The night of September 18th, 2017, Michael Lees was hunkered down in a palm leaf shelter in the Rosalie forest, awaiting what he thought was a Category 3 Hurricane.
The young filmmaker had set out to shoot a documentary about natural living, never in his life expecting to face a Category 5 Hurricane out in the wild.
By a stroke of fate, Michael survived.
Nine months later he has returned to the southeast – this time not to the forest, but to the Grand Fond Primary School to make sure every student has a solar light for the coming hurricane season as well as to share his experience and the importance of solar power with students.
“After the experience of Maria, I realized that the solar gear I was using to film in the forest was extremely useful in a post-disaster environment,” Lees said. “I decided to start Survivor Mike’s Outdoor and Disaster Prep Store to make the same gear I was using available to all Dominicans – solar lights, chargers, headlamps and more. Since Grand Fond was the first village I visited after Maria and is still without reliable power, it only made sense to raise what money I could to make a donation to the school.”
Diane Laurent, principal of the Grand Fond school said the lights were a timely gift and much appreciated by staff and students.
“As the hurricane season has just begun, it is imperative that we prepare and keep the experiences from the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in mind as we all suffered in the darkness with no light sources,” she stated. “Solar power is the best alternative as it represents an easily available and free resource which is optimal for a post-disaster situation. It’s a great gift that the students will truly appreciate.”
Grand Fond like many villages on the east coast is still not fully electrified. Although DOMLEC has returned power to the community, outages are regular, and many homes are still not yet connected.
Ten-year-old Tyesha Lockhart was delighted with her solar light. The grade four student said the light will be “a lot of help” in allowing her and her friends to do their homework and study for class.
“Let’s hope that in light of Maria, Dominicans will look more seriously at renewable energy.”
“What we’ve seen post-Maria is the danger of being wholly dependent on one source of power,” he stated. “If we can diversify our power sources and utilize renewable energies in our communities, we can be more energy-secure, save money in the long term, and using less fossil fuels which are harmful to the environment. By introducing children to solar early, we can get one step closer to becoming the climate resilient nation we hope to become.”
If you would like to make a donation of solar lights to a school, or inquire about goods for sale, contact Michael Lees at 1-767-276-5313 or visit facebook.com/survivormikes
The LEDs can last upwards of 30 years, but contrary to popular belief, the rechargeable batteries only last about two years, depending on usage.
Nonetheless, this is a commendable gesture Mr. Lees!
Thank you.
wonderful gesture, thanks for helping the kids with light to do their homework. May bless you abundantly.
Sorry, may God bless you abundantly.
Great job on that… building something positive from a negative experience!
Great work bro keep doing what you do best
hats off to you bro…that’s love
I advise all Dominicans to go SOLAR power it is cheap all you need is God’S power the SUN , then domlec will reduce there bill and stop robing poor Dominicans, because they are the only source of electricity on the Island , like in California the government is helping home owners to buy solar panels for there houses , they get a taxes break when they buy and install the panel, so I advise the private company to invest in installing solar panel to all Dominican at an affordable rate.
Not only Domlec. The gasoline stations were committing highway robbery! People who bought generators regretted it. The cost of fuel is way too high in Dominica.
LOVE to see the giving back. Bless up my brother
Commendation to Mr. Lees for his thoughtfulness and his generosity. One individual can make a huge positive difference. I hope in the not too distant future most Dominicans would be making use geothermal and solar sources of energy.