Solar lights don’t just replace dirty, unhealthy kerosene lamps. You may have read in earlier blogs how solar lights are being used as tools for promoting peace and development amongst bitterly-divided communities. This novel approach, introduced in 2013 by Joseph Karanja in his home-town of Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, started with just 14 families. In 2017, the 3,000 members of what has come […]
When SolarAid was founded in 2006, very few people in rural Africa had heard of solar power and fewer still could afford a solar light. For the past ten years SolarAid has been on a mission, to light up Africa and eradicate the kerosene lantern and although we have made some good progress and helped improve […]
Contrary to SolarAid’s usual “trade not aid” model this blog post, by President Kambani, explains how the Rotary English District 1100, and the District’s two Rotary Clubs of Cheltenham North and Cleeve Vale, working in partnership with the Rotary Club of Lusaka, Zambia raised funds in order to distribute SolarAid’s SM100 solar lamps to hundreds of […]
When Wendy Okurut got married to a local Ugandan man, in 2013, she visited Chelekura (a small village in Eastern Uganda) for the first time. The dazzlingly warm welcome she received from the villagers changed her life. From then on, Wendy rolled up her sleeves and created the Chelekura Village Project, a “small charity with a large vision”. In […]
Africa Live just made this great little video, explaining SunnyMoney’s work selling solar lights in Malawi. See the SM100 in action and hear from some of the children that have benefitted from the worlds most affordable solar light. Please share this video far and wide!
Following on from Brave’s letter earlier this month, the SunnyMoney team in Malawi has recorded this short message of thanks – and a song about the SM100, which has helped them so much in these hard times. If you missed Brave’s letter explaining the current situation in Malawi, which has left 6.5 million people with a lack with food, […]
As regular readers of the SolarAid blog will know, solar energy does more than just generate power – it changes lives! Sunshine Stories is a short documentary series, by Jill Johannessen, on how solar energy is a liberating power, featuring tales from rural Africa. Jill traveled around East Africa to explore how solar energy not only brings clean power, but forsters […]
Have you ever wondered if you have too much “stuff”? As Christmas comes around again the retail sector rubs its hands with glee, as spending goes through the roof, but do we really need to give and receive more and more physical goods? We sometimes forget (perhaps we’re blinded by all the shiny lights!?) that […]
Back in 2014 SolarAid partnered with Stanford University and Acumen to conduct some research on the impact of solar lighting on education. The project focusses on Zambia and includes results from questionnaires with over 1800 students. The research aims to measure academic performance, school attendance and how primary school students progress to secondary school, as well as uncovering changes in study […]
Our new SM100 solar light has been very well received in Africa. The two minute video below shows Nancy from SunnyMoney visiting Mulalika Primary School in Zambia and talking to the head teacher, Mr. Hachilangu, who has helped distribute hundreds of solar lights to families that live without electricity. This video demonstrates exactly why SolarAid […]