Projects contributed to increased access to quality technical training on renewable energy in Tanzania.

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (July 14, 2021) A total of 511 students looking to make a career in renewable energy received training in solar installation, operation and maintenance thanks to grant funding Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, received from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The training initiative took place from April 2019 to July 2020 at the Don Bosco training centers in Dodoma and Iringa, Tanzania.

This training initiative, along with another at Don Bosco Oysterbay in Dar es Salaam, funded through a partnership with Misereor, the German Catholic Bishops’ Organization for Development Cooperation, helped lead to the establishment of training laboratories and the remodeling of solar and electronic classrooms and workshops at the centers, as well as the installation of training equipment and furniture and the development of instructors. The projects contributed to increased access to quality technical training on renewable energy in Tanzania.

“As the world faces growing environmental degradation and climate change challenges, there is a need to embrace sustainable development more than ever before,” said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. “This has led to a need for leaders and practitioners of technical and vocational education and training to improve their understanding and implementation of education for sustainable development using a whole-institution approach to greening their institutions. These training programs in Tanzania provided a real opportunity for students to gain an education in a growing and much-needed field of study.”

Through the training initiative at Don Bosco Dodoma and Iringa, students benefited not only from their solar technician courses but also from soft skills training, field attachment internships, study tour visits to local renewable energy companies and other career guidance.

All 511 trainees also benefited from job placement and career guidance and were placed for an field internship to gain practical training for at least two months. Internship placement was useful as many solar energy projects are located in the interior of the country, and students were able to gain experience in understanding the practical application of their classroom studies. A total of 308 graduates are now qualified solar technicians with the capacity to install, operate and maintain solar-powered grids.

In Tanzania, 67.9 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. While the country has seen some economic growth in tourism, mining, trade and communication, the number of Tanzanians living below the poverty line has marginally increased due to rapid population growth. In some regions, up to half of the population struggles to meet the cost of essential food and shelter and other basic necessities like clothing, health care and education.

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