Gorilla

Here I am welcoming the delivery of the equipment for our incredible Solar Sisters

Hi, this is Henry,

I am writing with some very happy news from here in Goma.

As you may recall, at the end of 2010, the Gorilla Organization sent five Congolese grandmothers over to the Barefoot College in India. Here, despite the fact that all but one of them is illiterate and none of them had ever set foot outside of their home villages before, they trained to become solar power engineers.

Well, now they are back home and about to get the equipment they need to bring electricity to their villages for the very first time! As you can see from the picture below, I personally went along to welcome the lorry carrying $100,000 worth of solar power technology to Goma.

Once it’s been released by customs, we’ll get to work distributing it to our ‘Solar Sisters’, and they will then get busy bringing renewable power to their home communities. By having a reliable source of electricity for the first time, people living in these tiny villages will be able to work and study for longer, easing the burden of poverty and meaning they will be steadily less reliant on the forests that they live alongside, thereby leaving giving the endangered gorillas here the space and peace they need to thrive. How’s that for a good start to 2012?

Of course, I’ll be sure to keep you updated as the Solar Sisters get to work, so watch this space!

The new equipment means the Solar Sisters will be able to put their skills to use