Back from the field: “I have learned so much”
Read the testimony of Ilyass Zouayni, 23 years old, in electronic master’s degree in Strasbourg, volunteer of the NGO Lumières pour tous, who went on an electrification campaign mission in Burkina Faso
Supported by Synergie Solaire for 3 years, the NGO Lumière pour Tous electrifies school buildings in the city of Boromo and the province of the Bale with an energy mix: photovoltaic panels and wind turbines.
For the past 7 years, the NGO has trained every year a team of young people from the J.J Henner high school and the Mulhouse University Institute of Technology, to set up these installations.
“The first time I went on mission was in 2015 when I was in the Mulhouse University Institute of Technology. I immediately fell in love with the project, its managers and Africa. We realized how life without electricity, Wi-Fi or water was, we could not take a shower when we want. It’s a life so different from France.
I have grown up a lot, I have become aware of my consumption of water at home, electricity and I try to make my brothers and sisters aware of it. Not everything falls from the sky!
On the professional side, I learned a lot about the culture of the country but also about work. On the field, we can learn better, we get out of theory, we have the pressure because the electricity has to work before night falls! It should be compulsory in all school curricula! And I also created links there, I have friends, that’s why I’m going back there in February 2019 for the 4th time. Finally, we have to open up to others. We receive so much, more than what we give, we learn, we question ourselves… It’s essential.”
Ilyass Zouayni, student in electronic master in Strasbourg, volunteer of the NGO Lumières pour tous.