Mayan Power and Light

Eleven years ago we started Mayan Power and Light (Poder y Luz Maya) as a small project to teach Mayan women about electricity, circuits and solar power.  We also taught business classes so women could start their own small scale solar power businesses. One part of the program was to install solar power on unelectrified schools and community centers to provide hands-on experience for students, MPL staff and communities.  MPL was popular and over time it evolved. MPL now teaches several classes in sustainability, appropriate technology and sustainable business development, and they install solar power and water filters on rural schools.

Mayan Power and Light is now a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).  They have grown from 4 people to 9 people and they are teaching more classes, creating more solar schools, providing communities water filters and constantly evaluating their work and improving their offerings.  

I interviewed MPL a few weeks ago at their offices in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.  It was wonderful to see the offices full of staff and volunteers.  (all were masked!)  We discussed their ever increasing number of students and solar installations and their growing influence creating a sustainable future in the Western highlands of Guatemala.  I got to attend a graduation ceremony for one of their classes  which was full of student and teacher pride.  

I asked the MPL team about their vision for the future and where they believe they have their biggest impact. Their response "we would like to do more solar schools.  You can see the impact a solar school has on a community in just 6 months".  Solar schools create a bright place where communities can gather to organize and help each other out.  Students who have to work the fields during the day can take classes at night.  They get more years of education.  In some of our solar school communities just having lights and some donated laptops has helped them graduate their first high school classes.  

Every extra year of school closely correlates to higher lifetime income. 

Your donations make a difference.  MPL solar schools lift communities out of poverty.  We couldn't do this without you.  

Please help us install solar on rural schools in Guatemala:  https://bit.ly/Donate_MPL

Note:  In 2023 we will start to have regularly scheduled volunteer trips to Guatemala again.  Every trip and every project is different.  If you are interested please contact info@apptechdesign.org for more information.  

Links:

• The Appropriate Technology Collaborative