SLS-7b4 Charity or International Service-Learning?

There are millions and millions of people, in developing countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar, Rwanda, …, who are off the electrical power grid, and will remain so for years to come.  When a power line is extended along a trunk road, it benefits the houses along the road.  In many countries it is the consumer that have to pay for the cable, equipment and manpower to connect their house to the power line.  It is often still too expensive for houses off the road to connect to the power line.  Millions of people will remain without electricity for years to come.  Some buy a car battery to power lights and appliances.  But the batteries and their re-charging is expensive, beyond a lot of people. 

They cook and eat in darkness when the sun goes down.  Then they are forced to stop and go to bed.  Some manage to buy candles.  Or small electrical torches powered by expensive batteries or kerosene-fired lamps.  In order to cook and eat, study, and function in a minimal and difficult manner.  Life is not much different from that of centuries ago.  While the rest of the world have moved on rapidly.  

One solution is to buy “off-the-shelf” solar panel systems to give to those in need.  Some of them are grandiosely-named “solar power generators”.  A typical US$70 system buys you a <5 watt solar panel, a small package containing an estimated <10 ampere-hour battery, a small radio, a small LED lamp and a mobile phone charger, all connected into a read-to-deploy system.  One just have to put down the small panel outside, hang the lights up somewhere, and turn on the switch.  Many such systems seem to be manufactured in China - unsurprisingly.  Little or no installation is needed.  

An alternative, “self-design-and-assembly”, which we have adopted, is to use a similar amount of money to buy 40 watt solar panels, a 26 ampere-hour battery, a small controller, a whole bunch of LED lights, a phone charger, plenty of cable, nails, screws, connectors, and hand tools.  We then teach our students to assemble the solar panels, assemble the LED lights into multiple LED lighting fixtures, wire up the houses, and teach local youths to do the same and to maintain the systems.  Later on, when LED lights become less expensive, we buy the LED lights to save time.  We then go to each house, work out with the owners where to place the panel, the lights, the switches, measure out the cables needed, and spend a couple of hours in each house to install, test, and show the owners how to operate the system.  All the time, we work with a team of local youths.  They translate between our students and the house owners - sometimes they are the owners or residents themselves.  They learn the skills from our students, assist, and eventually go on to work by themselves the installation of the system.  

The first (off-the-shelf) solution is a case of charity/foreign aid.  It does benefit the community.  It also, perhaps even mainly, enriches the manufacturers of the “solar power generators”.  Some of which are non-profits but most are commercial companies. There is little service or learning for us in that process.  It is a gift to the poor.  The poor typically would not know what to do if the system fails, or some parts need be replaced. There is little to no transfer of knowledge, or empowerment.  

In the second case (self-design-and-assembly), the villagers gain a system 4 times as powerful, for the same financial cost to us.  Our students learn valuable lessons about technology, much deeper understanding of the issues, useful skills, and self-confidence through real service. Perhaps equally importantly, local youths learn the basics of the technology to exploit solar energy and useful technical skills. They also make some friends with people from afar. Now there are young people right in the village who can fix small problems with the system.   In one case, a young woman bought a new house with the money earned trading beans.  She took down the system we installed in her house, with the battery, wall wiring, LED lights, etc., and installed the whole system in her new house, all by herself, and it worked.  We were amazed and greatly gratified.  

However, this solution takes much more effort to organise and execute.  Perhaps that is why it is done much less often.