HOSPITALS FOR HOPE INDIA
India, 2017
Sextant partnered with Hospital for Hope India to install a solar PV system.
SUMMARY
Sextant partnered with Hospital for Hope India, an organization who provides much needed healthcare to 1,200 patients each month in a neglected part of the country called McCluskieganj, to install a solar PV system. It’s a small, hilly town in Jharkhand State, India, about 40 miles northwest of the state capital, Ranchi.
In addition to healthcare access issues, the local indigenous people deal with malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, malnutrition, dehydration, and dysentery – women and children being the most negatively affected. Extreme heat and rain make matters worse, and when people can travel to the hospital for help, they risk arriving there without power.
The solar panels our volunteers installed provide reliable, cleaner, and more affordable energy for the hospital and its surrounding facilities. This supports their ability to offer free blood work, diagnosis, and treatment to those living below the poverty level and to provide education on preventable illnesses.
The success of this project is underlined by collaboration – between the community, Hospital for Hope India, Sextant Foundation, Electricians Without Borders, and Jagriti Vihara, an Indian NGO that helped with construction of the hospital and continues to oversee operations there. With limited resources and a lot of passion, this team is changing the lives of thousands of people who live in the local villages of Jharkhand.
“For me, it was a learning experience. I learned a lot like connection of PV panels to other components, MATE 3 controller settings, system working principle, cabling, etc. It was very tough for us to lift and position the PV panels on to the roof and install it since there were no stairs to climb onto the roof easily. We had only one big bamboo ladder. But we managed and installed the PV panels successfully.”