Namibia: Child Power Lights Up Kindergarten
by Tanja Bause, Windhoek /23 May 2008
Source: The Namibian (Windhoek) /AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/stories/200805230840.html
THE Oprah Orphanage Home and Kindergarten in Katutura’s Ongulumbashe informal settlement made history this week when it became the first place in Namibia generating electricity from the energy expended by playing children. The Desert Research Foundation of Namibia installed a DRFN Energy Merry-Go-Round, which generates enough electricity to power the home’s lights and appliances like a fridge and even a computer.
Kindergartens in areas without electricity are severely limited in the services they can provide. There are a number of reliable technologies, such as solar energy, that can be implemented but these technologies require funding and are at risk of theft. The Energy Merry-Go-Round is robust and familiar to the children.
It is not easily removed, which makes it less vulnerable to theft than solar modules or diesel generators. All movable parts are below the rotating platform and the electric cables are buried under ground, which makes this a safe playground. The exact power output of the merry-go-round has not yet been determined, but it is not enough to be the sole source of electricity for a kindergarten.
In order to ensure adequate electricity, the merry-go-round is supported by solar panels and solar-energy batteries. The Energy Merry-Go-Round does not produce pollution and makes use of a renewable energy source, namely human energy.
The merry-go-round is not site specific and can thus be replicated at any off-grid kindergarten in Namibia. The Oprah Orphanage Home and Kindergarten was established in the year 2000 and caters for 128 children, of whom 48 are orphans.
The orphans are looked after by the Petrina Haingura OVC and HIV-AIDS Organisation. All the children who attend the kindergarten receive two meals a day during the week. At the same occasion a number of donated fruit trees were planted at the kindergarten.