By MabintyKamara M.
Since the establishment in over a century, Mamaikanu village in Maforke Chiefdom in Port Loko district lights up with solar powered electricity with funding support from the Embassy of Ireland in Sierra Leone.
The project implemented by the Social Enterprises Development (SEND) in partnership with Easy Solar through Trocaire allows community members in hard to reach communities to use and access electricity at a low cost and pay overtime with limited pressure from the service providers.
The initiative according to the officials is at its pilot stage targeting to install 300 sets of solar strategically chosen to maximize impact in the most vulnerable communities in three districts of Kambia, Port Loko, and Karene in Sierra Leone. The package comes with a small solar panel, charger and a radio “By leveraging the EaaS model, the project endeavors to provide affordable and reliable solar lighting solutions while fostering economic empowerment and social development,” the project brief noted.
In an interview with Politico, Fatmata Gbla, a resident of Mamaikanu village expressed her delight over the power supply that she currently enjoys with her family despite the current economic challenges in the country. “It is not easy to generate 45 Leones at the end of every month for subscription but again if you think about the benefit that the light brings to us and our children, you wouldn’t mind paying the price. Our children use the facility to study at night and it also saves us from snakes at night since the village is now very bright at night with light in most of the compounds,” she said.
Pa Sheku Fornah, a community elder also expressed delight over the project, saying that light is necessary no matter the cost. However, he said most people could not meet the 45 Leone per month over a six year period condition for the service which according to officials includes the service charge and maintenance so they couldn’t subscribe to it this time.
In one of the powered households, is Abu Fofanah 14, a candidate preparing for the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Fofana expressed hope that he will get better scores in his upcoming exams now that he can study uninterruptedly. “I am confident that I am going to score nothing more than aggregate 11 because I now have a lot of time to study and pass my exams unlike before when I used to share the same Chinese light used in the house by other members and myself and sometimes it’s not even too bright,” he said.
As the European Union delegation in Sierra Leone celebrates May 9 as Europe day, the team is on a nationwide visit across the country to monitor the impact of the development projects supported by the EU and its member countries such as Ireland, Germany, France and the likes in the West African country.
The visits according to the EU-Team will also help them identify gaps in their interventions for better outcomes, and foster the European Union –Sierra Leone development Cooperation through the support of key intervention areas of the government of Sierra Leone. The women of Mamaikanu village welcomed the team in high spirit with traditional songs chanting words of praise over the emergence of light and its impact on their community.
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