Temotu Province, SOLOMON ISLANDS

IMPROVING HEALTH WITH SOLAR CLINICS

The Challenge

Located in the southern Pacific Ocean about 1,200 miles northeast of Australia, the Solomons are an archipelago of mountainous islands and low-lying coral atolls.

In the far east of the Solomons, some 350 kilometers from the rest of the nation, lies the province of Temotu, including the large island of Santa Cruz, the Reef Islands, the Duff Islands and the tiny islets of Tikopea and Anuta. 22,000 people make Temotu province their home, most of them subsistence farmers who earn a living from fishing, growing rootcrops, and drying the meat of the coconut, which is later refined into coconut oil.

The geographic isolation of the Temotu Province, coupled with wide dispersal of the inhabitants, makes provision of energy very challenging.  Diesel and kerosene are the principal energy sources, but shipments can be erratic, and supplies frequently run out, bringing generators, lamps, and other equipment to a halt. 

The most acute problems caused by undependable energy supplies are at Temotu’s health clinics. Surgical procedures are interrupted by light outages, vaccines are ruined by gaps in refrigeration, and consultations by radio with the province’s only doctor are disrupted by power failures.

The Solution

Building on the success of an earlier project on the nation's largest and most famous island, Guadalcanal, SELF will now bring solar power to approximately a dozen rural health clinics throughout Temotu Province. 

Dr. Silent Tovosia, who was instrumental in SELF's first project in the Solomons, has spear-headed the comprehensive project.

 Project goals include:

• Replacing the kerosene lamps in the clinics with solar-powered fluorescent lighting, ensuring that births and other medical procedures can proceed under strong, steady illumination.

• Converting kerosene-powered refrigerators to solar power, so that fragile vaccines can be reliably preserved.

• Introducing solar powered 2-way radios for communication among remote clinics and with the doctor in Lata, the provincial capital.

• Providing dependable solar electricity for critical medical devices including the microscopes used in malaria diagnosis, the oxygen concentrators that help people breathe when under anesthesia, and dental equipment.

The Power Is YOURS...

This critical health care project has not yet been funded. Please contact SELF for a full proposal, or click on this button to contribute on-line.

Here are some examples of how your investment will help:

• $25 can purchase a full lighting kit, including ballast, fixture, and bulbs for one health clinic.
  

• $50 can purchase a deep-cycle battery that will store solar electricity for evening surgical operations, or for days with heavy cloud cover.
  

• $100 can purchase half of one 50-watt photovoltaic panel, which will be at the solar clinic’s heart.
  

• $500 can purchase a direct current computer and the solar panel to power it, giving Temotu's health practitioners access to worldwide medical knowledge.
  

• $1000 can electrify one entire health clinic in Temotu Province, including solar panels, battery, wiring, switches, and lights.

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Did you know a gift of $10 buys two efficient fluorescent light bulbs for a village school, home, or clinic?
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A study for the U.S. government calculated that the gasoline equivalent of the energy saved over the lifetime of one 24-watt compact fluorescent bulb is sufficient to drive a Prius from New York to San Francisco.