Technology Without Borders

Solar-roof for dining area at Trinity Academy, Tanzania, Boma Ng’ombe

About the Project

Initial Situation

The Trinity Academy in Boma N'gombe is a private pre-school and primary school with 240 pupils. 25% of these are orphans who are supported by a special support programme run by the school together with international partners and attend the school's boarding school. Technik ohne Grenzen e.V. has been in contact with the school for several years, including a tree planting campaign and the construction of a new building for the sustainable operation of the kindergarten in several project phases. Trinity is endeavouring to operate sustainably overall; for example, there is a school farm that provides food for the school, the first small solar panels and approaches to using rainwater. TeoG is currently supporting these approaches in projects on agroforestry, rainwater harvesting and biogas utilisation. This project is a further building block in the sustainable management of the school and the associated boarding school.

Challenge

Breakfast and a warm lunch are to be provided for the primary school and kindergarten children. In front of the school kitchen, there is a dining area foreseen for the kids to eat. Currently, this area has walls, but no roof, leaving the kids exposed to rain or plain sun during lunch time. Many kids rather seek for shelter in the shade of nearby trees, eating on the ground or standing. Also, the local authorities have been pointing out the the roof is needed in terms of protection. At the same time, the school faces an increasing demand of electricity for a planned new workshop, the dormitories, the teacher's accommodation and potentially the kitchen, where the use of fire wood for cooking shall be reduced. Another aspect is that there is already a rainwater tank next to the kitchen, which is not used efficiently due to a lack of roofing area for rainwater harvesting.

Solution

The aim of this project is to construct a roof for the dining area with integrated solar panels, or consisting of solar panles, which is also used for rainwater collection. The solar power which is gained shall be used in the dormitories, the teachers accommodation and in future also the schools workshop. One does also have to think about new ways of using electricty in the kitchen to reduce the amount of firewood needed, which will help the environment and improve working conditions for kitchen staff. This goes hand in hand with our project on the use of biogas to support an integrated, sustainable apporach. The rainwater will be used to feed the biogas system and to water the school garden.