Mayan Power and Light

We were blown away by your show of support during #ClimateAction week. Over 115 people from the US and Europe chipped in over $11,300 to bring clean water and light to Guatemalan families affected by the pandemic. You helped us meet our goals and serve more people suffering under the COVID19 quarantine. 

Overall in Guatemala 54% of the population live in poverty; in la Zona Reina, the poverty rate is at 75%. Thousands of people live day-to-day, but are out of work for over 2 months now. Stress is rising and UNICEF is warning of the rise of domestic violence. Living in isolated villages, kids in la Zona Reina rely on school as the only building with lights, cell phone charging and computers. With school closed, they spend long days and nights at home in the dark. Now the school principals of Chitas and Tiritibol are working with us to help their students cope with the added isolation.

Your generosity helped us serve 319 children last week with basic lighting to read and feel safe while school is closed. Their parents save precious funds on candles for food,and can be more productive at night. 

It wasn´t easy.  With the whole of Guatemala on lock down, our field staff can´t travel out to the poorest communities who need help. Luckily, our past collaborative projects with local community leaders developed mutual trust, transparency and a culture of cooperation to take action during this situation. 

Two school principals in the un-electrified interior of Guatemala have shown exemplary community leadership since we worked together to install solar panels, lights and a computer lab at their schools.  We organized the distribution of solar lamps to 319 primary school children by matching school enrollment lists with signed documents and using shipping services to send documentation and solar lights back and forth. When we can move around the country again, our field staff will visit Tiritibol and Chitas to interview parents and children for monitoring and evaluation purposes. We´ll update you with that information when the time comes. 

Thanks to your recent donations, over 125 water filters are now on their way to Guatemala for distribution in May to help poor families stay healthy, save money and save the environment.

Stay tuned for more updates about our response to the pandemic.

Thanks to your generous donations in 2019, Mayan Power and Light is taking off to a whole new level.  Check out our attached 2019 Annual Report for details on how we strengthened our organization, our programs, and our community partnerships.

This January, MPL installed solar power on two schools for at-risk kids in Guatemala.

On January 4th, solar volunteers worked with The Street School Staff and Mayan Power and Light solar technicians to install 600 watts of solar power on The Street School's Children's Home, where 22 at-risk or orphaned children are supported by social workers and psychologists to go to school and get back on track.  With over 8 power outages per month, children and staff members were left in the dark - unable to do homework and staff members struggling to keep everyone safe.  Emergency back-up solar lighting maintains children's security and safety, keeping the space bright and stable as a Children's Home should be. 

By Jan 21, 2020 we installed a Solar Power Lights & Computer Lab  at Montemaria's community run Institute for Education - an impressive community effort to create secondary educational options for isolated rural children. The institute serves 75 students with 13 teachers and 1,200 associated community members. Before the project, they had 5 computers for a class size of 30 students. They ran a gasoline generator for 2 hours a day to power the 5 computers.  Now, the classrooms and administrative offices have power for lights, sound and proyectors; they have 15 computers to teach basic and advanced computer skills; and community members can charge their cellphones and lanterns at school. To top it off, the school now has 2 water filters to provide their students with clean drinking water.    The project creates new access to information and communications for more opportunity and a chance to break out of poverty.

Solar Schools are more than lighting and improved education, they are also demonstrations of how solar power and water filters work, increasing awareness of how 21st century technologies can be accessible to all income levels. Just as cellphones have become a common appliance for all income levels worldwide, solar power and water filtration are becoming essential technologies for development. First things first, people need to learn about these solutions and experience them first hand to trust the product.

Mayan Power and Light entreprenuers will provide access to these essential technologies in 2020 by meeting with community leaders and promoting the products in town markets. The solar schools lend the entreprenuers more credibility in their community as they can refer to a local demonstration project where the community is benefiting from the very solutions that can be installed in low-income households. 

See our attached Annual Report to learn more about the capacity building and program development we've achieved in 2019 to level-up our organization for more efficiency, effectiveness and sustainable impact. 

Links:

• 2019 Annual Report