Last week Friday we showed you how rural electrification worked in rural Stann Creek - adding life and power to the banana farming community of Cowpen.
But, for villagers in the remote Santa Elena village in the Toledo District - rural electrification is a far off dream. The village has been in existence for 80 years, and they have never had power. That's why they have to go solar, and women will lead the way.
Today, Miriam and Cristina Choc from Santa Elena left to the Barefoot University in India for six months training in solar repairs and installation. They got a grant from the Global Environment Fund and Mark Miller, the executive director "Plenty" the local NGO which applied for the grant. He spoke to Will Maheia about the mission:
Organizer
"They are going to Barefoot College in India. They are taking 2 people from here in Belize, a total of 30 women from around the world for this 6 month semester on learning solar. Very hands on practical building charge controllers, putting systems together, building solar lanterns and then with funding from GF small grants program - will help manage with the village so that they put small solar lighting systems in every home in the village of Santa Elena."
When they return they plan to install solar lights in every home in their village. The Barefoot University is a school only for women.
From Calcutta to CANTO
Jo-elisa Clark is another female who's excelled at a non-traditional pursuit. In June she won the 11th CANTO WTISD regional video competition. She's from Calcutta Village in the Corozal District and on Wednesday night she took center stage at the BTL AGM where she was asked to talk about her winning video:
Her prizes included a trip to the 33^rd Annual Conference & Trade Exhibition in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for two; $1000 US in cash and a tablet.
The Telephone Times They Are-A-Changin'
And Jo-elisa Clarke is one of the youths in a changing telecommunications landscape who rarely use direct calls on cell phones or text messages - they use data to communicate. At that same AGM, BTL;s CEO discussed this changing telecommunications landscape:
Rochus Schreiber, BTL CEO
"The world has changed. The way our business runs is different than it was before. 10 years ago if anyone’s phone here rang, beeped or made any type of sound, we knew with 100% certainty that one of two companies was making money. It was either us or SMART. Now, 10 years alter, if you look at your SMART phone and you look at the history of transactions for one day, approximately 9 out of 10 transactions ar because it was Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber or any of the other services which are provided by multinational companies, which are not based in Belize. They don’t pay local taxes, they don’t employ anyone here and they don’t care about the social environment of the country. Its a dramatic change. Before our competitor was clearly defined now we have competitions sitting in foreign countries who are providing the same telecommunication service that that we are providing."
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