Master students volunteering for Senegal
The report presents the voluntary work of five international students completing a master at KTH about the design and installation of a solar PV system for an educational building in Senegal.
Everyday violence and energy lack are two major problems in Casamance, Senegal. Since 1982, a separatist movement and the state of Senegal have fought against each other, creating violent conflicts. Since education is not provided for everyone, young people are born in this context of violence and this only makes the conflict continuing. Lack of electricity is one of the reason preventing children to go to school or having good class conditions.
On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, developed countries have the knowledge and capacity to help Senegal. Five students from KTH decided to create a voluntary project and find a solution to improve the situation. All of them following KTH:s Master's Programme in Sustainable Energy Engineering. They started the project "Sunegal" in December, in partnership with InnovEd from Sweden and Generation Non Violente from Senegal and France. They were wondering how to improve the social context by improving the energy access in a sustainable way.
During 6 months of preparation, the students were designing a solar PV system and looking for funds in order to buy and install themselves this sustainable energy system for an educational building of Generation Non Violente. The report presents the preparation work of this voluntary project, the installation on the field, the results and finally their personal impressions for this international experience.