Power Up Gambia Blog

I’m finally back in Bwiam, my home away from home. My heart was racing with excitement as we pulled around the last bend and the hospital came into view. The solar panels standing tall - soaking up the late afternoon sun.

We had arrived in The Gambia the previous day and stayed overnight in our favorite hotel, Safari Gardens – ‘a hotel that gives more than it takes’ – frequented by many do-gooders in The Gambia. The owners, Geri and Maurice have become good friends of ours and have been invaluable to connecting us with people throughout the country. Our first night made it clear that we had indeed arrived in the rainy season. The wind howled and shook the screens all night long. At least the storm kept the mosquitoes away.

Mike and Sesh left early to exchange money, find toilet paper, and find Sesh’s Peace Corps friend, Jared. Lucy, Carol, and I met with GamSolar at the hotel to discuss the solar energy system at SJGH. From their report the system is running smoothly but we do have some quirks to work out. The main challenge is going to be getting the generator to charge the batteries in the night time hours (will explain more later).

After our meeting we piled into GamSolar’s car and sped off to the hospital, narrowly missing a herd of cows crossing the road and a few goats along the route. We settled Sesh and Jared at The Somita Clinic (our next project site!) for their week long stay. They have the important task of learning everything they can about the clinic and implementing a monitoring and evaluation strategy. Pulling into the hospital campus our car filled with pride. The solar panels stood gleaming, serving their critical role of providing electricity to the hospital. A sign at the front of the hospital has been installed: “Hospital Management Board in Conjunction with Power Up Gambia (USA) Installed the State of the Art Solar Energy System March 2009.”

We’re now sitting in our little two-bedroom house on the hospital grounds (beautifully painted, thanks Alex and Jeff!). The last few hours have been a marathon of greeting friends at the hospital. We’ve been welcomed by so many familiar, smiling faces – it’s good to be back. Off to get some sleep. Rumor has it that tomorrow the President of the Gambia, His Excellency Alh. Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, will be here at SJGH to inaugurate the solar panels. The hospital staff is frantically getting ready for a big program and party!