Picking where to volunteer and what to volunteer at is not an easy task. Many activities like cleaning the beach is tired and depressing, Tupi wanted to do more locally, but another part of him wanted to travel. "Maybe I should just go on a holiday." Tupi said and looked at various exotic locations, but the cost was relatively high. "Although I can afford it, I don't feel like paying $2,000 just for flights to Brazil. "
Tupi sent several messages to various friends in Kenya, Tanzania, Haiti and South Africa. He was interested in visiting and learning more about the culture and places and how he could be of use.
Tupi left a few comments on his friend Alex's page. Alex lives in Haiti and co-founded an NGO that started a children's academy which provides quality education for kids in a rural village. Alex was on Facebook sharing about the recent installation of a solar panel and LED lights at the school, and they were thinking about having a windmill to power the while village. "I'd like to learn more about renewable energy too." Tupi said.
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Tupi made a few phone calls to friends in South East Asia who knew people living in villages. Tupi had a friend with a domestic worker from the Philippines and Tupi chatted with her for a while and talked about renewable energy.
"Your village still has no power?" Tupi asked.
"Yes, we still have no power." the lady said. "The next village down the road has a power line, and they just got power 3 years ago. We do not really need power though."
"What do you do at night?" Tupi asked. "Without light? What about refrigerator?"
"We don't need a refrigerator." The lady said. "Nothing needs to be refrigerated. We cook using charcoal and we have kerosene lamps."
"Do you use solar lamps?" Tupi asked. "How do you charge your phones?"
"Solar is too expensive." The lady said. "We go to the village center to into town to charge our phones."
"Technology is always getting cheaper." Tupi said. "How much is kerosene?"
"How much is solar light now?" The lady asked. "Kerosene costs about $20+ per liter, and we do use other kinds of cheaper oil for light"
"I don't know how much is solar light now, but I am trying to find out." Tupi said. "I guess it would definitely pay for itself in the long run."
Tupi could no imagine living in a place without power.
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