WHOLE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

SELF’s Whole Village Development Model takes an integrated approach to community empowerment using a mix of solar energy solutions to improve the lives of people who don’t have access to electricity. By working closely with communities and adhering to our operating principles of SELF Determination, SELF Help and SELF Reliance, we seek to provide benefits in:

Education: powering lights, computers and wireless internet services.
Health: powering facility lights, labs, diagnostic equipment and vaccine refrigerators.
Water & Agriculture: powering water wells and pumps for clean drinking water and year-round crop irrigation.
Enterprise: powering centers for small businesses and providing electricity for machinery and equipment.
Community: electrifying homes, community centers and street lighting.

Current Projects

  • Colombia

    UPDATE: SELF has completed installation of a 12.5 kW solar micro-grid in Sabana Crespo, a traditional village in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern Colombia with a population of 12,000. […]

  • Benin

    UPDATE: The micro-enterprise center we solarized in Benin is bustling with business. Over the past year, small businesses have been created and are succeeding with solar powered refrigerators, cell phone charging stations, and even outside lighting so that businesses can be open at night. […]

  • Haiti

    UPDATE: We recently finished installing new solar systems to power six primary schools and one junior high school in the Boucan Carré district of Haiti’s Central Plateau, and we also installed eighteen new solar powered street lights to provide security on its roads. […]

Meet Our Supporters

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The adult Sunday School class at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Auburn, Alabama wanted to thank their teacher, Dr. Henry Brandhorst, for his service by making a donation in his name to a non-profit. When they asked him where it should go, he designated the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF). Curious about why Dr. Brandhorst […]

SELF BLOG

Fighting Poverty: It’s a Matter of Time and Energy By Elizabeth Vargo With the recent publication of their Annual Letter for 2016, Bill and Melinda Gates have prompted considerable discussion around the issue of “time poverty.” Poverty, after all, is not just about money, but resources. Of course, we could all use more time in […]

PERSONAL STORIES

Sandra Philips, who spent two years on the ground for SELF in northern Benin, shares her personal story: When I stepped off the plane in Benin’s capital, Cotonou, I was greeted by warm fat raindrops and the assurance from locals that arriving with the rain is a blessing. I did not attach any particular meaning […]

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Case for Giving

Case for Giving

SELF Case for Giving

Annual Report

2014 SELF Annual Report

2014 SELF Annual Report

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