december 2 - 8 | 2015
regional extra >>> 25,000 readers every week
north east
north east jobs www.wangarattachronicle.com.au
inside page 7
circulating in wangaratta, myrtleford, bright, mt beauty, beechworth, yackandandah, rutherglen, chiltern and districts
Power to East Timor By ANITA McPHERSON
TEAM EFFORT:
Myrtleford resident Evan Jones (pictured, with East Timorese translator Mira and newly certified local technicians) has just returned from East Timor where they’ve installed 27 solar lighting systems in village homes. PHOTO: Kylie Wilson
GARDENING WITH
RSPCA
FILM
SEB
FREEHELD
PAM
WITH
WINE TALK WITH
ANITA
A Christmas worth saving for.
A FAMILY living in a remote village in East Timor will be able to switch on a light tonight and prepare a meal after dark, thanks to a practical project involving local volunteers and innovative technology. Myrtleford’s Evan Jones has just returned from a two week trip as a representative of Wangaratta’s Friends of Lacluta, where he helped install solar lighting systems into 27 homes. The systems were created by Melbourne based not-for-profit group Alternative Technology Association (ATA), whose aim is to help people live sustainably in their communities. The ATA project designed to create a solar-powered lighting industry in East Timor, was a finalist in the Google Impact Challenge, receiving a $250,000 grant from Google Australia towards not only lighting up 800 homes in Timorese villages, but training 50 local technicians to install and maintain them. Four areas in Lacluta will benefit from the project, including the remote village of Buokmeke, which took Evan three hours to reach walking along a riverbed, with equipment in tow. Working with two Timorese trained technicians and an interpreter, the team installed around six systems a day which include a solar panel, control box, a three watt LED light and a one watt night light. There is even a USB connector so people can charge their mobile phones, although one of the most important benefits is that it will allow parents and children to read after daylight ends at 6pm. The project is designed so that local families pay a small and manageable fee for their systems, which goes back towards employing locals to maintain them, ensuring its sustainability. continued page |
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