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One of Shidhulai's boat libraries visits a remote village in Raishahi, Bangladesh. Electricity on boats is generated by solar PV.

The remote Chalanbeel region of Bangladesh is home to some of the poorest and most marginalised communities in Bangladesh. Road access is extremely limited with boats being the only dependable means of transport, especially in the wet season where much of the area becomes flooded from monsoon rains. Many people have no land with which to support themselves and no access to education, training or modern energy supplies. There is no mains electricity and very basic sanitation. There are almost no telephone lines, though there are a few mobile phones in use, Although all children are meant to get free education, it is difficult to find teachers who will stay in the region as transport is limited, and schools get flooded in the monsoon.

Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was founded by Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan in 1998 with a mission to assist the communities in Chalanbeel to develop sustainable livelihoods through access to education and training.
Shidhulai has achieved this by building up a fleet of flat-bottomed boats, all made with locally available materials, that make their way through the shallow rivers and canals of the Chalanbeel to bring a range of educational services and renewable energy supplies to water-side families.

The boats use solar PV modules to generate all the electricity they need to provide a range of services including almost daily classes in primary education for children, libraries, training in sustainable agriculture, health advice, mobile phone and Internet access and battery charging facilities for solar home systems and solar lanterns. On some boats the PV supply is used mainly for lights, computers, DVD/CD players and video projector whilst on others the PV energy supply is used mainly to charge batteries for the solar home systems and solar lanterns distributed by Shidhulai. So far, 13,500 solar-homes-systems (SHS) and 2,500 solar lanterns have been distributed. The lanterns are used mainly on fishing boats at night. To supplement the training in sustainable agriculture, Shidhulai has also distributed 15,000 bicycle pumps that deliver between 60 and 100 litres of water per minute, which is enough to irrigate half a hectare of land during the dry season. Micro-enterprise loans are also made available mainly to landless women who want to set up small businesses such as Rabia Begun: "I borrowed T10,000 to set myself up as a waste collector, and to lease some land to keep goats on. Now I've got a much better livelihood and we all eat better"

Unsurprisingly Shidhulai's efforts have transformed the lives of the communities it serves providing access to information which was previously unattainable. For 72 year-old Abdul Ghassem, it has provided him with an opportunity to keep learning: "I come here with my grandson. I like reading books on farming and biographies on great people. I am still learning. I have learnt about bicycle pumps, and now I want to have on of my own"

Girls, who were previously excluded from access to education because their parents couldn't afford it or because they did not want the girls to leave the village, are now being educated on a daily basis in floating classrooms! Girls are also receiving rights based education through the Girl Children's Rights Association, a distance education programme that provides information to girls and young women on topics such as domestic abuse, child trafficking and prostitution.

The PV-powered Internet and telephone access has not only helped people stay in touch with distant relatives and learn about what is going on in the 'outside world', it has also provided advice on health and agricultural practices. IT experience and skills from using the PV-powered computers has also improved the career prospects of young people, giving them more options when they go to seek work. As one 18 year-old library trainer says: "I learnt in a boat school myself, and now I am training people to use Word and Excel here. I'm really excited to be teaching here. It'll help me get a good IT job".

Afroza Rozi, a 15 year-old library user, adds: "I'm studying here because I can't afford to buy books. I want to be a teacher. I really like reading the papers on the Internet. There is so much happening in politics. I want to know the news"

Shidhulai's focus on training villagers in sustainable agriculture such as water management, reducing run-off, pest control and reduction in chemical outputs, has achieved impressive results. Surveys suggest that farmers have been able to increase income by 45% on average, and that the average use of synthetic pesticides has decreased by 60%, with about one third of farmers eliminating their use altogether. Water quality in the rivers has improved due to the planting of 80 hectares of trees and grasses along riverbanks, resulting in improvements in aquatic life. It is hoped that tree planting will also reduce flooding.

The SHS and lanterns provide families with good-quality light in the evening for children to study and adults to do craftwork to earn extra income. They also save the cost of kerosene, and eliminate the pollution and fire risk of using a kerosene lamp. As one solar home user says: "Our children can study now for three hours; the light's much better than kerosene." Another user adds: "I get around a third more money now that I can sew in the evening, and we're saving on the kerosene"

Solar lanterns have been particularly useful for night fishing, and surveys suggest that they have raised the average fisherman's income by T 300 (£2) per month – a significant increase in a region where earnings are typically only T 1,200 (£10) per month. The lamps also improve safety on boats, which are now having fewer accidents at night, and give them the ability to signal to other boats in a way that they could not with a kerosene lamp.

Bicycle water pumps have improved irrigation, allowing dry season crops to be grown and the area of cultivated land to be increased. Farmers report that this had allowed them to more than double their income.

There is significant potential within Bangladesh for Shidhulai to expand its work, as there are approximately 20 million people living in villages accessible only by boat, and only 400,000 people are being reached so far. Shidhulai plans to extend its work into the northeast and south of Bangladesh by 2008, and three other NGOs in Bangladesh are replicating its work

Ashden Award money will be used to increase the number of solar powered boats and charging stations and also to train local technicians to develop solar home systems locally.