Thursday, June 2, 2011








Today we visited the village of Bomba in Belize District (4 hour drive!) where a small solar power project is underway. I have found a potential US funder for a village of 13 families the Cayo District. Bomba is a village of 20 families that has received support for solar power on a small scale; so one would expect a solar light so the children can do homework at night but I didn't expect solar powered iPods. The children were quitely watching movies in a village without electricity. The sad part of the visit is that the village has power lines going right through to provide energy to the resort island of San Pedro (to quote one resident: "where the money is.") The electric company says it would cost $65 millionBZ to drop lines into the small villages (a total of less than 100 families) and they don't have it--the government has been asked to fund it and they don't "have it" either. One woman wondered outloud as to where the profits go and even she felt the government should pay for the private company to get more profits. We had some great talks on community organizing and while they wait patiently (which they do) they have solar powered iPods, MP3 recorders and a light bulb here and there. One of the issues with solar power is maintenance and upkeep; this village makes money through crafts that are sold to tourists and to funders in the U.S. that sell them at fund raising events. After a session on how to make the Village more visible to supporters, they honored me with the gift of a rosewood bowl that money couldn't buy! The two little girls are cousins; one (age 4) showed me how her mother reads to her at night with solar light--was a little upset with me because I didn't give her my undivided attention of reading a book.

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