Feature News

Let the sun shine!

Solar oven is providing meals for school children in Port-de-Paix

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Melody Regalado - Florida Catholic correspondent

MIAMI — They walk three hours from their homes to school to get an education and a meal, possibly the only meal they will eat that day. And they do so with a smile.

School children from the poor and remote village of Baie-de-Henne in Haiti’s northwest, one of the poorest in the country, eat daily meals thanks to a solar oven and other initiatives of the Solar Energy Project, which aims to promote forestation in the mountainous and bare area while creating a source of income for residents.

“There is a severe deforestation problem in Haiti, partially because of natural disasters but also because the people knock down trees to turn into coal to cook with,” said Luis Barzana, an Amor en Acción volunteer who offers his engineering background to the initiative. “Solar power offers an alternative to this.”

Along with the malnutrition prevalent in the area, the toxic fumes released when coal is burned are also a health concern.

The Solar Energy Project is one of three initiatives being supported in the Diocese of Port-de-Paix by the Global Solidarity Committee made up of Catholic Relief Services, Amor en Acción and St. Thomas University.

Anthony Vinciguerra, coordinator of St. Thomas’ Center for Justice and Peace, said solar energy was chosen as one of the projects because of its potential to create long-term change, increase forestation and bring income to the people in Haiti.

Barzana said that with all the different technologies available today, the people of Port-de-Paix might be able to do a lot with solar energy.

Among the plans being envisioned are a solar bakery where they can use solar ovens to bake breads and other goods to sell and make a living. Solar panels will also be installed to provide electricity for schools, churches and rectories in Port-de-Paix, an area that has very little electricity or running water.

The Solar Energy Project also plays an important role in another project, the COCANO Fair-Trade Coffee Cooperative, because it will reduce the need to cut down trees — coffee plants need shade to flourish.

A documentary on the projects, “Blooming Hope: Harvesting Smiles in Port-de-Paix”, shows the 300 school children from Baie-de-Henne who have benefitted from the solar oven at their school.

Donated by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Barbara Jordan, the oven has provided them with both nutrition and an education, as their long walk to school is partly motivated by the promise of a hot meal for the day.

In the documentary, Father Roman Musil of L’Ecole St. Maria Boretti in Baie-de-Henne said that sometimes they have food to cook, but nothing to cook with. The solar oven has eliminated that problem.

Father Musil also encouraged people overseas not to forget the struggles of the poor, noting that people who work in Haiti will be receiving, rather than giving, from the generous hearts of its people.

“As poor as they are, their spirit fills you more than you fill theirs,” said Barzana. “There is a real sense of connection with the people there.”

For more information, go to http://sites.google.com/site/renewableenergysystemssite.