Provide solar lanterns to poor school children

So far this year we have sent four large boxes of solar lanterns to two poor villages in Senegal. The first village was Kaniko in the Commune of Bobali. It is located in the Casamance Region of Senegal south of the Gambia River. This is the poorest region in Senegal, being until recently, very difficult to reach from Senegal proper. These lanterns, along with a selection of useful gifts, will allow productive life to continue after the sun goes down. This includes, of course, the ability of children to continue with their studies. The distribution was made possible by Londoo Looloo, our partner in the Casamance, and which is based in Sedhiou.

The fourth box was delivered to Ngadiaga by Amad Ba, our hard working and faithful assistant, who is based in Dakar. Ngadiaga is only about 50 miles north of Dakar, but it might as well be on another planet. It is located in the littoral, a sandy area along the Atlantic coast. The villagers there scrape out a living in the barren soil growing vegetables for the market. There is little excess income for commodities such ast candles and kerosene. But now they will not only have light in the night, they will also have the ability to charge their cell phones, which provide them with the ability to send and receive money. Otherwise, they would be paying an enterpreneur in a village with electricity to charge their cell phones for them.

Links:

• The villagers express their joy for the solar lanterns.

This year was especially challenging, but in spite of the pandemic we’ve continued to provide our very capable yet inexpensive solar lanterns to those in need both here at home and overseas. This year our recipients have included children in orphanages in Sierra Leone and Cameroon in addition to our regular program of distributing solar lanterns to the homeless here in Washington, DC, as well as Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, and other places where we have partners to help us with the expenses. Our partners, Jean-Yves Dalle of Sunlight to the Rescue and Ambreen Rizvi of Brigade of Mercy, covered the distribution and other overhead for the two orphanages. SEI pays only for the lanterns themselves and the costs associated with shipping them to the US. Once here, they are stored at no cost to us at the Salvation Army warehouse in Hyattsville, MD. That means that every donation to SEI has the maximum possible impact. In fact, a donation of only $10 can provide three small lanterns. And $13 can buy one of the larger models with a separate solar panel and a USB port for charging cell phones.

We've attached pictures of the happy and grateful children who can now study after the sun has gone down. The orphanage in Douala, Cameroon is the Orphanage Of La Miséricorde Divine Sainte Faustine. In Sierra Leone, the solar lights support an orphanage and day school named Sonnia House in Mattru Jong District. There are 130 children who come daily there while 30 or so live there. There are no lights in the orphanage. The solar lights help to light the eight rooms which host the kids. The bigger lanterns help in the living room and the smaller ones help in the bedrooms so children can do homework and read. They help the orphanage with lighting in general. 

Links:

• The Solar Empowerment Initiative Inc