On the Island of Mbenguelene live 160 families isolated and without any source of energy. They are surrounded by a river and have only one boat to reach the other side. They live from the fishery and from what they farm. 80 children don't have a school building, they learn under mango trees, and the teachers reach a high level of absenteeism due to the fact that they do not have a place to live during the school year and because the only mean of transport is a rowing boat, there is a huge difficulty to reach the island. There is no water for personal use, and they rely on the boat to purchase products to survive. Thus, the importance of the support to farming techniques and water supply.
Project: Mbenguelene Solar Island
Country & region/location: Mozambique, Mbenguelene Island, district of Marracuene
Category: Energy & Water and Agriculture
Associação Educafrica and the project partners Cooperativa Repensar and Lipor will impact on 2 facilities:
- School – A new school is being built and will be ready for the next school year, which starts on the 31st January 2023. Until now, children had classes under some trees and sitting on the ground. To improve their education and increase literacy rates, Associação Educafrica will provide light to the school, so the adults can also go to school in the evening, and enough power to supply a laptop, a TV, sewing machines for the women and a water pump for the existing well.
- Teachers’ house – There was a house for the teachers that collapsed in 2021 with strong winds. Because of that, the teachers couldn’t live on the island anymore, taking them hours to reach it. A new house is being built for them to solve this issue and will be ready in January 2023. To provide teachers with proper living conditions, Associação Educafrica will provide their house with energy for lighting, laptops and mobile phone charge, a TV, a water pump and a refrigerator.
Additionally, as the community lives from fishery and agriculture, and the current boat that connects the island to the mainland is a rowing boat that takes 20 minutes to reach the other side when it is not heavy, Associação Educafrica will provide the boat with an electric motor that can make the trip in less than 7 minutes, allowing the community to transport people and goods faster and easier. Also, to help their farming, the organisation will provide a water pump to the existing water well with a 400m hose to implement a drip irrigation system, thus avoiding the community carrying heavy containers of water and promoting a second harvest during the dry season. It would also give the women more time to focus on their sewing project.
Expected results:
- Improve the livelihood of 160 families
- 2 new buildings (school and teachers’ house) built with access to light for 5 teachers and 80 students
- Access to water for the 500 local inhabitants
- Improve literacy levels, mainly among adults
- 40 people trained in social entrepreneurship, maintenance, and agroforestry/syntropic agriculture
- Improve the community vegetable gardens and increase harvest, especially in the dry season that allows the selling of products in local markets
- Improve the island’s social isolation
