What’s the first thing you want to do when the power comes? They said…

Arema, an Indigenous community in La Guajira, Colombia, is located between the desert and the Caribbean sea. Here, when the daylight fades, people cease their work and social activities to end the day as pitch darkness descends on the community.

Solar energy has changed that. Students and professors from the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism teamed up with GivePower and built a solar power system in the middle of the desert in La Guajira, providing Arema with sustainable energy. Before the panels were constructed, USC student Sam Wen interviewed three villagers: María the community leader, Reyes a weaver and teacher, and Fernando a fisherman from Arema, about the first thing they want to do when the power arrives.