Displaced young Cameroonians trained to bring solar power to 164 health facilities
A Cameroonian company has trained at least 300 young people uprooted by conflict to install solar systems that light clinics and keep vaccines cold in the Northwest region.
An enterprising Cameroonian clean-energy company has trained at least 300 young people displaced by conflict to install solar power in health facilities across the country’s Northwest region. So far, 164 facilities have received either solar lighting or solar-powered vaccine storage.
The company, Solar Bright Future, is a subsidiary of a local NGO, Action for Advancing Sustainable Development. Of the 164 facilities, 41 now have solar lighting, while 123 have solar units that power vaccine cold chains. The systems include temperature monitoring and, depending on their capacity, can also run ultrasound machines and sterilisation devices.
The need is considerable. A civil war in the Northwest and Southwest regions has continued for 10 years, cutting off job opportunities for young people and worsening the collapse of basic public services. Rural communities face acute power shortages, mothers often give birth in the dark, and children risk missing vital vaccines because clinics cannot store them properly.
Chief executive Ndze Noel Lifogha says the project grew out of a tragedy at a Northwest clinic without electricity. He says a woman displaced by the war reportedly lost newborn twins after a kerosene lamp started a fire. One baby died at once, and the other died days after leaving the clinic, having gone unvaccinated because the facility had no means of refrigerating vaccines.
Over the past three years, men and women aged between 18 and 35 from the Northwest have learned to install and maintain solar systems. The training lasts three months, during which they support the health facilities, and it leads to certificates recognised by Cameroon’s Ministry of Vocational Training.
The scheme also appears to be giving people a footing in work. Lifogha says at least 60% of graduates have found jobs, formal or informal, and 20% have set up their own businesses providing energy services to their communities.
One graduate, 31-year-old Kudus Sony Kangimi, used to work as a security guard. He says the programme has changed his life and that “I have found purpose”.
Solar Bright Future is a finalist in the “Resilience” category of the “Heroes of Tomorrow: U.N. SDG Action Awards”. The competition is a special initiative of the UN secretary-general, hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and winners are due to be announced on 29 October.
Why it matters
Vaccines only work if they are kept cold, and childbirth is safer with proper light, so dependable power in a clinic can make a real difference to newborns. The UNDP says over 1,200 health facilities in the areas where its project operates still suffer severe electricity shortages, so the task is far from finished. By training displaced young people to tackle it, this scheme addresses health care, employment and clean energy together.
