How has the SGP benefitted your community?
"The use of coal, dung, wood is widely spread in the rural households for heating, cooking, boiling water for various purposes. The most available and cheapest way is to use firewood. This is reflected in the environment as it leads to a decrease of tree and bush vegetation. Also, the active use of firewood leads to high CO2 emissions.
The CBO "Bai-Tilek" initiated a project supported by GEF SGP Kyrgyzstan, which was aimed at reducing the burden on the environment by reducing the cutting of trees and decreasing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. The idea of the project was to install solar water heaters in households based on the CBO revolving fund. Households may use water heaters for domestic purposes within 7-8 months of the year, using only solar energy.
Due to the high cost of solar water heaters, GEF SGP has assisted in the partial acquisition of component parts and the running of workshops to train CBO members in the assembly and installation of solar water heaters. CBO members organized a mutual aid fund on the basis of a revolving fund, to which members make monthly contributions in cash. After the accumulation of a certain amount, the CBO buys the necessary spare parts and installs solar water heaters in a CBO member household, based on a random draw.
Thus, the GEF SGP grant helped support not only the acquisition of solar installations, but also the development and implementation of a financial scheme that ensures the sustainability of the project. Members of the CBO had an opportunity to bring their innovative idea of mutual aid into life, to improve living conditions, to reduce fuel cost, and most importantly, - to lower the burden on the environment by decreasing the cutting of tree and bush vegetation as well as the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
Sustainability of the project is not only ensured through the creation of a revolving fund. GEF SGP sources also funded seminars to disseminate the experience of the CBO among other households. It did so by demonstrating the usefulness and efficiency of solar water heaters, sharing experience with the creation of a revolving fund, training members of other households in solar water heaters installation and informing local populations about the possibility of reducing the anthropogenic impact on the environment through local initiatives."
