Locally-Made Concrete Poles: Village-to-Village Mentoring

The initial pole-making and installation training was given by Padma Dewa from REDCO, Sri Lanka to Purna Guma village youth. Because it was our first round of poles and because I did not fiercely check the mold quality, the poles were not the best quality. With each project, the quality of the poles has drastically improved.

Then the following year, the Purna Guma youth trained the Karnivel youth to make and install poles for their system.

This year the the Karnivel youth trained the Bijapada youth...

And Purna Guma youth trained the Punjam youth.

The Purna Guma youth are admiring how much better the molds look than what the molds looked like 3 years ago, during their project's pole making training!

With each year, the quality of the poles has improved. This year, thanks to Pabitra Dada's team and Ranjit, the mold design was greatly improved, resulting in the best community-made transmission poles we've seen so far in Kalahandi!

Of course, the quality of the molds and the process for making the molds can still be drastically improved in future projects. I'll share how in a later post.