ride with us in the hazon ny ride

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:50:49 +0300

Jewish Heart for Africa is proud to be one of the beneficiary’s of funds from this year’s Hazon NY Bike Ride.

We therefore invite you to join us and Hazon, the largest Jewish environmental organization in North America, for their 10th Annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride.

The Ride will be held over Labor Day Weekend, September 3-6. Participants come from across the country to enjoy a fun-filled and relaxing weekend with friends and family. The event is open to everyone and consists of a 2 day Shabbat retreat followed by a 2 day bike ride. The retreat will be held in the majestic Hudson Valley at Camp Kinder Ring, located in Hopewell Junction, New York on the serene Sylvan Lake. Following the retreat, riders will cycle 60-150 miles over the course of two days. Riders of all denominations and faiths are welcome to join this inclusive, pluralistic and welcoming retreat and the challenging and exciting ride.

The two-day retreat includes a variety of options for religious services and activities for everyone. Programming will include yoga, swimming, hiking, sessions on environmental learning, bike maintenance and the upcoming Jewish High Holiday season. There will also be special programming for teens and kids coordinated by the Teva Learning Center. Friday afternoon workshops will include challah baking and pickling and the night will close with a keynote speech by David Elcott of NYU’s Wagner School. On Saturday, activities will include traditional services, a workshop about kosher meat, and a blue ribbon panel moderated by David Teutsch about Hazon’s vision and progress in the last 10 years.

Riders of all levels are welcome, and there are crew options available for non-riding participants. This is the perfect vacation weekend for families. The ride is fully supported with mechanics, rest stops, and medics. The weekend will feature delicious kosher, mostly organic and mostly local food. Riders fundraise for Hazon, America’s largest Jewish Environmental organization,organization and Jewish environmental projects across the United States and Israel.

Participants pay a registration fee and have a minimum fundraising requirement. All meals and snacks during the Shabbat Retreat and the Ride are included, as well as comfortable indoor accommodations, luggage transport,and a ride t-shirt and water bottle. There is organized transportation from Brooklyn, Manhattan, Boston and New Jersey. The Ride ends in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.

For more information check out the website www.newyorkride.org or 212-644-2332 x304.

back to africa

Thu, 8 Jul 2010 09:59:51 +0300

The highlight of our work is our trips to Africa.

For seven days, two members of the JHA team went to Tanzania and Uganda to monitor current projects, identify new ones, and to supervise the installation of two new solar systems. Our current total is 32 solar projects, bringing light, clean water and proper medical care to over 150,000 people.

But this trip was different from those that preceded it. For the first time, we have a staff of three in Uganda: our Projects Manager, Health Development Officer and local contractor. And while celebrating the newest of our solar installations, we realized that our local staff had it covered. They were the ones delivering inaugural addresses about the solar energy, empowering the community to take care of their own projects. They had already completed what they call “sensitization training”--working with community leaders and lay people to ensure the commitment of the village to maintaining the solar panels.

We had traveled to Uganda as supervisors. We found ourselves increasingly becoming witnesses to the skill and grace of our local team.

It’s a wonderful thing in this business---to entrust our work to a team of locals who cooperate and communicate better with villagers than we ever could. Our Uganda office is less than one year old, and we are proud of Robert Khakhosi, Dr. Samson Wamani and Robert Mpagi for their fantastic work on the ground.

Now, its Tanzania’s turn.

Our office in Dar Es Salaam will be launched on August 1st. Entrusted to the care of Todd Munthali--a Tanzanian who worked with the US Embassy for 20 years--our new office will be a turning point for our Tanzanian projects. We are looking forward to building a team that will ensure the sustainability of our projects, and allow our organizational impact to grow on the ground.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our African partners, collaborators and staff. It is only with their support that we can continue to save African lives with Israeli innovation.

To see photos from our week in Africa, please visit:

http://www.facebook.com/jhafrica#!/album.php?id=94436503494&aid=186767&s=0&hash=8103e3b6c4eec1819c1aa843a9806d3d

cleantech 2010

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 09:39:18 +0300

Jewish Heart for Africa was proud to attend this year’s Cleantech conference in Tel Aviv. Located in between three continents, Israel is the ideal venue for this annual conference that allows companies to expose their products and services to the international market. Walking through row after row of Israeli innovations in the renewables field was invigorating, reinforcing our knowledge that there is an entire world of technologies from Israel that we can use to save African lives.

Highlights of the conference included a meeting with our current partner: SolarEdge (www.solaredge.com), whose technologies we employ to increase the energy output of our solar panels and monitor their efficiency remotely online.

We met with several new solar firms, renewables consultants and purveyors of new water technologies. We are looking forward to meeting with those to whom we were introduced, and to forging new partnerships with Israeli suppliers to bring a brighter future to the African continent.

To learn more about this annual event, visit:
http://www.mashovgroup.net/cleanTechEnglish/tabid/99/Default.aspx

the israeli woman that lights up africa

Sun, 23 May 2010 18:11:20 +0300

Globes Magazine, the premiere business publication in Israel, wrote a four page spread on Jewish Heart for Africa and the cutting edge Israeli technologies that we use to save African lives. The article, entitled:

בעקבות השמש: הישראלית שמאירה את אפריקה .הסיפור של סיוון בורוביץ'–יערי

is available for download here: http://bit.ly/92KyiQ:

An English translation will be available here and on our website soon.

the next 100,000 party

Thu, 6 May 2010 18:42:36 +0300

On May 6th, 2010, 250 people joined us in celebrating bringing Israeli solar technologies to our 100,000th person in Africa. The event took place at NYC’s La Pomme and featured African drumming, photos and video of our work on the ground, and an address by Jewish Heart for Africa Founder and President Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari.

All proceeds from the event will help us in our mission to reach the next 100,000. For more information about the event, visit: www.jhasol.org/events.html.

A special thank you to our sponsor, Royal Wine Corp.

israeli innovation weekend in boston

Mon, 3 May 2010 18:42:25 +0300

Jewish Heart for Africa was proud to participate in this year’s Israeli Innovation Weekend in Boston. The third Alan J. Tichnor Memorial Event was hosted by Congregation Mishkan Tefila (CMT), The Boston Museum of Science and the Consulate General of Israel to New England.

The weekend highlighted Israel’s role as a leader in technological innovation. Jewish Heart for Africa Founder and President Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari spoke alongside leaders in the field of technology.

For a list of presenters and participants, please visit: www.iiweekend.com

On Friday night, Jewish Heart for Africa held a presentation at Temple Beth Avoda, a community that has already raised over $14,000 in their efforts to provide power to the Thornbury Bufumbo Medical Center in Uganda.

At the Boston Museum of Science, we opened our first ever museum exhibit, featuring photos, videos and demonstrations of our work in Africa.

A special thank you to all the organizers of this incredible weekend, and in particular the staff of CJP, Sid and Nancy Lejfer and the Israeli Consulate without whom this exciting and important weekend would not have been possible.

a toast to earth day 2010

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 22:59:16 +0300

On April 22nd, Jewish Heart for Africa Advisory Board member Jonathan Hollander hosted “A Toast to Earth Day 2010.”

This cocktail and networking benefit took place at Goldbar in NYC with catering from La Esquina in support of JHA’s solar projects in Africa. All proceeds help us bring light, clean water and proper medical care to African villages using Israeli technologies.

To view the event invitation, visit: http://www.jhasol.org/atoast.html.

project sol partners with electrogreen

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:37:33 +0200

Project Sol Announces Renewable Energy Partnership with Electrogreen

NEW YORK, March 25, 2010 -- Jewish Heart for Africa (JHA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, through its Project Sol initiative, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Electrogreen, the only Israel based manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Project Sol provides Israeli renewable technologies to rural African villages in order to promote sustainable development. This new partnership with Electrogreen will facilitate the exportation of Israeli manufactured PV solar panels to aid in Africa’s development.

Electrogreen is a new and cutting-edge PV manufacturer of solar panels at their facilities in Jordan and Israel. Electrogreen is creating jobs in economically depressed areas through an Israeli-Jordanian economic development program and through its manufacturing facilities in rural Israel. Project Sol will now use this technology to power African schools, medical clinics and water pumping systems.

Project Sol is proud to work with Electrogreen, a company that meets the organization’s criteria for technological partnership: use of Israeli based renewable technology, existing and proven supply chain and the creation of new jobs. Through its manufacturing facility in Afula, Electogreen will produce over 6MW of photovoltaic solar energy per year. Additionally, Electogreen will create over 30 jobs in the slow growth Afula district, an area in need of high technology employment.

Alon Tov, Electrogreen’s founder says, “Electrogreen is excited to work with JHA in bringing Israeli solar technologies to Africa. We are happy to be involved in an organization that provides so much help to those who desperately need it, and we will try to do our best through our products and connections.”

“Project Sol is excited to work with such a dynamic Israeli startup,” says JHA Technical Advisory Board member Jonathan Hollander. “They are the first Israeli PV manufacturer and are helping to foster peace through economic partnership. Electrogreen’s management has been extremely helpful in working with us to lower our overall system wide costs, which will enable us to power more projects in Africa.”

Founder and President of JHA Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari says, “We are proud of this new partnership with Electrogreen. Since its launch in 2008, Project Sol has been using Israeli innovation to save African lives. Now, we are thrilled to use Electrogreen’s high-quality Israeli manufactured solar panels to bring Africa a brighter future.”

About Electrogreen

Electrogreen is the first Israeli based photovoltaic manufacturer with production facilities in Jordan and an in Israel. Electrogreen’s Afula based 1,500 sq. meter final assembly facility, has created over 30 jobs in an economically depressed zone and will have production capacity of over 6MW/year. Electrogreen can integrate the SolarEdge Intelligent PowerBox, which can raise energy efficiency by up to 25% per solar panel.

About Project Sol

Project Sol, a Jewish Heart for Africa initiative, provides Israeli solar technologies to power African schools, medical clinics and water pumping systems. Since its launch in 2008, Project Sol has brought power to over 100 thousand people living in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. Solar power allows these 100 thousand villagers to attend school in the evenings, receive lifesaving medicines and vaccines and pump clean water for the first time. Through the purchase of Israeli renewable technologies, Project Sol supports high tech Israeli job creation and provides the building blocks for microeconomic development and improved education and healthcare in Africa. Project Sol is online at www.jhafrica.org.

Contact: Mimi Fellner

Jewish Heart for Africa

212-710-6429

mimi@jhafrica.org

project sol partners with solaredge

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:52:15 +0200

Project Sol Announces Renewable Energy Partnership with SolarEdge

NEW YORK, March 25, 2010 -- Jewish Heart for Africa (JHA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, through its Project Sol initiative, is pleased to announce a new partnership with SolarEdge, an innovative provider of photovoltaic (PV) maximizing power technology and monitoring systems.

Since 2008, Project Sol has provided over 100 thousand people in Africa with Israeli solar technologies. This electricity is used to pump clean water and to store lifesaving medicines and vaccines in rural African Villages.

SolarEdge technology increases power production by up to 25% when integrated with photovoltaic solar modules. These new technologies also offer monitoring data, allowing Project Sol to monitor projects remotely as well as analyze and prevent power losses. This partnership will maximize solar power production and provide monitoring data to increase the sustainability of each project and reduce maintenance costs.

Project Sol is proud to work with SolarEdge, a global company with offices in Israel, USA, Germany and Japan. SolarEdge meets the organization’s criteria for technological partnership: use of Israeli based renewable technology, existing and proven supply chain and the creation of new jobs. SolarEdge’s technologies are manufactured and implemented worldwide. In Israel, SolarEdge has created over 180 jobs and plans to create an additional 150 jobs by 2011. SolarEdge is funded by a few of the world’s most respected Venture Capital Funds and GE. They also have partnerships with leading PV module manufacturers. Over 40MW of SolarEdge systems will have been deployed in residential and commercial grid-connected solar sites in Europe, USA and Asia by the end of 2010.

“SolarEdge is excited to work with JHA in bringing advanced solar technologies to Africa,” says Lior Handelsman, SolarEdge’s VP of Product Strategy and Business Development. “We recently attended a trip to a few of their projects in Uganda where we installed our PowerBox at the Lubuulo Primary School and Nabigwaali Medical Clinic in the Kaliro District. SolarEdge is happy to be involved in an organization that provides so much help to those who desperately need it.”

According to JHA Technical Advisory Board member Jonathan Hollander, “Project Sol is excited to work with such a dynamic and fast growing company whose technology and products are so valuable to our mission and to the commercial market. SolarEdge’s technology will increase our power production and provide the ability to monitor our power output, which will provide critical data to optimize our systems and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.”

Founder and President of JHA, Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari says, “This new technology will enable us to provide a powerful and sustainable source of electricity to some of the most deprived villages in Africa, for people who truly have no other option. From our office in New York, we can now monitor the efficiency of our solar panels and ensure that our schools, medical clinics and water pumping systems have the power they need to save lives. We are thrilled with this new development for Project Sol, and for those villages that will be transformed thanks to SolarEdge technologies.”

About SolarEdge

SolarEdge provides the world's first end-to-end Distributed Solar Power Harvesting and PV Monitoring Solution, allowing maximum energy production at a lower cost per watt. The company works with industry-leading partners to embed its active electronics directly into PV panels. The SolarEdge PowerBoxes™ are DC-DC power optimizers that perform MPPT per individual panel while monitoring performance of each panel and communicating across existing power lines. Moreover, PowerBoxes always maintain a fixed DC string voltage, allowing optimal efficiency of the SolarEdge multi-string PV inverter, which is tailor made to work with power optimizers. As a result, the SolarEdge system provides more power from any given installation, eliminates design constraints, provides complete panel-level and whole-system visibility for monitoring and maintenance alerts, solves all safety hazards and provides anti-theft mechanisms, all while reducing the cost of energy. SolarEdge is online at www.solaredge.com.

About Project Sol

Project Sol, a Jewish Heart for Africa initiative, provides Israeli solar technologies to power African schools, medical clinics and water pumping systems. Since its launch in 2008, Project Sol has brought power to over 100 thousand people living in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. Solar power allows these 100 thousand villagers to attend school in the evenings, receive lifesaving medicines and vaccines and pump clean water for the first time. Through the purchase of Israeli renewable technologies, Project Sol supports high tech Israeli job creation and provides the building blocks for microeconomic development and improved education and healthcare in Africa. Project Sol is online at www.jhafrica.org.

Contact: Mimi Fellner

Jewish Heart for Africa

212-710-6429

mimi@jhafrica.org

day seven

Sun, 7 Mar 2010 22:55:30 +0200

100,000. It's a big number. But we've reached it. After two years of solar installations, we have brought light to over 100,000 African people.

It started in Nawampiti Medical Clinic. We drove for hours to get there, but when we arrived we found hundreds of people waiting. Our local manager has traveled there several times, teaching the doctor and staff what to expect, explaining to the people of Nawampiti what solar power is, and how it will serve their community. These people know that for the rest of their lives, they will have access to better medical care. They will have refrigerators to store lifesaving medicines and vaccines. They won't suffer needlessly from preventable diseases like Tuberculosis, Measles or Yellow Fever.

We danced with the crowds as our Ugandan and Israeli contractors put the final touches on our solar system. They were up on the roof as we all sang below. But we couldn't stay for long. We had one more installation to go:

Nabigwaali Medical Center, the final stop on our trip. Again, it was a long drive. Again, we were greeted by a huge crowd. This time we were met by the District Health Officer and local government officials. They all know what we are doing, they all want to be a part of it and they all know that these technologies are coming from Israel--a world leader in technological innovation.

Once more the contractors climbed up to the roof. Amit Rosner of SolarEdge, who flew from Israel just to install his cutting edge PowerBoxes on our projects, connected an Israeli sim card to the solar system, allowing us to receive a text message every minute updating us on the efficiency of the solar panel.

We were given traditional clothes as drummers played Ugandan rhythms. All that mattered was that we complete it by nightfall. Once the panels were installed, they would never be without light again.

And then it was finished. We flipped on a switch and it worked. It was just that simple--100,000.

They gave us a goat today. The farmers of the village gathered and presented us with the most valuable gift they could find. But words, dances, songs, speeches and even livestock were not enough to show how grateful, how happy all of us were.

Two years of work, and finally we saw light reflecting off the face of the 100,000th person whose life will be brighter thanks to solar energy.

This is just the beginning--just one big landmark on the road to many. We already have a list of 20 more projects that need solar energy. We have new initiatives to launch, new technologies to work with, new people to help.

Today we are exhausted. We will happily get on the plane to go home, hopefully sleeping most of the way. But tomorrow is when the real work begins.

You've been with us on our journey to 100,000, now join us on our journey to 100,000 more.