Hairy Haggis Relay –

The GreenPower team is running the Hairy Haggis Relay as part of the Edinburgh Marathon on the 23rd May 2010 with the aim of raising £2000 for The Koru Foundation.

The Koru Foundation is important to us as it works with communities in developing countries to improve their quality of life through installing renewable energy systems which provide sustainable energy to power homes and local services. 

Renewable Energy provides a, long term solution that improves a community’s access to health, education and employment opportunities without contributing further to climate change. Poor access to electricity is a major obstacle to the delivery of socio-economic services such as education and health in many parts of the developing world.

The money that we raise will be used towards the Mozambique Micro-Hydro Project,

Project Summary
The implementation of a 20 kW micro hydro system in the isolated , used to power 1200 households, a clinic and a school.

Current Situation
Ndiriri is an isolated village in rural . 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.
Lack of energy also serves to severely reduce value-adding economic activities, including agro processing and light engineering. Ndiriri is in an area that is least prioritised by the national government for rural electrification and so is unlikely to receive a sustainable source of electricity through conventional means.

Project Outline

The Koru Foundation, along with Practical Action and its local partner KSM, aim to implement a 20 kW micro hydro system in the isolated , which will be used to power 1200 households, a clinic and a school.

The scheme will actively involve the local community in all stages of its design, implementation and long-term maintenance, enabling them to manage the scheme sustainably. This will serve to create a local expertise in micro-hydro system installation, covering fabrication of equipment, technical assistance and management skills. These new skills will then be used to implement similar projects in neighbouring villages, providing all the necessary technical and social support.

It will be seen as an example project which will:

Provide jobs
Improve education service delivery through better lighting.
Reduce drudgery associated with accessing energy services (e.g. battery charging) on women and children.
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.
Encourage similar schemes in neighbouring villages;

For more details see

http://www.korufoundation.org

http://www.running4renewables.org.uk/index.htm

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure.  Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Thanks

David, Tom, Craig and Nick