Brighten Haiti and Rotary ClubS
Bringing Solar Energy
to Schools in Haiti
Brighten Haiti is proud to partner with Rotary Clubs in the US and the Rotary Club of Cap-Haitien (6774) in Haiti to provide solar energy to schools in Haiti that don't have access to electricity. Our goal is to improve education and quality of life for Haitian children by providing sustainable, reliable, and clean energy solutions to schools that don’t have electricity.
Through our partnership with the Cap-Haitien Rotary Club in Haiti, we identify schools in Haiti that lack access to electricity and need our support. Once identified, our team works closely with the school's administration to identify where the solar and computer labs will go, the logistics and what will be needed from them for a successful outcome.
We then coordinate donations with US based Rotary Clubs and the Haiti Rotary Club to fund the project. Once funds are received, Brighten Haiti procures the materials and schedules the schools solar installation.
Installations are done by the Brighten Haiti Solar Apprentices, who have had 2 years of classroom training on solar energy, plus practical hands-on training of installing solar at the Brighten Haiti Training Center in Titanyen Haiti. The Apprentices are 11 women and 11 men, who have never had electricity themselves at their homes or schools prior to joining the program. The key attributes to get in the program are a dedication to helping their country, a passion for learning, and desire to help Haiti get renewable energy. All installations are under the guidance of our Director, Rolguens Meristil a civil engineer and solar professional.
Because of our approach, we are able to get solar energy and computer labs to schools for 80% less what it would normally cost. Making the highest Impact with the Rotary’s donations per dollar.
For under $10,000 each school gets a 4.5kW Solar Energy system with a self-contained computer lab, classroom wired with AC outlets, LED lights so the kids can see well and fans to make the classrooms cooler. A small investment that will make a Major Impact for a Generation.
The computer labs are donated to qualified schools by Bethel UMC Computers for Education. Most schools get 15 laptops, Internet In A Box server. It contains all of Wikipedia in English, French, Spanish and Creole plus over 8,000 books and an off-line educational resource called Kolibri. Kolibri has an extensive selection of lectures in Math, Science, Technology, Arts, History etc. and runs in English, French or Spanish.