in his tent with his solar-powered healing equipment. Photo: Charles Bigelow

Originally from Ghana, Dr. Atobrah holds degrees from Princeton University and is a systems engineer and chairman of Geomatric Technology Corp. in Asburn, Va. He works with Charles Bigelow, who holds a degree in nuclear physics and is president of Light Speed Power of Boyce, Va. Bigelow has been working on support of medical facilities utilizing solar and wind power in Papua New Guinea. Previously, the team coordinated telecommunications development for Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., and solar and wind power for other facilities.

Providing light and refrigeration is just part of the problem. Without clean water, communication and records maintenance, much effort is either not available or becomes lost.

While diesel generators have been used for years, they are noisy, give off toxic fumes and require a regular supply of fuel, often transported over long distances on poor roads. Atobrah and his associates have developed the Integrated Distributed Utilities Network (IDUN) to provide support for infrastructure requirements for such basic needs as potable water, telecommunications and Internet access.

Dr. Atobrah and his solar panels.

In his tent, Dr. Atobrah has a refrigerator to store vaccines and medicines, a computer, a satellite telephone and a light. The equipment to support this effort is contained in a single suitcase on the floor. The case is strong enough to be dropped by parachute into a remote area. Bigelow learned that the solar panels keep on working even after they have been damaged by a truck rollover and gunshot holes.

An IDUN is run by solar and/or wind power. Solar panels can recharge multiple batteries of varying sizes, run water pumping and purification systems, telecommunication cell sites, and lanterns.

While providing medical care, solar-powered water pumping may be the next most critical issue. Dr. Atobrah uses it for livestock. Animals use a solar powered pump facility one at a time, eliminating waste of water and contamination of the surrounding ground.

Dr. Atobrah tests the water at his solar-powered water well and fountain for livestock. They drink from it one at a time. Photo: Loreen Folsom and Will Snodgrass

Holding a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Maryland is Kwasi Bosompem, executive director of Let's Go Africa Foundation, based in Waldorf, Md. Mr. Bosompem has written three books on the socioeconomic policies affecting sub-Saharan Africa.

Kwamena Cudjoe, with a degree in agricultural economics from the University of Maryland, is CEO of West Africa Commodities Exchange, Gaithersburg, Md. Dr. Cudjoe has developed and marketed an instant cooking rice, "jollof rice," popular in West Africa and the Caribbean to be used for school nutrition programs.

These professionals have combined their experiences and expertise to bring infrastructure support to communities to prevent and treat the deadly diseases affecting tropical Africa.

The cattle drink from their solar-powered water fountain one at a time. Photo: Charles Bigelow

When public or diesel power fails, those with solar and wind power will be able to continue to function. In many communities in Africa where there is no public power, these medical facilities will be able to provide medical and emergency care when and where they are most needed.

Janette D. Sherman, M.D., www.janettesherman.com, is a physician and toxicologist, specializing in chemicals and nuclear radiation that cause cancer and birth defects. The author of "Chemical Exposure" and "Life's Delicate Balance: Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer," she has worked in radiation and biologic research at the University of California nuclear facility and at the U.S. Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory at the Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco.

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