Solar Power and Regenerative Agriculture in Burma

In February, when Coronavirus hit and it became clear that I should choose my next destination carefully, I was already scheduled to go to Bangladesh and the Rohingya refugee camps. Although there were no documented cases of Covid 19 in Bangladesh at the time, I decided, given the existing level of health care and the possible overwhelming of that system when the outbreak did arrive, that I should postpone my visit to a later date.

            Next on the itinerary were Sri Lanka and the Philippines, both island nations, which seemed like safer bets in a spreading epidemic. Finally, I decided on Sri Lanka, as it offered relative isolation, political stability, a generous visa, and I thought that I should be able to conduct classes there, even as the disease spread worldwide. That was not to be, as we will see later.

            I arrived in Sri Lanka in mid-February with a list of contacts from a friend from Burma days, who was well-connected to the organic, sustainable living community there. Very soon, I was in touch with a variety of people who I hoped would hook me up with participants for my classes. But what to teach – solar or vermiculture – what was the need - what did people want? That question was quickly answered when I discovered that 95% of the homes in Sri Lanka are already connected to reliable grid power. It has been a priority of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to extend education, utility and health services to the entire population and they have been very successful in this endeavor. Although a geographically small country, a considerable portion of the population lives in mountainous areas where the installation and maintenance of electrical lines is a real challenge. I did see grid-connected solar systems in urban areas, but these were mainly on institutional sized structures, such as government buildings, universities or hotels, being installed by competent local solar firms. So, there was no need for solar trainings for farmers in remote areas.

            The second string to my bow is vermiculture – harnessing the power of composting worms to provide organic fertilizer and soil-building amendment, while disposing of (perhaps) unwanted organic material. As my contact list expanded, I discovered that although vermiculture was known in Sri Lanka, it was being practiced in mistaken way, yielding poor results.

            Please look out for the next Report, where I will reveal all about the vermiculture errors committed and how I proposed to correct them.

            Please continue to donate to GlobalGiving and especially to organizations fighting Covid 19 on the front lines.

Stay safe and follow health authority guidelines (they really do work!).

Best wishes,

Bruce