Power Up Gambia Blog

Hello everyone!

I’m Michael, and I’ve had the honor and pleasure of working closely with Kathryn and the rest of Power Up Gambia’s awesome crew for the past year. I am a student at the University of Pennsylvania, and together with a few other committed undergrads, we are making our contribution to the mission: providing running water and reliable electricity to healthcare facilities in the Gambia! This is the first of many blog entries to come, so please check back soon to learn what we’ve been up to and what our future plans are.

Last night we had a very productive meeting and where everyone reported on their progress:

Education Programs

During the summer we also plan to iron out the details for our future education programs. On our website, the “Schools” section reads: “coming soon.” That’s true. Lan, Vera, Shira and me are working to gather ideas about Power Up Gambia events that can be held in schools around the country independently, but also events in which we can participate, in the greater Philadelphia area. The undergraduate PUG group has shown interest in reaching out to our Philadelphia community through the school system and raising awareness, educating children and adults on The Gambia and its culture (music, arts…), and spreading the word about our mission. If you live close by you should look forward to school events that display the kids’ posters for the hospital, offer Gambian music, or even a taste of the delicious Gambian cuisine.

Conservation and Donor Packets

Nimit has been in the process of writing a conservation manual for the staff at SJGH to make sure that the new source of energy is used as efficiently as possible. Since the installation of the solar panels, the hospital has gained more credibility, and with it, more patients. Therefore, the energy demands have also increased. These are positive developments, but this means that the hospital requires more power than the current solar energy system provides. For now, the hospital is using a hybrid system with the generator, but it is important to educate staff and patients on energy conservation.

I have been working on updating our donor packet, so that we can present potential donors with concise and focused information on our past accomplishments and future goals.

CNN - Heroes

Finally, Kathryn has just been nominated as a 2009 CNN hero (www.cnn.com/heroes). We will wait to hear back from them, but this is an exciting publicity opportunity, especially because the 10 finalists receive $25.000!

 That is some of our most important news – but there is more to come. Check back.