Senegal: three young men make solar panels instead of seeking work abroad

Three young men of Senegal started making solar panels in their village. All of them did not want to move to Dakar or Europe looking for work. The project proved very successfull. Now they are making solar panels for their community in the countryside near the capital, Dakar.

Just some time ago in Mekhe, a village in Senegal populated mainly by farmers, everybody had to stop to work at sunset because there was no electricity. Now there is light virtually all night long and with it the people in the countryside started doing tons of activities. Now, for example, they have a refrigerator for their food, senegal-pannelli%20solari-1especially for the ingredients of thiéboudiene, the typical dish in Senegal made mainly of fish and vegetables.

All this is part of the “Jariñoo jant bi” project, which means “We use the sun” in Wolof, the language that people speak in Senegal.

“Jariñoo jant bi” is backed by a growing number of people.

The Italian Ngo Fratelli dell’uomo is participating to this project.

“In 2006 – it is written in a press release of the Ngo – Khadim Djitté, Djiby Diagne and Serigne Diagne, three young men that did not want to move to Dakar or Europe, builded “l’atelier du soleil” (the sun workshop) in the building of the farmers association of Mekhe (UGPM). The project had one goal: to install a lot of solar panels in the province of Mekhe. senegal-pannelli%20solari-2

“The program aims to give energy to the entire province or at least a large part of it. Nevertheless nowadays there are only two places with solar panels or similar technology installed: Taby and Ndiayenne Lack. In these places there has been a radical change”.

Water, fields irrigation, food conservation, telecommunications and access to informations are all advatanges brought by the solar energy.

“Jariñoo jant bi” is a project made by the farmers association in Senegal UGPM, SIDI society of micro-credit and business challenges, Alternatives Energétiques private company and the region of France Midi-Pyrénées. The Italian Ngo Fratelli dell’Uomo has been the last to cooperate to the project.

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