DUSHANBE, June 6, Asia-Plus — Solar Team comprising Guzgef school children and passionate individuals from NGO “Little Earth”, Public Foundation “Rushdi Tojikiston” and “FLEX Alumni” Association, with technical assistance of UNDP and the Association of Innovative and Technological Entrepreneurship, created an ambitious plan to help resolve the problem of energy crisis and provide opportunity to use renewable energy solutions, such as solar panels to improve children’s education in Gusgef village located in the Romit Gorge.
They note that for procurement and installation we need to reach at least $6500, while reaching stretch goal of $8000 will cover all additional installation cost.
By introducing Gusgef village school with green energy solutions, they hope to improve study conditions, strengthen local communities and provide better education opportunities for rural schoolchildren. Gusgef school will not only become a brighter place for learning, but also an example for future crowd funding projects expected to improve education facilities in rural Tajikistan.
A pledge or donation of $400 could buy an entire solar panel and provide school children with access to education, press release issued by them says.
The press release notes that due to increasing energy crisis, particularly in winter times, Tajikistan is considered as the most vulnerable country in Central Asia with the least capacity to adapt to future consequences of climate change.
There are an estimated 24,000 households in rural Tajikistan living in off-grid areas with no access to an adequate energy supply. High level of poverty rate, lack of powered school facilities and absence of adequate schools infrastructure in remote areas force village schools to rely on wood and coal burning to meet their energy needs, which significantly harms people’s health and the environment.
School No 87 in Gusgef village is one of those off-grid schools, where students are forced to study in dark and cold classrooms, miss many days of school, and in conditions of light-scarcity drop-out to get involved in labor.
The school provides education to 137 disadvantaged rural children of 7 to 16 years of age, who would otherwise lack access to it. The school is also home for 35 school children from two neighboring villages, who travel one kilometer through the mountainous routes every day to attend the school.
Due to hard-to-reach geographical location, both the school and surrounding villages are not connected to an electricity grid and rely on coal burning which in turn causes children to suffer ill health caused by indoor smoke.
Solar Initiative of Gusgef school is reportedly being carried out under support of the UNDP Crowdfunding Academy.
The Crowdfunding Academy is a non-formal educational program on developing crowdfunding campaigns aimed for training cooperatives, municipalities and cities, start-up companies, entrepreneurs, craftsmen and all citizens with interesting and innovative projects.
