Solar Lanterns for Tana Students

Dear donors

During the first quarter of the year we surveyed households in Mwina and Kulesa, two outlying locations within the Tana Delta. We learnt that although most of the schools had benefited from the rural electrification program by the government of Kenya, the program is better suited for the boarding school students.  It is unsafe for students who attend day schools to walk to school at night to do their homework due to wild animals and the distance between their homes and schools, which could be upto 5 km.  

We interviewed 53 Standard 8 candidates (i.e. the final year of primary education) from three different schools namely, Mwina, Bubesa and Kulesa Primary Schools.  After analysing the feedback, we selected 40 households to participate in this programme, hoping to improving the lives of over 120 villagers. The selected beneficiaries have younger siblings in primary school who will also  benefit from the  solar lighting in their homes.

The solar lanterns will be to charge mobile phones enabling better communication and the possibility of additional income if it is offered as a charging station for neighbours for a small fee.

During the interviews we discovered that many students  study and complete their homework under difficult conditions. Some of their feedback are as follows:

Noor Ahmed, aged 13 from Bubesa primary school: “I usually use a torch to study at night while at home”.

Mwanajuma Said, aged 13 from Bubesa primary school: “The solar will help me attain my target in the final examinations.”

Mohamed Maro, aged 15 from Bubesa Primary School: “I currently use a paraffin lamp to study and sometimes the eyes get very itchy and am worried that it will affect my eyesight due to the unpleasant smoke produced by it.”

Patricia John aged 14 from Kulesa primary: “Our family can’t even be able to purchase paraffin frequently so it becomes difficult to even study at home, having a light source will be very helpful”.

Dullu Komora aged 14 from Mwina Primary: “Getting solar will be very helpful to me as I will be able to study more at home so as to I can get better grades and be admitted in a better high school.”

The foundation has purchased 40 units of Niwa Multi 300 Solar Lanterns which contains a solar panel, bulb and phone charging port. These will be distributed immediately after the half term school break ending on 6^th March 2017. Thank you for your contributions and generous support to our project.

Sincerely,

Oscar Raha Jr, former beneficary

Tana River Life Foundation

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Hello Friends,

Thank you for the donations made during the Renewable Energy Match Campaign that ended in October. We raised a total of £2,214 with donors contributing £1,476 and the rest matched by GlobalGiving UK.

The Kenya Ministry of Education recently launched a project “Digital Literacy Program” to introduce e-learning. In rural areas, the project involves the collaboration with the Rural Electrification Commision of Kenya which is responsible for providing electricity to all public primary schools in the country.  Some of the rural schools in Tana Delta have already benefited from this project, with the installation of solar panels and introduction of e-learning. All rural public primary schools have been earmarked for the same type of assistance.

In view of this development, the Tana River Life Foundation has decided to provide solar powered reading lanterns to individual students in selected schools for their use at home instead of duplicating the efforts of the Ministry. Besides enabling them to study and do their homework after dusk, it will also provide lighting for rural homes where the only source of light is the kerosene lamp. This has the added benefit of reducing the risk of fire and smoke inhalation in their homes.

With the change in plans, we are unable to launch the program this year as initially planned. We are now working with 2 Solar Powerhouses to purchase discounted solar lanterns for the students. These will be distributed in January 2017 when the new school year commences. Students from Mwina location will be the first beneficiaries of the project. Although Mwina Primary School has solar power, the villages are off-grid, and rely on kerosene lamps for light.

TRLF youth volunteer, Kingstone from Mikameni, from Mwina Location is excited about the purchase of Solar Lanterns, “We are looking forward to receiving the Solar Lanterns. The lanterns will motivate us to study harder. We are unlikely to have electricity at home soon and it is our hope that the Solar Project will benefit many students and help us get better our examination results."

Sincerely,

Oscar Raha Jr

Former beneficiary, Tana River Life Foundation

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