The
people of Sare Pateh have hailed the Akon Lighting Africa project, three weeks
after the Kombo North village became the first beneficiary of a project that
aims to reach every home without a light and create over 1000 jobs in the
country.
The
pilot project seeks to reach at least 15000 homes, officials disclosed.
Akon
Lighting Africa is an initiative to bring clean, renewable and affordable
energy solutions primarily to rural and off-grid areas in Africa.
The
goal of the Akon Lighting Africa initiative is to provide solutions to the
energy crisis in Africa through innovative, clean and accessible solar
solutions, including street lamps, home-based solar kits, pre-paid micro-grids,
lamps and recharge stations.
The
donated equipment consists of 20 solar street lights, life straw water
filtering system for a local school, solar system for the school, a local
health center, and mosque and market area.
Through
its partnership with Unique Solutions, a community centre was equipped with a
satellite TV, Internet connectivity and charging stations for mobile phones for
the community of Sare Pateh.
“It
opens doors for so many things and we want to create a thousand homes,” Papa
Njie of Unique Solutions said.
Alieu
Sowe, the caretaker of a video club brought by the project, defined the project
as “nice and good,” adding that they only pray for more of the same projects.
Alieu
Suwareh, a shopkeeper and barber, said the project within this short space of
time has raised up the status of the village.
“So we really thank God for that,” Mr Suwareh
said.
He
explained that the people of the village travel many kilometres whenever they
need to cut their hair, but that too, he said, would soon be a thing of the
past.
“The
project brought light into the shop, all we need now is a socket to plug in,
compared to before when people had to travel out or I use a comb to barb them.”
Delo
Bah, a native of the community and member of the Village Development Committee,
said the project came as a pleasant surprise.
He
said the community was really in need of rescue prior to the coming of the
project, defining it as timely.
“Our
community is on the part of joining the global world. In the long term, it will
generate employment and income. With those incomes, we can channel them into
other things to benefit our people,” he said.
According
to Delo, the project has galvanised and put life into people and the community.
He
underscored that through this project they were able to host several different
political rallies that lasted for many hours, adding that it would not have
been possible without the street lights.
Delo
is hopeful that the project would soon be able to sustain its people and
generate revenues.
“With
proceeds from our video clubs and other facilities, we hope to create a
cultural centre as Jamwelly is a beautiful place for tourists,” he said.
Demba
Bah, the alkalo of the village, highlighted the effects of the project after
only three weeks of its installation.
Bah,
who has been an Alkalo for close to 50 years, said everything has changed since
the project reached them.
He
explained that young people from neighbouring villages come to Sara Pateh on a
daily basis in their numbers, and stayed late into the night.
All
that was possible because of the project and they prayed for its sustenance, he
said.
Alkalo
Bah recalled boring moment and blackout in Sare Pateh, and returned gratitude
to the sponsors of the ‘life-changing project.’
He
promised to safeguard the project, saying in his village, nobody goes to sleep
as they jealously guard a rare benefit that doesn’t come by easy in today’s
world.
