Community Energy Scotland have committed to running the Edinburgh Marathon on the 23rd of May (in two relay teams plus two half marathon runners) to help raise the running4renewables fundraising target of £35,000. The money we raise will be donated to the Koru Foundation,  more specifically to the Sierra Leone Village Solar Electrification Project and the Mozambique Micro-Hydro Project.

Ndiriri is an isolated village in rural Mozambique. Villagers currently rely entirely on paraffin lamps and dry wood to light their homes, school and health centre. Dry batteries are being used to power items such fridges for food and vaccines, with villagers currently having to travel over 20 km to recharge their batteries as there are no local recharging facilities.
Poor access to electricity is a major obstacle to the delivery of socio-economic services such as education and health in many parts of rural Mozambique (only 9% rural coverage).

The system will provide Ndiriri with an affordable and sustainable electricity supply for their homes, school and clinic, dramatically improving their standard of living. The project will serve to meet a number of Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in the area;

• MDG 1 - Will reduce the number of people living on less than $1 per day, thus contributing to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The use of electricity for services such as grinding, welding, food processing, refrigeration, sewing and lighting will facilitate additional job creation
• MDG 2 - Will improve education service delivery through the provision of better lighting
• MDG 3 - Will reduce drudgery associated with accessing energy services (e.g. battery charging) on women and children who have the traditional responsibility of providing meals and other basic services for their families
• MDG 4/5/6 - Will facilitate the development of downstream industries such as welding, battery charging, and entertainment and directly contribute to better health service delivery through electricity for lighting and refrigeration for vaccines

 

Community Energy Scotland is an independent Scottish Charity, actively supporting and funding community groups throughout Scotland to develop sustainable energy projects. www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk.

Thank you for visiting our page, all donations are greatly appreciated!