Solar Power Progress!
Haitian Christian Outreachby Cameron Mayhill, US Director
The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
– Proverbs 16:9 ESV
When God brought a group of students from the Christian Campus House at Trine University to Peredo, Haiti, in 2015, we never imagined what steps He had planned for one of the students. A couple of times during the trip, Chris Laudenschlager heard me mention that we were hoping to move toward solar power for the entire campus, including the new hospital addition. That stuck with him; he just couldn’t shake the project out of his mind.
As Chris went back to Trine, he knew that creating a solar power plan for our Peredo campus would be a great senior project for his mechanical/electrical engineering degree. He recruited his friends, Cameron Crenshaw and Emily Dunn, to his team and received approval from the university to proceed.
During the fall of 2016, Chris’ team worked with Norman, a friend of HCO, to create the solar system for the campus, to create a cooling system for the panels, and to do an initial presentation to their review board.
Then, it was time to visit Peredo again. The design team and some others from Trine came to Haiti on their Spring Break week. Their goal was to discover the next steps that God is aligning and to make further plans to bring solar power to the Peredo campus. It was a week full of meetings in buildings, on roofs, and around the kitchen table. These engineers gathered information, asked great questions, and helped connect many dots for the project.
As Chris, Cameron C., and Emily wrap-up their presentation at the Senior Design Expo this May, we share excitement about what God is doing. All three have committed to help HCO finish this project, with the goal to install the solar in early 2018 once Phase II of the hospital is complete.
Please keep praying for them and HCO as we take these next steps toward sustainability!
Trine University posted a great blog with details about the project and the trip. Check it out! http://www.trine.edu/news/2017/CCH-Haiti.aspx
