In January 2020, we traveled to Kenya with a team of volunteer electricians to build a backup power supply for the ITIBO hospital in Kenya.
The electricity grid in Africa is very unstable. There are daily blackouts. For the ICU - intensive care unit and the operating theatre, even a short power outage is very dangerous. If this happens during an operation, or if the equipment that maintains the vital functions of patients stops, it has fatal consequences.
WHERE WE FIND OURSELVES
ITIBO Hospital is high in the mountains 2200m above sea level in northwest Kenya. Only dusty and muddy mountain roads lead to it. It serves a catchment area of surrounding villages over a radius of more than 20km. Until 2005 it served as a small local health centre with one clinic where the local health officer provided only basic treatment. Since 2005, the Czech ADRA has been systematically working here. Gradually, outpatient clinics, a new inpatient section, a laboratory, a maternity ward, an intensive care unit, and a dental clinic have been built and equipped with medical equipment. A new ambulance serves, modern diagnostic equipment is used. All this was realized thanks to sponsorship donations of small donors and businessmen from the Czech and Slovak Republics.
HOW WE HELPED
The sun shines freely and in Africa especially intensely. We have installed solar panels - almost horizontally because we are on the equator. This back-up source of electricity powers the consulting rooms, operating theatres, the maternity ward and the intensive care unit. Our 12 panels supply 1.2 - 2.5 kW of electricity online. Excess energy is stored in batteries.
Longer-term outages are covered by a new 16 kW diesel generator that automatically starts within 10 seconds and backs up most of the hospital. For the generator, do-it-yourselfers built a small house...
It is unimaginably difficult for us to assemble in these conditions. The nearest hardware or electrical store we are used to is probably on another continent. It was only thanks to DIY that we were able to get hold of or replace all the cables, screws, circuit breakers, switchgear and a thousand other bits and bobs.
The work was completed and put into use on 12.2.2020. The Internet allows us to continuously monitor the system from Slovakia. So we can remotely check if the sun is still shining in Kenya...
Already during installation and testing, the electricity in the entire village went out several times. But the surgeries, ICU and operating theatres were beautifully lit and the sensitive equipment continued to function. Doctors and medics from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who serve here told us: „We can finally go about our operations and surgeries a little more comfortably, without worrying that everything will go out again and we will be fighting for our lives...“
We are glad that a good thing has been done.
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