- Catholic sisters in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city have built off-grid infrastructure to power their operations.
- Renewable energy is helping the Precious Blood sisters navigate Zimbabwe’s expensive electricity tariffs at a time when hours-long power cuts are interrupting the functioning of all sectors.
Catholic sisters in Zimbabwe’s second-largest city, Bulawayo, have built off-grid infrastructure to power their operations. Zimbabwe has not been spared disruption of hydro-based power generation triggered by climate-induced low rainfall, forcing the authorities to import electricity from neighbouring power utilities.
In recent years, the Kariba Dam, which lies on the Zambezi River along the well-known Victoria Falls, has seen water levels drop, crippling power production in the process. Against this background, millions of people in Zimbabwe struggle with electricity, from businesses to households, industry and agriculture.
From their sprawling provincial in one of Bulawayo’s quiet eastern neighbourhoods, the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood have turned to solar energy to run a thriving horticulture project. Renewable energy is helping the Precious Blood sisters navigate Zimbabwe’s expensive electricity tariffs at a time when hours-long power cuts are interrupting the functioning of all sectors of the country’s economy.
“We have five solar-powered boreholes supporting horticulture and our residence,” said Sr. Caroline Busvumani during a recent tour of the Precious Blood sisters’ project. “Solar works best for our day-to-day operations that include fundraising efforts as electricity from the power provider is erratic,” Busvumani said.
By investing heavily in renewable energy, the Catholic sisters have created a horticulture marvel that could serve as a model for other religious congregations seeking to support themselves while being environmentally friendly.
Giant reservoirs called “JoJo tanks” help store water for the horticulture project and sell the water to members of the public. The tanks also provide the sisters with healthy, home-grown organic food for their own consumption.
The provincial boasts several such tanks, some with a holding capacity of 10,000 litres of water. These tanks highlight the city’s dire water situation and the sisters’ efforts to support themselves.
The solar infrastructure installed by the sisters also provides electricity to their residences at a time when millions of residents face rolling power outages. Across the pristine Precious Blood Sisters premises, countless photovoltaic panels can be seen, some immaculately lining up side-by-side on numerous points on the roof, others mounted on the ground, showcasing a vast commitment to renewable energy.
It also reflects the Vatican’s drive toward energy independence, where the Holy See is championing the combination of agriculture and solar energy. “There is a need to transition to a sustainable development model that reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, setting the goal of climate neutrality,” Pope Francis wrote in his apostolic letter, Fratello Sole.
“Mankind has the technological means to deal with this environmental transformation and its pernicious ethical, social, economic and political consequences, and, among these, solar energy plays a key role,” the pope said.