight it was easy to see the difference the lights would make to families - as it was pretty dark inside the house and the lamp totally lit up the room. One family explained that they used to spend 250 shillings per day on kerosene and 750 per week on batteries.

It was a great day all round, for me especially as it was the first time I had been out to the village and so to see the manifestation of everything I've read and learnt so far was really special. It fired me up all the more to be part of this fantastic project.

More from me again soon!

Claire Pedersen
Micro-franchise Co-ordinator