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Teacher Uses Over N1Million Of His Personal Savings To Build Dam That Provides Electricity For His Entire Village

The residents of Bolodou, a village in rural Guinea, have been using battery-powered lamps at night for years. But now — thanks to a crazy project started by a math teacher named Ibrahima Tounkara, the 90 homes in this small, isolated village have electricity 24/7. Last year, Tounkara used up all his savings building a micro-hydroelectric dam on a little stream that runs through the area. Currently, his set-up generates 9kW;

Tounkara is now a hero in his home village. Just last year– after a year of research and planning– this handyman managed to set up a hydroelectric dam on Gbasso creek, which cuts across Bolodou. To build the dam, he invested 50 million Guinean francs [4,650 euros] from his own pocket. However, this dam now provides a steady stream of electricity to 80 of the 94 homes in the village. It’s an amazing success for a project that no one dared to believe in at first.

At first, people in the village thought I was crazy when I explained that I wanted to build a hydroelectric dam. But I was sure that I could find a solution to create power in Bolodou. I grew up here and my family lives here. I’ve always found it shocking that nothing has been done to develop these small villages that are completely cut off from the rest of the world.

“We aren’t exploiting the potential of the waterfalls in Bolodou”

I work as a maths teacher, but I’ve always been really interested in energy production. My first project involved solar panels. I learned to install them and made money offering up my services to families who wanted solar panels. I also built a little phone-charging station in Bolodou that is powered with solar energy. Little by little, I did research on hydroelectric energy. In Bolodou, there are little waterfalls and we aren’t exploiting their potential.

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