Power Clinic & Borehole for Blind Kids in Cameroon

When we set out with the project, the overall objective was to install a 10kw solar mini grid system that will power an existing borehole and the clinic unit of the Bulu Blind center Buea, in order to ensure uninterrupted access to safe drinking water and better health services to over 40 blind kids of the Center and residents of the community . The electricity generated will also power the poultry farm, arts and guild unit and ICT units of the center, eliminating the high cost of running the center thereby making it self-sustainable.

We gratitude to our donors we were able to raise 50% of the total budget. With the limited budget raised, we had to begin the project with 2KW to serve the urgent needs of the health unit, ICT unit and administrative block. Thus on the 21st of May 2020 we successfully deployed the 2KW system at the center. The project was warmly welcomed by the Director and his staff. Also with the COVID-19 hitting the country, the foundation took the liberty to meet their urgent preventive needs by donating cartoons of soap, face masks and hand wash buckets to the blind center.

since the project was supported by one of our patner organisations, Meta Cultural and Development Association (MECUDA) France, we jointly officially commissioned the off-grid system on the 06th June 2020.

During the official launching ceremony of the project, Mr. Godfred Anutemeh, the Director of the Rehabilitation Institute for the Blind, speaking on behalf of the Minister of Social Affairs thanked the foundation for such a humanitarian gesture. It is worth noting that RIB is a specialized institute under the Ministry of Social Affairs preoccupied with the rehabilitation and reinsertion of the visually impaired into the mainstream of the society. The center which was created in 1967 is the sole government institution for the blind in Cameroon and currently plays host to some 39 visually impaired persons of age 6 to 35 years.  “With the 2KW solar energy system, all the units of the center such as the health unit, the ICT unit, the girls’ and boys’ dormitory as well as the poultry farm will now boast of constant supply of electricity. And this is great for us” the Director said. The ceremony was equally an occasion for the Head Nurse of the Health Unit Mrs Njikang Christy to express her immense joy. She explained that the health unit which serves over 200 patients per month in the entire Bolifamba community has greatly suffered from power outages that made it difficult to store vaccines or to use the Autoclave and microscopes. This was thus a big boost to the health care of not just the blind trainees of the center but for the entire Bolifamba community. Mr. Achu Quadiga Benard, the Livestock Instructor was keen to state the importance of the solar system in providing uninterrupted supply of electricity to the poultry farm with a capacity of over 600 birds. 

Speaking during the ceremony on behalf of the President of NDES FOUNDATION, MR. Stanley Enyih, the Vice President Miss Ruth Sakwe acknowledged the importance of boosting the quality of life of the blind trainees and expressed her joy at the realization of the project. She equally noted that though this was a great realization, more is still needed as the system can be scaled up to supply electricity to the staff quarters and borehole. Mrs. Lizette Ikwoh while representing the President of MECUDA France, Mr. Henry Fortu expressed the desire of MECUDA France to carry out more such humanitarian gestures and is pleased to have partnered with the Ndes Foundation to realize this project. 

The ceremony was animated by one of the visually impaired kids, Brian Ayuk, a pupil of Class Six who displayed his amazing skills at the piano. Brain equally took the team to the ICT center where he demonstrated his savior faire in typing and computer technology.

Links:

• Blog on installation on our website
• Cameroon Info report
• COVID SUPPORT TO THE BLIND CENTER