Cheap green scheme shows benefits of educating women and girls, especially in science and technology
KEUR SIMBARA, Senegal (AlertNet) – For years, Senegal’s national power company has responded to a shortfall in energy production with regular outages that last nearly all day in some areas and have triggered street riots in cities.
But in the small village of Keur Simbara, some 76km from the capital Dakar, when darkness falls, the lights come on - thanks to the expertise of Doussou Konate, a 57-year-old mother of six, known locally as the “light woman”.
Konate never attended school, but two years ago she was one of seven Senegalese women who travelled to India to be trained as solar power engineers at the Barefoot College in Rajasthan.
Six months later, she returned and set up domestic lighting - semi-portable, eco-friendly systems that provide four hours of electricity per day - in Keur Simbara and the neighbouring village of Keur Daouda. Neither has ever been connected to the national power grid.
Fifty households have now been equipped with a solar panel, a fixed lamp, a solar lantern, an LED flashlight and a plug for charging cell phones.
“When night falls, everybody lights up their lamp and you can go anywhere you wish because everything is clear. It is just wonderful,” Konate says with a bright smile.
Screwdriver in hand, and assisted by a young girl from her homestead, she patiently cross-checks cables and fixes a broken solar lantern.
“This is very important for the children who go to school,” she explains. “Before they had to hurry to do their homework while the sun was still up or study using candles and torches, but now they can study at any time of the day, even at night.”
SEEING THE LIGHT ON WOMEN’S EDUCATION
The benefits from the light Konate has brought to her community go beyond the power of electricity. Villagers say her new skills have enlightened many about the importance of equal access to education for girls and boys, particularly in science and technology.
“It shows that what is important is not whether a person is a man or woman, it is their motivation, dedication and confidence in achieving what they set out to obtain,” says Demba Diawara, the chief of Keur Simbara. “That is why education is valuable for boys and for girls.”
Konate, who used to be a housewife and subsistence farmer growing millet, now has a regular monthly income of about $60. Each household participating in the solar electrification scheme pays a monthly fee - half of which is saved, and half of which pays for maintenance of the solar panels and lanterns.
On International Women’s Day earlier this month, the rapporteur on the rights of women for the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights urged states to allocate more of their budgets to national and regional programmes to make science and technology more accessible to women and girls.
Tostan, the non-governmental organisation implementing the solar project in Senegal and Djibouti, says more African villages could be lit under cheap, green schemes like that managed by Konate if there were a real push for community education and empowerment programmes for women.
“We have electrified seven communities, and five other women are getting set to travel to India to become solar power engineers,” says Khalidou Sy, national coordinator for Tostan Senegal. “(They will) return to their communities to train other women, and there will be electricity everywhere.”
According to the Barefoot College, men have often been found to be “untrainable” as they are restless, impatient, ambitious, and all want certificates after training. Once armed with the necessary piece of paper, however, they tend to leave their native villages and migrate to the cities.
“Middle-aged women, on the other hand, are often slower at learning but they are patient, tolerant and determined. Since women trainees have a solid base with a home and family in the village, they are not usually interested in migrating to cities and certificates are of no value to them,” the organisation says on its website.
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