PUG takes sustainability very seriously.
Its why we use solar power, why we foster cooperative relationships with hospitals and communities, and its why education is so important. Our projects need a knowledge infrastructure in order to be sustained over the long run. We’ve been successful thanks to our partnerships with local Gambians, but the lack of sophisticated technical support in-country has been a recurring challenge. That is why Power Up Gambia has developed a partnership with the Electrical Engineering Department of the The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI).
Project Details:
Where: The Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI) in Banjul, The Gambia
When: Ongoing
How:
1. An important first step in our collaboration is support for GTTI instructors who are seeking further training to upgrade their own skills in the solar energy field. The “training of trainers” is a critical first step in helping The Gambia build expertise in the growing solar energy field in a sustainable manner – ie by strengthening the institutions that will train future Gambian solar contractors and engineers.
With help from a grant from International Foundation, PUG helped sponsor two GTTI instructors, Mr. Baboucarr Njie and Mr. James Gomez, to take Solar Energy International’s online training courses. In addition, PUG sponsored the two instructors in a two week hands-on training course in solar energy at the University of Ghana’s at Kumasi Technical University. These training will help them to incorporate more solar power system education in their current coursework for GTTI electrical engineering students.
2. An important second step is to help supply necessary training materials so students can have hands-on practice with solar as part of their training in electrical systems.
Lack of supplies often prevent the instructors at GTTI from doing more than giving lectures and drawing sample diagrams on the blackboard. Hands-on training is an important way for engineering students to take the information from their lectures to the next level. PUG has provided solar training tables for the students to practice assembling small solar units, and has invited the electrical engineering students and their instructors to take field trips to ongoing projects to see first hand how a solar project is built and take part in the construction under supervision.
