|
Finally, There Will Be Light!
Boca San Carlos, is a place
where Costa Rica ends to the
north and the San Carlos rivers
flows into the San Juan river,
and incredible that to this day,
this place lives without
electricity. However, this
month, the residents of Boca San
Carlos will finally see light.
Boca San Carlos is part of the
2% of the Costa Rican population
- some 22.000 people - that live
their daily lives without
electrical power.
In Boca San Carlos, a normal day
starts early and becomes long
and hard. Here, the coffee is
not ready at the press of a
button, someone has to first
light up the wood stove to boil
the water. Hot water doesn't run
in the shower and at night,
candles are used for lighting.
Unbelievable, but in this little
corner of Costa Rica there is no
"A Todo Dar", nor "Telenoticias"
or the "novelas". The night is
passed away in conversation with
friends, family and neighbours.
The community has been fighting
for years, too many to remember,
for electricity. A ¢48 million
colones (us$100.500 dollars)
project by the Cooperativa de
Electrificación Rural de San
Carlos (COOPELESCA), and PL480
(an program by the United
States) will finally allow the
Instituto Costarricense de
Electricidad (ICE) install the
posts and cabling to bring
electrical fluid to the 75
families that make up Boca San
Carlos.
Most of the work is already
complete. Most of the 150 posts
have been installed and the 15
kilometres of cabling from
Boca Tapada
is almost complete.
By the end of July Boca San
Carlos will come into the light
age.
|
|
