In late 2019, Shlama Foundation was honored to be chosen as one of 6 local partners for USAID's New Partnership Initiative (NPI) program. The project? Providing solar energy electricity to 100 homes in Tesqopa, 30 farms across the Alqosh sub-district and streetlights for Ainbaqre, Bandwaya and Tesqopa.
Demand for electricity surged when people who had been displaced returned to their homes in northern Iraq—but the region’s energy infrastructure could meet only about 40 percent of that demand, and finding gasoline was difficult.
The Shlama team used 2020 to identify and train 6 recently-graduated local engineers. The solar energy training was provided the Infinity Green Power company. The engineers were now set to launch their own company to continue providing solar energy in the Nineveh Plain, taking advantage of the region’s abundant sunlight as a sustainable source of energy.
“Not only are engineering jobs hard to come by in northern Iraq, but the projects are usually short-term,” one engineer said. She and her family fled ISIS attacks in Kirkuk and settled in Mosul, where she enrolled in Mosul University’s College of Electrical Engineering. When ISIS moved into Mosul, she had to delay her studies for a year. Now, with her diploma in hand, the young engineer and her fellow engineers are looking to the future.
Most of the homes and farms have had their systems installed, and Ainbaqre's lights are complete as well. We look forward to the completion of the project. Check out these videos for an update!
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