Solar Lanterns for Tana Students

The months of September and October were busy months for TRLF staff who were criss crossing the Tana Delta, distributing solar lanterns to the most far flung and remote villages. First we did raise over US $ 2,000 during the month for the GlobalGiving Matching Campaign in 12th September. Thank you to all this who participated and the rest who are always supporting our projects. A total of 135 students from 8 different schools and villages have since benefited from this assistance during this period, the majority of them in Grade 7, and who will be sitting for their primary school leaving examinations in Nov 2019. See the table below for the breakdown of the solar lanterns distributed during the months of October and November this year.

• Chamwanamuma Primary - 35 
• Serah Primary - 14
• Odole Primary - 15
• Shirikisho Primary - 25
• Miticharaka Primary - 19
• Assa Primary - 20
• Kibokoni Primary - 7

All the schools are located in villages not connected to the National Power Grid, and unlikely to be connected in the forseeable future.

Some of the schools have arranged for these students to board at school from Mondays to Fridays to minimize the time students spend travelling from home to school daily. This allows them more time for participation in games, as well as night studies under the guidance of their teachers. This arrangement has been possible because of the solar lanterns. With their classrooms being lit up by the solar lanterns, students from these schools can now do night studies easily.

During the weekends when the students return to their homes, they carry their lanterns with them benefiting their entire families.

Assa Primary School is located 90 kms from our centre. The headteacher there, Mr. Anthony Nyagah , was very grateful and sent feedback that “students in Grade 7 are benefiting so much from the donation of the lanterns, and have started showing good improvement in their rate of learning”. Another primary school which benefited from this assistance, Miticharaka Prmary School, is located in a very remote part of the Tana Delta, with the only access being dirt roads across the many islets leading to the school. These islets are connected by hand constructed wooden bridges. 

The Kenya primary schools academic year ended on 26th Oct 2018 and will restart in January 2019. TRLF will then continue distributing solar lanterns to students studying in schools in Ndera and Salama location by mid January.