La Mosquitia，Los Naranjos and Los Hornos， and El Zapote and Buenos Aires， located in the north east， south and east respectively， are areas that are difficult to access. People earn a living through agriculture and paid work is only available during harvesting season on the large plantations located far from their homes.

These communities live in houses made of adobe or wood with dirt floors， experiencing serious difficulties in the absence of electrical energy.

“Although we are accustomed to this， without any light our children cannot study at home - even during the day. One of them suffers from respiratory problems， our house and clothes are stained with soot and the smell of smoke，” says 69-year-old Juanita Zambrano， who lived in Los Hornos the past 51 years.

In 2014， Iris Marlene Espinal and Carmen Lourdes Zambrano Cruz （from Los Hornos and Los Naranjos） and Alnora Casy Estrada and Ingrid Miranda Martinez （La Mosquitia） prepared themselves for six months as technical support staff for solar energy at The Barefoot College in Tilonia， India. Their trip was in collaboration with the Government of India and the Small Grants Program （SGP）， a program supported by the Global Environment Fund （GEF） and UNDP.

The \"Solar Engineers\" initiative was launched in 2008 through a SGP/FMAMlamps partnership and the Barefoot College. The college provided technical and financial support， and is a pioneer in the field of teaching complex technological processes to illiterate students. None of the four women from Honduras knew how to read or write but were able to learn skills to help their communities.

“We didn’t have any diplomas like students at a normal university； in India， we learnt using a practical approach in order to make lamps， assemble electronic circuits and manage and install the solar panels. We brought back a lot of knowledge to benefit our communities and， in a sense， to help them to escape from poverty，” said Alnora Casy.

After learning how to install， maintain and repair solar energy equipment， the women returned to their communities to provide energy to their districts. In exchange for their services， the female engineers received a monthly salary from the city’s solar energy committee.

In Honduras， the four women installed panels together with other members of their communities， whom they trained. Each of the 207 installed panels generates 85 watts per household.

“Now， in addition to providing us with light， we can use the radio and TV…and we can also charge our cell phones and bulbs. We now sleep at nine and the children can study at night； we can listen to the news， read the Bible， talk… and we have less risk of fire，” says Juanita Zambrano.

In some of the schools where the solar system has been installed， some teachers are already using technological tools in their classes， improving the quality of education. Teenage students can tune in to classes on the radio.

“Electrical energy is an essential service to improve quality of life； this type of initiative helps to drive development in communities that are behind as well as to enhance participation and integration in the community，” says Consuelo Vidal， the UNDP resident officer for Honduras.

The four female engineers are working together to be able to provide solar energy to other communities across the country.

To date， the SGP has invested US$ 1 million， raised more than $ 1.5 million in co-financing， and has supported 28 projects related to Solar Panels in 18 countries. As a result， 71 women have been empowered to provide solar energy to more than 3，778 households and for 22，739 beneficiaries in 52 districts.

印度政府、小額贈款項目、聯(lián)合國開發(fā)署以及Barefoot學(xué)院共同在2008年啟動了“太陽能工程師”計劃。通過技術(shù)和財政支持培養(yǎng)太陽能技術(shù)人才，該項目在教授未受過教育的學(xué)生復(fù)雜技術(shù)方面是行業(yè)先驅(qū)。2014年一批洪都拉斯婦女學(xué)員在接受培訓(xùn)后成為專業(yè)技術(shù)師，把光明帶回了自己的社區(qū)。迄今，該計劃培訓(xùn)了71個女性學(xué)員，為超過3，778戶人家按照了太陽能，惠及52個地區(qū)的22，739人。

[http：//www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/ourwork/ourstories/women-from-honduras-learn-about-solar-energy-in-india.html]