April 2008 Archives

In 1995, Rosario Andrada de Quispe and eight other women set up the organisation Warmi Sayajsunqo, which means 'persistent women' in the local language. Warmi's objective is to help the local indigenous people live in the Puna region with dignity and according to the Kolla culture.

They focused in particular on a microbusiness approach and founded the Kolla Bank, which is managed by more than 70 indigenous communities. The bank now serves more than 3,000 families, which use the bank's microloans to fund their microenterprises.

We're very impressed by Rosario and Warmi's work. They know how to run sustainable enterprises, which is why we want to work with them to help them set up their solar microbusinesses.

Please support us. We need your donations to help us set up this programme. £15 would allow us to produce a solar lantern, while £300 would allow us carry out a day's training for a group of indigenous people.

Testing a solar panel in San Salvador de Jujuy, northern Argentina. August 2007

According to indigenous leaders in northern Argentina, the price of kerosene is going up so high that rural households are resorting to making candles out of animal fat and donkey droppings, as in the photo below. The light emitted is pretty poor and doesn't last long, which is another reason why SolarAid's microsolar work is so urgently needed. Please donate to this project!

A local leader showing the inefficiency and dim light emitted from handmade candles (made out of animal fat and donkey dropping) in San Salvador de Jujuy, northern Argentina.