15 February 2007
Micro-Hydro Energy Helps Guatemala in Civil War Recovery
Partnership for a Better Life
Guatemala’s 36-year civil war had severe repercussions in the northern part of the country. It left rural communities isolated and desperately lacking water, energy and transportation services. The community of Chel, located in the northern region of Quiché, was one of the most affected.
While fleeing the armed resistance, the community's exiled leaders saw micro-hydropower facilities operating throughout rural Guatemala. They concluded that small-scale hydropower could present a solution to Chel’s energy needs and they set out to bring the technology to their community when they were able to return.
Fundación Solar, a Guatemalan nonprofit organization supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), helped them do that. It established a partnership with Chel to bring energy services to the community. After feasibility studies, construction of a micro-hydropower plant began in 2000.
The project presented both technical and social challenges. The geographically isolated community had deep ethnic, cultural and political divisions and did not trust outside organizations. Through Fundación Solar’s transparency and open dialogue, trust and cooperation were achieved. The community, which at first could not imagine the quality-of-life improvements the project offered, began to articulate its needs and development priorities.
Fundación Solar provided critical technical support and social development in Chel. The community contributed enormously to the construction of the plant. Men spent hours carrying tubes and wires on their backs along the road they themselves had built for this purpose.
Because the nearest telephone was a 10-hour journey by foot and bus, Chel decided to purchase a solar-powered satellite telephone. Without sufficient capital to buy the phone outright, they made arrangements to buy the phone on credit, a first for the community.
The telephone, used by residents of Chel and nearby communities, became a source of income. Building on the success of the phone technology, Chel bought a fax machine and leveraged the donation of a computer. The community also purchased a truck on credit for transporting construction materials into Chel.
Energy provided from solar electricity and from upcoming hydroelectric generation has given the Chel community a vision of its future as a developed and income-generating region.
For the first time in 40 years, the community has been able to put aside its fears and work for common goals -- bringing energy services, starting new businesses and planning for its children and grandchildren.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
