A
while ago I came across an organisation working in Zambia and a few other
African countries, called Solar Aid. They run some great projects such as light
installations for community schools and medical clinics here in Zambia. They
also have another project called “Sunny Money” where they sell smaller scale
solar products through their office in Lusaka and local distribution channels,
at a very reasonable price to anyone who wants to buy them.
So
on a recent trip to Lusaka Mike and I stopped by the Solar Aid office and were
lucky to be able to run through the products there with the Country Manager,
Ellie. The result was the purchase of three of their products, a home lighting
and phone charging kit, a lone phone charging kit and a desk lamp. The first
two of these products we decided to give to our cleaning lady Selina and the
desk lamp was for me, just because I thought it was cool and would be great for
camping!
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The "d.light S1", a.k.a my new camping light, providing up to 4 hours
light all for the cost of approximately $10 |
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Mobile phone charger: comes with solar panel and multiple phone
connectors. With good sun conditions it should charge between 5 to
7 mobile phones a day. Cost was about $16 |
So
excited by the success of these purchases and the installation of them at
Selina’s house, I thought I’d share the pictures I took. I should note here
that Selina’s house does not have access to electricity or water; it is a 2
room mud house in very outer- Livingstone. Her income is also entirely dependent
on her work as a cleaner and must support her daughter’s education, as well provide
for all living costs. This income is approximately $12 a week. We hope the
solar phone charging kit will provide additional income to her as people in her
compound pay to get their mobile phones charged and that the lights will assist her daughter with completing her homework.
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Parraffin lamp: Used by most Zambian people in the compounds.
This form of lighting is incredibly ineffective not to mention the
fumes and cost |
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Powapack 2.5: Comes with 2 large lights and cell phone charging
and a battery pack (pictured). All for a cost of around $70. |
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| Lamp turned off..... |
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| .....lamp turned on! |
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Mike providing Selina and her daughter Gift with a lesson on the
charging the battery pack |
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| Catching the rays: Solar panel outside |
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| Outside of Selina's house |
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| Solar panel as the centre of attention |
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Mike showing Selina and Gift how to charge a mobile phone using
solar energy |
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| A demonstration |
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| Selina proving that she can do it all herself! |
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