Provide electricity to 500 students in Belize

Dear All,

I recently made a site visit to Holy Cross Anglican School as part of our annual on-site Board meeting. The excitement is palpable as our Board and the School staff both agreed on several near- and longer-term goals for the school, including the full build out of the next generation (50 or more new panels) SRE system. We envision doing this in two phases -- a first phase that will add approximately 25 new panels to the classroom side of the complex, and another 25 or so on the new Community Center / Hurricane Shelter facility. Further, we will are pleased to announce our first social-services occupancy at the on campus housing that was completed several years ago. This required rapid installation of electrical connectivity to the get lights on and appliances running. I have attached a picture of the how this housing now looks at nighttime; along with a few others from the Board meeting held in late January.

Secondly, I have another, longer, volunteer construction visit planned for a week beginning March 29th. In addition to starting on interior construction within the new Community Center / Hurricane Shelter facility, I will of course meet with SESB staff to fine-tune their recent proposal -- to break it into two parts (as noted above).

Finally, in the interim between my last report and this one, school maintenance staff has replaced the roofing that had been deteriorating prior to the move of the system panels mentioned in the last report, so those roofs are now up to current standards, free of leaks. If needed, they will also be available for some of the new SRE panels that are planned.

With all this positive energy, our expansion goal to provide "as much solar as is possible," is feeling much more tangible. After my next visit, and in my next report, I will provide you a breakdown of costs for each of the two phases needed to get us to our 70% offset target. With your help, we can do this!! And with domestic energy policy shifting away from climate change issues, there is no better time than now to make a difference globally....

We can't do it without you, we thank you, and invite you to spread the word!

Most sincerely,

John