Monday, November 2, 2009
Off with MCC
Greetings all!
I'm excited to be leaving tomorrow with a team from Montgomery Community Church to Tejutla Guatemala to install a solar power sytem in a school they are in ministry with. Here isthe team at training yeserday at MCC. It was and will be fun to work with them.
Following a couple of days in Tejutla I'll be off to Honduras to accomplish what I call finish & fix. We need to repair a system in Apcilagula (minor) and finish the system at La Quesera in San Marcos which we failed to complete in June dure to the customs problems. It will be good to get my hat back.
Also we're going back to Intibuca to investigate a report that there are two systems not working right now. We'll likely be replacing batteries, but will investigate. first.
Plese remember to pray. The Honduras tream will include Terri MacGregor, Kevin Sasson, Sady and maybe Gabby. Thanks a bunch & follow SonLight Power on Twitter if you want to keep up.
I wil try to post on the blog from Honduras!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Maser planner at work
Posted by Michael Skinner of the June II-B SonLight Power team to Honduras.
Backdrop:
Our panels and key materials had been hung-up in customs from before the June II-B trip. Allen and I talked on the phone the day before I left California for Honduras...Allen was in Honduras concerned about the equipment being hung-up in customs. So several folks in the states began gathering equipment to bring as back-up. There were not enough inverters and charge controllers in Allen's garage, and no time to have more shipped, so I offered to purchase some from the CA suppliers Allen uses, which were within driving distance of my home in Northern CA (thank you God!) the afternoon before my departure. The supplier was expecting some to be delivered that day, so I drove about the 60 miles hoping the right supplies would come in. They did (thank you God!)....the salesman asked what we were doing and was interested to hear about SonLight Power, looked at our web-site while I was there, and offered to give us the dealers price for the inverter and charge controller (thank you God!)...since he dropped the price about 40%, I got two charge controllers.
My bags were at their weight limit, so I carried the inverter and charge controller in my carry-on - got stopped at security - wouldn't let me on, as I already had two bags checked, I couldn't check a 3rd, unless I was first class - running out of time before departure, I went back to the counter and got the cheapest upgrade to first class I have ever imagined (thank you God!) - I took it, checked bag no. 3 with the photovoltaic equip and relaxed for the trip (thank you God!)..
We (met with team memeber, Terri McGregor on this plane in Houston) were circling Tegucigalpa on a beautiful sunny dry day, other than a seemingly small cloud pouring rain over the airport - they closed the airport 5 minutes from landing, and diverted us across county to San Pedro Sula. The airline had two options - get off there and we're on our own, or go back to US....so we de-planed into this foreign place without the ability to speak the language, and almost too discouraged. But we had a purpose and a mission. Mei's cousin's family happended to live near the airport, and she got a hold of them (our cell phones worked - thank you God!) to meet us there and take us to the last bus to Teguc (thank you God!) - about a 5 or 6 hour bus ride, including diversions from damaged roadways and a collapsed bridge from the recent earthquake....another set of obstacles that was thrown in front of us, but there was a greater purpose that prevailed (thank you God!) - we even got upgraded to first class on this bus, with a meal and comfortable reclining seats waiting for us - and it was the last departure that night and we arrived on the bus with less than 5 minutes to spare (thank you God!).
Fast forward: after arrival in Teguc and meeting up with our SLP comrades, we spent the next few days gathering and assembling equipment and planning for the three school installs. The problem was with the equipment still hung up in customs and difficulty finding enough solar panels to purchase locally, we didn't yet have eveything we needed for school number three. Proceeding forward in faith, we set out for San Marcos, where we were going to be home-based for the week for the three schools. After the first two installs in the first two days went extrememly smoothly and in record time, we had settled into the hotel to relax the following day on the extra day in the schedule - since we didn't have the panels we needed for the third school by then, we decided to take that next day off.
In the meantime that evening after the ssecond school, I arrived in the dining hall that night a little ealry, finding that a few other Americans arriving to the same room for what appeared to be a double-booking - our dinner and their Spanish class....we got to talking -they were from Mission Lazarus - they were student interns for the summer, and Liddy was a nursing student - she and a medical student (Trevor) were there for the summer interning at a remote medical clinic three days a week. When they heard about SonLight Power, they mentioned the clinic they worked at once had working solar electric panels, but they had been out of service for a long time, and could we send a team to look at it..
We had no extra equipment (other than that second charge controller I picked up in CA), but did have a team of willing and able SLP team members excited to take the day we had off and see what we could do at the clinic (Allen, Terri, Juancho, Luis, Gigi, and me).
It was remote, and on a beautiful hilltop, overlooking lush valleys on at least three sides. In the distance you could make out Nicaragua. The clinic building had some old solar panels on the roof, covered by an old rusty iron grating. First order of business, Allen observed, was to remove the permanent shading that grating provided. There were two teams, Allen and Terri went into the clinic to diagnose and trouble shoot the control panel and guts of the equipment that had been there. The other team (Juancho, Luis, Gigi, me) was removing the grating on the roof and discovered all five panels had been disconnected. We connected them all and checked the amps and voltage and found that the panels were in good shape.
In the meantime, on the inside, Allen and Terri found that this was very old (probably German) solar equipment that had apparently broken down after the batteries had exploded. The clinic doctor and local pastor had known enough that they had purchased new batteries that we could install if we could get the system working, and in a way to avoid another battery explosion. Turns out that this old system had been using old manual regulators to control the charge on the batteries. These regulars had manual switches which had apparently stuck in the constant humidity of the climate there, so that caused the charge on the batteries to continue unabbated and resulted in the original explosion. What this system needed was .... a charge controller!! Just like the one we happened to have as an extra! (thank you God!). Different charge controllers come in different shapes and sizes...and the particular shape and size of the charge controller we had just happened to fit perfectly into the available ara on the control board! (thank you God!).
After hooking everything back-up, and firing up the system, it hummed like it was new....the very cool thing about this was that the primary purpose of this system was to power a refrigerator for medicines requiring cold storage temperatures (pun intended!)...the refrigerator began cooling down right away! (Thank you God!).
How amazing, the way our Lord works...even the equipment being held up in customs...if that hadn't occurred, we would not have bought the extra charge controller or had it to use to repair the medical clinic - now they have access to medicines they hadn't had before. How many other lives are now being impacted because of this? Thank you Lord!
So time and time again, with what seemed like obstacles or failures, our Lord worked out for good....Glory to God!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
June 14 to 19 Team
First SchoolHi
this is the Fiesta team, Rachel, Kevin, Gaby, Gabriela, and Elizabeth! We´ve had a great trip so far here in San Marcos. We went to the first school on Monday. The roads we went on to get there were very muddy and bumpy. Part of the team rode on the back of the truck and some rode in the cab. When we got there the students welcomed us with signs they had made saying Thank you Sonlight Power and God bless you.
Once we started to work, we saw clouds coming in. It started to rain but we were still able to complete the install in the record time of 2 hours and 35 minutes. The Fiesta team didn´t get to do everything we had planned because of the rain but Kevin had a good idea. He took polaroid pictures of all the kids that they got to keep. The kids had a lot of fun and were excited about the electricity, especially the TV.
The trucks were late to pick us up, so we had to walk part of the way on the muddy, roug
h roads. We had to carry the ladders and all our equipment while we crossed bridges and rivers. The trucks eventually met us on the road and we drove the rest of the way.
Second School
We had an early start at the next school on Tuesday. We had breakfast and devotionals at 6 and left by 7. The roads were the worst we had been on and most of the team was hanging on for dear life in the back of the truck. Once we finally got to the school, the kids were waiting for us. The school was very nice with gardens around it that the kids had planted. It was foggy which kept the temperature cool and thankfully it never rained. One thing we noticed was that there wasn´t enough room to play outside, so we had to do the Fiesta in a classroom. But the kids still really enjoyed it.
They really liked the monkey song with Kevin dancing like a monkey, the parachute and the balloon animals. They were really well behaved and we had a special time of praying over them. God really touched them and they accepted Jesus as their Savior.
After that special time, we noticed the installation was finished and in another record time of 2 hours and 31 minutes. After the presentation, the teachers gave us a letter of recognition and pictures of the students. The students gave us traditional clay souveneirs. The students were very grateful and gave us all hugs before we left. The ride back was really fun and we saw a lot of the beautiful nature of Honduras. Our trip has been very sucessful so far and God has blessed us in many different ways. Please continue to pray for our team and Sonlight Power!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Day 3 in Choluteca from Jay
Here is a post from Jay from the June 1 team.
The install team this week really worked well as a team. As we prepared for the week, I think each of the men on the install group felt the fiesta as the mission segment of each school visit. What we found as we completed our three schools is that the installation of the solar is as important to the mission message of God's love as is the fiesta.
On our final school at Emilio
Cubera we had a difficult drive because the normal route to the school was washed out. That made the secondary road our only option. There were several places where a barbed wire gate had to be opened for the vehicles to get through. I was in Pastor Caesar's SUV going through the one gate the SUV slid sideways into the gate post. Fortunately, Pastor Caesar got us moving again and the post really only brushed his mirror. When we arrived on the site at approximately 10:20 am the children had lined up on both sides of the entrance to greet each of us with a curious and somewhat shy "
Buenos Dias". The school was all decorated with blue and white flags and balloons as well. The inside of the classrooms had all the tables covered with tablecloths and the principal wore a very nice suit and her best high heels. This school had gone all out to prepare for our arrival. Of course there were more Government officials for this school than any of the other two schools.
Allen decided that for this install that
Sady and
Maruicio trade roles so they could learn another responsibility, so the workers had a new leader. We also had the unusual challenge of one building being about 100 feet from the main building with a huge Acacia tree
in between the two buildings. No problem for this team.
Jay and Mauricio got to work on the charge controller,
Juancho, Marcus, Luke and Caleb began wiring the rooms. Phil,
Sady and Jeff began assembling the solar panels and rails to the pole while the local men began digging the hole for the pole. Of course Gigi and Andrea
Bustillo kept us all in good communication as our translators for the install team. As each team began to wrap up
thier segment we gathered and raised the pole. Even after two previous schools, it is still exciting to see the pole go up and the local adults are always standing in awe.
Once the rooms were wired, a crew began stringing wire through the Acacia tree to connect the furthest building to the charge controller. Luke got to play the monkey while other team members held a ladder against frail limbs.
They successfully strung the great distance and connected the wire to the other building, only to discover that we had a short somewhere.
Sady found and fixed the problem, but it later haunted us again during the ceremony. The tables in the classroom filled with adults and officials as lunch was served. Of course that made working in the rooms a little more challenging but most of the work was already finished inside those rooms.
We ate in shifts and were ready for the ceremony at about 1:30. Allen
instructed the principal and the teachers how to use the charge controller and then went over to the children to give his usual speech about why we were here. I stood behind Allen and watched the children and their parents as he spoke. Seeing their reaction never gets tiring. Then they moved to the main classroom for the dedication. It took awhile to move the tables out of the way, but we got all the children into the room. Jay gave a dedication speech to explain why his friends and family would donate the money to buy equipment and now it was no longer ours or
SonLight Power's equipment but it now belonged to Emilio
Cubera School.
A fifth grade student named Judy gave a speech to us from memory and finished by saying all the students in the school gave us a hug.
Jay caught her as she turned to walk away and hugged her and then Allen did also. There were speeches by at least four or five officials most of whom were trying to get re-elected and we received a song composed and sung by a former student.
The accompaniment, the content and the gusto of the performance conveyed
their appreciation. Clouds seemed to be gathering so we began to rush the loading process to get out before it could rain. The adults and the children wanted us to stay longer as
they had a whole afternoon program planned for us. Allen prevailed in getting us out of there for the 2 1/2 hour drive back to the hotel in
Choluteca.
As we drove away, there was a mixture of joy in completing our three schools as well as a little regret that we could not do another school or accomplish more. It was a great evening capped by a trip to the
Choluteca Wendy's restaurant where we watched the Honduras National
Futbol team defeat their neighboring rival El Salvador in the World Cup elimination round on a projection screen in the restaurant. No NFL team has ever had as rabid a fan base as we witnessed in that Wendy's. The building was shaking for the whole game.
What a day and what an evening. We even had a couple of Hostess cupcakes with candles for Jay's birthday which our three young fiesta translators arranged as a surprise. Jay emotionally proclaimed it was the best birthday he could remember (but at his age he just might be getting forgetful). A great day doing the work of our Awesome GOD!!
Greetings all!
After many trials, including Terri & Michael´s plane being diverted to San Pedro Sulu, today,with much assistance from God (usually the case), accomplished our first install.
This is our team after a great day today at (pronounced wa-he-ne-kil) Guajiniquil. The student in the middle presented us with a gift (on table) from the community. The teacher (to right of student) told us...and the students confirmed...they have been praying for this system since the teacher filled out an application with the Healthy Schools Program a year ago. It was hard to keep from crying...especially since the equipment for this school is still stuck in customs.
When confronted with the customs problem just before the beginning of the June 1 team´s trip (last week) I committed to doing whatever necessary to keep the installs going. We purchased batteries here in Honduras last week & also bought six solar panels Saturday for the first two schools this week.
Please keep praying for the shipment. If we get it out of customs tomorrow or today (unlikely) we will not have to purchase two more batteries and two more solar panels for the thid school.
The team is great and set anouther record (2:34) for fastest install (from arrival to successful testing). This record came about due to good prework of predrilling the rails (Bart & Michael) & assembling the control panel (Terri & Allen). The fiesta team (Rachael, Gaby, Elie, Gabriela) also did a great job. We had plenty of school supplies due to Michaels recruiting of supplies in CA and left over stufff from June I.
The jungle team (in the Patuca region) left Saturday and is out of comunication range until Thursday. Please pray for their safety & success.
BLessings to all!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Day 3 in Choluteca (June 10, 2009)
Hello again from Hannah and Sharon,
Our third and last installation was one of the (many) highlights of our trip. We were greeted by the Honduran students waving flags on either side of us as we walked under a canopy of blue and white balloons and down the path to the school yard.
The first sight we saw was a huge shade tree with beautiful bright orange flowers (we have seen many of this type of tree in Honduras but I think this was one of the biggest).
Villagers of all ages also greeted us. We were serenaded the whole time by some musicians and various singers. One played the accordion and the other a guitar. They were very talented and it added to the festivities.
Hannah, Gaby, Gabriella, Elizabeth and Sharon gathered up the children for the Fiesta while the Solar Installation crew got started. It was amazing how intently the children, men, women and even the animals seemed to listen to us as we spoke of Jesus' love for them.
After we finished up with the Fiesta, and Allen gave his talk to the students and families, we went into the school for the dedication. After the dedication we were treated to a thank you speech by a very beautiful little girl in the 5th grade. At the end of the speech she crossed her arms over her chest and squeezed her shoulders and told us she was giving us a big hug from all the children of Honduras. Jay decided she wasn't getting away without a real hug. There was not a dry eye among us...
But there was more in store! The musicians came inside and a young woman who had attended the school as a child came in and sang us a song she had written for SonLight power.
Next we had speeches by the mayor, and various government officials.
As we went back into the school yard there was such an air of festivity I (Sharon) didn't want to leave. The villagers were dancing and singing - I just kept taking pictures and soaking it all up... and almost missed my ride home.
Once again the rain held off and we made the trip home without any problems. Thank you for all your prayers (and the fact that none of us prayed FOR hardships) - the rains held off each day, and the trucks were able to deliver us to the door of each school and stay 'til we were finished.
After dinner we went to Wendy's to watch the soccer game and celebrate Jay's birthday. Honduras won and the town broke out in celebration - a fun way to end our three days in Choluteca!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 2 in Choluteca (June 9,2009)
Hi again (from Sharon and Hannah),
If we thought the roads were bad the first day, they really were not that bad compared to our second days adventure! But luckily the trucks drove us up to the door and we didn´t have to walk.
Jeff had to stay behind because his back hurt pretty bad, and he knew that the rough roads would make it worse. It was a good decision - he went to the chiropracter, and its feeling better.
After an extremely bumpy 2-hour drive up a mountain, we finally arrived at the largest school we are doing this trip. People were standing on both sides of the road, and the children were laughing with delight to see us gringos.
We had a very large area for the fiesta (in the sun!). The solar team would have completed the installation to beat the all-time record, but there was a glich in the wiring which caused about a 45 min. delay.
We could go on and on about our wonderfully successful day, but pictures say it better than words!
