Two men checking the solar panels

July 5, 2011: Rising before dawn, an SOS Mother in Mombasa, Kenya, would find a power outage, leaving her unable to prepare breakfast for her kids before they go to school. Any time, day or night, a nurse in an SOS clinic had to expect that life-supporting machinery could come to a halt.

Living with unreliable electric power has long been a way of life across Kenya and much of Africa. But it’s no longer so for an SOS Children’s Village in the coastal city of Mombasa. 

In March SOS-Mombasa became the proud owner of a grid-connected solar power system. The system feeds electric power into the public power grid by day, and by night, when electric demand is high, it taps into the grid. The set up is a first for Kenya, a first for SOS Children’s Villages, and one of the first photovoltaic systems of its kind in Africa.

As Ruth Okowa from SOS-Kenya points out, the energy from the new system “is economical in the long run, reliable, and environmentally responsible.”

SOS Goes Green

The opportunity to create a green SOS Children’s Villages arose in late 2009, when SOS was planning sorely-needed renovations of the buildings in its thirty-year-old village in Mombasa. With energy so costly and undependable, SOS decided to turn SOS-Mombasa into a green village.

Generous contributions from corporate partner Danone Holland and others allowed a full overhaul of the village’s power supply, including construction of an innovative solar power plant. The project was also supported by the German government. German company Asantys Systems GmbH and its Kenya-based partner African Solar Designs Ltd. will ensure on-site maintenance.

Children Getting Firsthand Experience with Solar Energy

SOS children admiring the solar panels

The experts who installed the solar system for SOS-Mombasa provided hands-on demonstrations for SOS children and staff, showing them how the new plant powers their village and school. Close-up experience with renewable energy will leave a deep impression on Kenyan children, who are learning about the benefits of solar energy systems in their daily lives and for Kenya’s future.

SOS has four Children’s Villages and a host of schools, vocational training centers, and clinics in Kenya. Help us give hope to vulnerable children by sponsoring an SOS child.