Eight solar fruit dryers built at Grand Bay

We hear much talk about renewable energy but in Grand Bay last week, there was action on the issue. Eight solar fruit dryers were built from Thursday to Saturday last week as approximatley ten people from the south of the island engaged themselves in a training program organized by the Grand Bay Village Council. An enthusiast and researcher in solar energy offered to train Dominicans in the technology of solar dryers. Mr. Alec Gagneau from Europe was visiting Dominica for the past month and conducted training in Roseau and Grand Bay. He conducted the training for three days at the workshop of Mr. Philip Nelson at Geneva. At the end of the training the participants had built eight solar dryers which they hope to put into use immediately.

The whole idea of the solar dryer is to preserve some of our fruits when in abundance for the days when the fruit is no longer available. For example there is much wastage of mangoes when the fruit is in season and after the mango season, it is very scarce. By drying strips of the fruit in an inexpensive way, mangoes can be eaten after the mango season.

The participants who came from Roseau, Bellevue, Bagatelle, Marigot and Grand Bay were challenged to experiment with different fruits and share their results with one another.

At the end of the workshop, participants expressed great satisfaction with the training and they all expected to put their newly acquired skill of solar fruit drying to good use. In addition the building of the solar dryer was another new skill acquired by the participants.

Alec( as he is preferred to be called) is a resident of Switzerland who was invited to visit Dominica by another renewable energy friend who had visited Dominica before and was fascinated by the beauty and natural endowments of the country.

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Pierre Charles Day Celebrated

On Wednesday June 30, the Pierre Charles Secondary School celebrated Pierre Charles Day under the theme, "Hard Work Yields Success". Mr. Deon Anselm, headboy at the school welcomed the audience to start proceedings. This was followed by a prayer service led by His Grace Archbishop Kelvin Felix, parish priest of Grand Bay. After the final blessing, the audience was entertained by two short stories and a rendition of the song, "To Dream the Impossible Dream"  by Michele Henderson. The feature address was given by Mr. Patrick Hhenderson, long time friend of Pierre Charles. In his speech, Mr. Henderson chronicled Pierre Charles' progress from his boyhood to his position as Prime Minister of this country. Mr. Henderson concluded that Pierre Charles' achievements were gained by hard work. He encouraged students to emulate the attitude and work ethic of the late Prime Minister and they will achieve a degree of success.

During the ceremony, the widow of the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Justina Charles who is also the parliamentary representative of the constituency, presented two scholarships to primary school students entering the Pierre Charles Secondary School starting in September 2010. She also donated a power-wash machine for cleaning the yard.

Finally,the audience was invited to view the exhibition of art, garments, craft and many other items on display.

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