Solar Fund Sends Panels to Power Field Hospital in Haiti

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Published Jan. 15, 2010

A group that works to bring solar electricity to impoverished people around the world is helping a medical aid organization electrify an emergency field hospital.

2009 Solar Electric Light
Fund Project in Haiti

Haiti clinic rooftop solarPHOTOS COURTESY OF SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND
Workers install modules for a 10-kilowatt solar-power system on the roof of the Boucan Carré health center. Even before the earthquake, almost all of the Haitian countryside had no access to electricity, according to Robert Freling, executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund.

Inside the clinicIn 2009, the Solar Electric Light Fund and Partners In Health set up a solar array to provide electricity to the Boucan Carré health center in Haiti's remote central highlands.

SELF is urging people to donate to Partners In Health, which has a large presence in Haiti, to assist it in responding to the earthquake emergency that has devastated the country.

Robert Freling, executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund, said that "much more help is needed," and asked that people consider donating to Partners In Health, a highly regarded aid group that is setting up the field hospital.

Mr. Freling said the Solar Electric Light Fund is diverting modules with an output of 13 kilowatts to provide electricity for critical lighting and emergency medical treatment.

Partners in Health, based in Boston, says it has worked in Haiti for nearly 25 years with a partner organization, Zanmi Lasante, and is now one of the largest non-governmental health care providers in the country.

Partners In Health says it has more than 120 doctors and nearly 500 nurses and nursing assistants working at PIH sites in Haiti.

In 2009, the Solar Electric Light Fund worked with Partners In Health and one of its founders, Dr. Paul Farmer, to bring solar electricity to a remote PIH clinic in the mountainous central highlands of Haiti.

Mr. Freling said that the Solar Electric Light Fund will continue to work with Partners In Health and the Haitian people in the reconstruction and development of their communities, but that "now is the time to support disaster relief. If you wish to contribute to the relief effort in Haiti, we encourage you to support PIH's work on the ground for immediate assistance to the survivors."

The Solar Electric Light Fund has brought solar electricity to many other remote, impoverished communities around the world in addition to Haiti, and is in need of assistance with such projects. For information about donating to SELF, please click here.