When night came, our project village Thakaltar in Chitwan (southern Nepal) was in the dark. Wood fires or kerosene lamps only shone sporadically for people. Five hours’ walk from the next major street and the local markets, the residents decided to take their fate into their own hands. 187 households saved a total of 60,000 rupees (around 460 euros) over two years and built their own small hydroelectric power station with a small subsidy from the state, which generated energy for a maximum of one to four lamps per house. The joy lasted only a few months, then the monsoons came. The rains destroyed the laboriously laid out waterways, and it was dark again in the village.

We support engagement
At Back to Life, we fundamentally support people’s own commitment in our project areas. So here too. In cooperation with the residents, we first rebuilt the waterways with which the water is conducted to the small power station and used a more stable construction made of stones and cement to protect against the rain. We have also extensively renovated the wooden house around the turbine and serviced the turbine and made it functional.

Together towards the goal
In a further step, we founded a management committee with the residents, which is responsible for the micro-hydropower plant. Each household now pays 70 rupees (around EUR 0.53) a month to a joint account. This pays a trained technician who regularly maintains and maintains the turbine and waterways. The rest of the contributions remain in the account for future repairs.

By repairing and ensuring sustainability, the residents will now be able to benefit from their micro-hydropower plant in the long term and in several ways: The children can read and do their homework in the evening in pleasant light, the families have the opportunity to do a lot of housework in the evening and the smoke from wood fires no longer poisons the atmosphere in the cottages.

Light is energy
With the energy that is now constantly available, the remote village is moving much closer to the rest of the world. A guest house was also created in this way. Binod, a young man from the village, greets tourists and other visitors here. With the light came the energy to make life a little better every day.