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Haiti Disaster |
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| Posted by: | Elliot Aronson |
| Title/Position: | Profesor Emeritus |
| School/Organization: | University of California at Santa Cruz |
| Sent to listserv of: | SPSP, SESP, SPSSI |
| Date posted: | January 19th, 2010 |
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Dear Colleagues,
The enormity of the catastrophe in Haiti makes one feel both helpless and hopeless. All I feel capable of doing is sending money. My son Hal, who is an expert in solar energy, has been playing a more active role in alleviating suffering. He can use some help. I am sending this out, in the hopes that it will capture your interest.
About a year ago, Hal invented a simple, ingenious device called "the solar suitcase." This consists of a solar collector, a battery, lights, and all the wiring necessary for collecting and storing solar energy--compacted in a manner that can be carried in a small suitcase. During the day, the battery can be fully charged by the sun so that one battery is able to deliver light for the entire night--and then is re-charged the next day.
Hal's wife Laura Stachel, a public health physician, has been working in surgical clinics in small villages in Nigeria where electrical power is fragile; and generators rare and in disrepair. The lights frequently go out during surgery--often leading to the death of the unlfortunate patient. Hal and Laura have been giving away dozens of solar suitcases, along with instructions on how to use them--with great success. Toward this end, they formed a non-profit, charitable organization called We Care Solar, Killing two birds with one stone, Hal trains unemployed inner city young adults to become solar technicians and to assemble and wire the suitcases, Laura finds a means of giving them away where they are most needed.
Using his own savings, Hal is now producing and sending a great many of these suitcases to Haiti, where there is no electricity and few generators. They are proving to be extremely valuable in hospitals and in other places where light is needed.
To learn more about it, here is a link that describes the work Hal and Laura are doing and how you might contact them and, if inspired, perhaps make a small contribution:
http://wecaresolar.com/node/101
Best wishes,
Elliot Aronson
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