The Bijagos or Bissagos islands or archipelago are a group of eighteen major islands and dozens of smaller ones in the Atlantic Ocean, a total group of 80 islands more or less, which are part of the territory of Guinea-Bissau, although only 20 islands are inhabited. (Look location)
The islands are a biosphere reserve by Unesco, designed to animals, including sea turtles, monkeys, and forests.
Tourism, mainly ecotourism although still in a small scale, and fishing are its two primary economic values but its economy is very precarious, and its isolation from the reality of the country is huge.
Poor or no maritime links between the islands or the capital city makes its populations be among the most disadvantaged in Guinea-Bissau. There is an enormous lack of teachers, doctors, and electricity that today still undermine the development of this natural paradise.
PROSOLIA just completed the installation of 202 solar street lights spread between the islands of Bubaque, Bolama, Orango and Uno. This work has been one of the toughest made by PROSOLIA due to the logistical complexity: we have had to access some islands hiring traditional canoes and for, after long hours of journey, unload our materials on beaches and install tents for PROSOLIA installers. However, we would like to thank all the local people who have made easier our work and helped us at all times.
Particularly challenging was the work in the islands of Orango and Uno, but it is precisely there where our satisfaction was higher when seeing their small populations having light at night for the first time in their lives: a real reward for the whole team PROSOLIA Africa.