New Horizons September 2018 | Page 15

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A shepherd’s shelter with a trailer can be towed by a tractor up to the high plateaus where shepherds graze their animals. A solar panel on the roof generates electricity for own use. It enables the use of lighting, operating a television set, a mini refrigerator, 3 mobile phones and 1 laptop computer. The shepherd’s shelter is made of non-flammable materials and insulated slabs. While stoves are fired in August in other tents where shepherds sleep, the insulated shepherd’s shelters need no heating. With an available area of 8 m2, each shelter features a kitchen counter, foldable table, shower cabin, 100-litre water tank, 20-litre solar-heated shower tank, fire-extinguisher and first-aid box. Before the project, shepherds had to live in make-shift tents, take showers out in the open, have problems of battery charge for their mobile phones due to lack of electrical power; not their lives are getting better every day with the shepherd’s shelters project.