Access to electricity is not a given

The DR Congo is in the top 10 of the least electrified countries in the world. According to the World Bank, less than 17% of households have access to any electricity at all. Some estimates put the figure at less than 10%. The country's population has gone from 15+ million in the 1960's, to a current estimate of 102+ million, with concurrent worsening of the gap between supply and demand. The potential in hydropower and solar resources is there; the federal infrastructure and investment are not. For Kimbilio, these are challenging facts of life.

How does the Kimbilio team handle these challenges? The answer varies by location.

The two transit houses, where street children live while Kimbilio works on reintegrating them with their biological families, are near the city center. They are connected to the Société Nationale d'Électricité (SNEL), the main Congolese power company. This doesn't mean consistent supply of electricity, though, at all. The local mines and industry are given priority for power, so in reality the houses get electricity from 11 pm until 6 am., and not every day at that. Food is frozen or chilled sufficiently overnight to stay cold throughout the following day. On nights when there is no electricity, the team is forced to transport the food to houses that do have it in order to avoid spoilage. The transit houses are on the national water grid, so power is not needed to pump water from wells.

A look inside one of the homes

The two long-term homes -- Maison Josué Manda for boys and Maison Janet Bokwa for girls -- Kimbilio relies on solar energy. In the area where these homes are situated, it's possible for private consumers to buy and install poles and equipment to purchase and receive power. Unfortunately, though, there are insufficient transformers leading to the current being unstable and sometimes weak. Thus, solar was deemed a better option. Both homes have solar panels. The one challenge with the panels is breakage of the panels' converters. In fact, as I write this, one of the two converters at one house is awaiting repair or replacement. Until that work or purchase is completed, Kimbilio had to prioritize refrigerating the food and temporarily do without lights and television.

Solar panels at Maison Josué Manda

The Kimbilio Primary School is in Lubumbashi's Kipanta Luwowoshi quarter, where households cannot get reliable electricity from the national provider. Here, Kimbilio relies on a generator to power the school's computer room and refill the cistern with fresh well water. The generator is new and works well.

Children at work in the school computer room.

The resourcefulness of the Kimbilio team impresses, always. And it teaches us not to take electric power for granted.

#DRCongo #DRC #Lubumbashi #KipantaLuwowoshi #HautKatanga #UpperKatanga #streetchildren #streetconnectedchildren