Case study: Myanmar

Solar powered Emergency center and health hub for indigenous communities in a remote mountainous area.

Our partner

Green Empowerment works with local partners to bring reliable, affordable clean water and renewable energy directly to people’s homes, health centers, and schools through infrastructure built and maintained by community members themselves.

About the project

In 2021, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Green Empowerment and the Border Green Energy Team installed a 5.5kw solar system at a newly established COVID-19 Emergency Response Center. This followed a direct request from the Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW), a community-based healthcare provider run by and serving people of the Karen ethnic minority, operating clinics in an extremely remote, mountainous region, nowhere near the national power grid.

Impact

The solar system now powers the new center, including lights, laboratory equipment, a -20 C freezer to ensure cold-chain for vaccines, as well as communication equipment (computers, printers, phones). Because this center was designed as a hub for the region, it also provides support to nine other clinics nearby, providing improved medical services to nearly 30,000 people.