By Tyrone Bennett | CEO of Action Change
Dear Friend,
As we close this chapter on our Transitioning Renewable Energy project, I want to take a moment to reflect and share with you what we were able to achieve together—and the lessons we’ve learned along the way.
Over the past months, your support helped us power 4 schools, keeping lights on and WiFi running during critical hours of loadshedding. This made a real difference for teachers and students, ensuring that learning could continue even when electricity from the grid was unreliable. Knowing that children could read, write, and access online resources without interruption—even in the middle of blackouts—was an incredible feeling.
We especially focused on solar power solutions, which allowed us to maintain essential services, reduce reliance on grid power, and give schools a taste of what renewable energy can do. While we didn’t expand to six classrooms or larger facilities as initially hoped, what we did achieve has already improved daily school life in very practical ways.
We also faced challenges along the way. Loadshedding has been suspended, and donations slowed, which made it hard to continue expanding the project. For now, we’ve paused further work—but we are proud of the impact that has been made so far and of the experience we’ve gained in managing renewable energy in local schools.
Even though this project is ending, the memories and lessons will stay with us—and your support has left a lasting mark on the children, teachers, and communities we worked with. We are grateful for every donation, every word of encouragement, and every bit of belief that this project mattered.
Thank you for being part of this journey. What we achieved together may not be everything we dreamed, but it made a real difference—and that is something to celebrate.
By clive | Solar Installer
By Shayle Havemann | Project leader
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