Eswatini Solar Energy Project

Eswatini, one of the smallest countries in Africa, has been plagued throughout its history by disease, poverty and hopelessness. Yet, in a country where the life expectancy is only 58 years old, there is still hope to be found.

The last remaining monarchy in Africa, Eswatini is filled with a young generation primed to break the chains of intergenerational sickness and scarcity that have enslaved their people for so long. The youth of Eswatini are ready to thrive in a world that seems to have forgotten them.

The Forward Foundation, in partnership with Pasture Valley Children Missions, wants to ensure this vibrant and valuable generation is empowered to create its own light in a dark world. To accomplish this goal, the Forward Foundation is pleased to support an innovative opportunity for young women and men to prepare for employment in the solar energy sector.

Pasture Valley Children Missions launched its first training program in 2021, called the Solar Training and Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship Centre (STREEC). STREEC introduces students to solar energy not just as a means of employment but also as a way to revolutionize their communities.

The program educates on how renewable energy works by showing students how to build, install and maintain solar panels, creating a sustainable power source for years to come.

As the program’s graduates enter the workforce, they will play a key role in bolstering their local communities and their entire country by ensuring important income for their families and building green energy infrastructure. For the people of Eswatini, this electricity and light quite literally mean life.

The benefits of making electricity more readily available go beyond daily life; it brings greater access to education through computers and internet research, provides environmentally friendly ways to heat and cool homes, and creates better-lit, safer communities. A light in a home may quite literally save lives. The implications of sustainable energy in a country plagued by darkness are immeasurable.

“As the Forward Foundation looks for ways to impact our global community, offering opportunities that bring solar power to people throughout Eswatini is a great honor,” says Robin Lally, President of the Forward Foundation. “It is our hope that the students empowered through this program will serve as a beacon of light and bring a renewed sense of hope to their families, their communities, and their country.”