The most recent school to benefit from the wonders of renewable energy is Sandwater Primary School in Oyster Bay, a small coastal hamlet near St Francis Bay in the Cacadu District of the Eastern Cape. Sandwater recently received a brand new, solar-powered computer lab thanks to the financial assistance of nearby renewable energy project Kouga Wind Farm.
The solar lab is designed, built and delivered completely assembled and fully functional by giveITback, whose unique, solar-powered container labs afford learners across South Africa greater access to technology.
"Quality education and learning in the formative years of a child's life is integral in order to build prosperous and sustainable communities," says Jonathan Michael, giveITback's founder.
Babalwa Kani, community liaison officer at Kouga Wind Farm, said that the 80MW wind farm had decided to donate the lab as part of their socio-economic development programme. "It's very important that children are exposed to the Internet, information technology, computers and e-learning at a young age," says Kani.
As a non-fee-paying school in a farming community, Sandwater Primary benefits from the renewable energy component of Kouga's sponsorship especially because the school's governing body need not stress over finding budget to pay for building expenses and additional electricity bills. "The solar lab is prebuilt and delivered completely assembled and fully functional, allowing one to skip the lengthy building process and all the expenses that are part and parcel of building any new infrastructure," says Michael.
"There is a lot of enthusiasm on the learners' part to use the new computer lab. This is the most exciting territory for them and they are even more interested in learning now," explains Kani. "The lab has made their school day so much more interactive, so now they have so much more fun while learning."
Sandwater is the only primary school in the area, so the lab provides an important source of knowledge and learning for the region as a whole, but Kouga Wind Farm is committed to providing the school and community with sustainable upliftment across a spectrum of needs. "Moving together ensures that the sky is not the limit but rather the beginning," says Kani.
In total the lab offers 21 computers, including one for the teacher, and there is sufficient space to accommodate plastic chairs or stools to allow 40 learners to use the facility at any one time, with two learners working together at each computer.
giveITback have already installed ten solar-powered computer labs at schools around South Africa since the start of 2015, in addition to the 20 grid-powered labs already completed. The durable labs carry a three-year warranty on all components; computers are expected to last five years, while the solar equipment carries a 15 year warranty.
