Solar for Halik Nain and Nanu

Renew’s International Projects Manager Harry Andrews is in Timor-Leste right now working on our Solar for Timor project. Here’s an update from the project’s last few months. 

In September 2018, Renew installed solar systems on 39 homes in the Halik Nain sub-village in the Fatumean sub-district of Timor Leste – close to the Indonesian border (see map below).  Soon afterwards, we received a polite request from the neighbouring Nanu sub-village asking that they be considered for solar installations.

The map below highlights the degree to which the two communities of Halik Nain and Nanu are intertwined.  Some households even identify as being part of both sub-villages. Given the intertwined nature of these two communities, we agreed to seek support to light up Nanu in 2019.

In late 2018 and early 2019, Renew initiated a targeted campaign to raise funds to light up the Nanu village. Since raising the funds, Renew has worked closely with our partner in the District, the Covalima Community Centre and the Friends of Suai/Covalima.  The CCC will be managing the installations in 2019 by working with the technicians trained in Halik Nain by Renew in 2018.  In June and September 2019, the CCC has visited the community to raise awareness of the project, ensure the community understands their obligations to contribute to an energy maintenance fund, and to elect community members to a new energy committee.

In July 2019, the CCC provided us with an an uplifting update. The community said that they have been living in darkness since independence and that “the light lets us see our country”.  The Halik Nain community confirmed that they are ready to share their experience with the Nanu village to “strengthen family relations within the two communities”.

The equipment for the 49 solar home systems has been manufactured by Melbourne based Plasmatronics, a long-time supporter of our Solar for Timor program. Further, Rotary’s Donations-In-Kind have worked with us to ship the knocked-down systems to Timor Leste which will then be assembled by our local training partner CNEFP.

Thank you to all those who donated to this cause.  Once these systems are installed across the two villages, we will have improved the lives of 464 people, including 12 people with disabilities.

An update and some photos will be provided in November or December 2019 once the installations are complete.

Our work in Timor-Leste wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our donors. You can donate here to allow us to support more remote Timorese villages.