100 solar street lamps and the nights in Al Favour are no longer dark.
We met a group of locals on the street. They immediately spoke to us (in Arabic, of course) and when they found out that I was from Slovakia, one of them immediately pointed to a street light pole with his hand and remarked with a thumbs up: „Good idea Slovakia“!
The Lebanese village of Al Favour lies right on the border with Syria. The inhabitants have taken in hundreds of refugees from war-torn Syria. Lebanon is struggling with rampant inflation, political tensions and the military conflict in Gaza is having a direct impact.
Al Favour, the mayor of the village, told us: „Electricity is only on the grid for a few hours a day and no one knows when it will be back. The wealthier ones are running generators, so fuel is scarce. But since you installed solar lamps here, I sleep better... Before, the village was plunged into darkness in the evening and everyone preferred to sit at home. Now the shop and market doesn't have to close before dark, people come out and sit on the front. Darmo, light is light...“
The project was implemented by ADRA Slovakia in cooperation with ADRA Lebanon thanks to the financial support of SlovakAID. We installed 100 solar street lights in the village. Each has its own solar panel and battery. They are charged during the day and automatically light up after dark. As they are energy-saving LED technology, they last all night.We have now visited the project again and have seen for ourselves that everything is working as it should. Because at least the sun can be relied on here - it shines every day and completely free of charge.
The project activities were financed from the Official Development Assistance of the Slovak Republic - SlovakAid in cooperation with ADRA Lebanon.
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