Two global solar energy powerhouses teamed up to help Project Vita, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing poverty in Africa sustainably, install a solar panel-powered freshwater system on a recently constructed maternity center that aids a rural community in Mozambique, as detailed by CleanTechnica.
Project Vita has been tirelessly working to reduce the global maternity mortality ratio, which in 2021 was 158.8 deaths per 100,000 live births worldwide, according to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births, per the World Health Organization (WHO).
The nonprofit built a maternity center to help newborns and their mothers in Linga Linga, Mozambique, a village in Inhambane. Women in sub-Saharan Africa face a 1 in 37 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth, and the maternal death rate is nearly 50 times higher than in high-income countries, according to the WHO.
With the help of LONGi, one of the world's largest solar technology companies, and Senergia, a Swedish solar energy wholesaler, Project Vita added vital improvements to the maternity clinic to install a water tower with a solar-powered water pump to supply reliable freshwater, per CleanTechnica.
Michel Olofsson, founder of Project Vita, told the publication: "When we were asked by Morrumbene's Mayor to build a maternity clinic, we knew that providing basic hygiene standards would be equally important. … While it is widely recognized that access to running freshwater is a basic human right, it remains the exception in rural areas of Africa."
CleanTechnica reports that according to the integrated African Health Observatory (iAHO) and the WHO, in 2020, 69% of global maternal deaths occurred in the African region. "Each of these installations is essential and literally saves lives," Olofsson concluded.
Clean water reduces the risk of infection during labor, decreasing the maternal and infant mortality rate. This allows nurses to focus solely on their patients without the burden of fetching well water. On average, 17 babies are born at the Linga Linga maternity clinic each month.
Anton Öbrink, Senergia's project manager, said the company chose this project because Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world: "In Mozambique, about 60% of people have no access to electricity. In Linga Linga, it's 99%. We also wanted to show that if it works in Mozambique, it will work everywhere."
Solar panels are powering other life-saving projects in Africa as well. Two approved malaria vaccines are being made possible in the country because of fridges powered by solar panels, and they will also help power a planned net-zero city in South Africa.
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