Bulk up the Batteries

Larné and Steve Wilson been volunteering in South Sudan with an organisation called In Deed and Truth (IDAT). They run a healthcare clinic in the town of Tonj, South Sudan. The healthcare clinic sees hundreds of patients per week with malaria, measels, giving birth etc. The clinic power is in dire need of some capital investment. There is a solar panel setup that provides electricity during the day and a battery bank that keeps the power on for a few hours per night. The batteries are worn out and we currently only get around 3 - 4 hours of electricity after dark, if the usage is minimised (lights only). This is not ideal for midnight medical emergencies such as seizing patients suffering from malaria or during births in the middle of the night, both of which occur on a relatively regular basis.

I have obtained quotes from a battery supplier in Kenya for 8 large backup batteries that would allow the clinic to have power throughout the night. The batteries need to be air freighted by charter plane (same way we get into the country) at a cost of $5USD per kg because the roads are not reliably accessible at this time of year and also with the recent fighting in the South of South Sudan, no road freighting companies would be willing to bring them in.

Total cost is $9,314 NZD which is out of the reach of IDAT as they rely on charitable donations for the monthly operational costs of the clinic.