Climate Action Myanmar Project #15483

Solar Lighting for 120 Displaced People in Burma

by The Branch Foundation

Project Report | Jan 27, 2015
Let there be solar lanterns

By Tom Rosen | Co-Director/Project Manager

A resident studies by candlelight

We are delighted to inform you that, after everyone's wonderful fundraising activities for this project, we have managed to make our first disbursement of solar lanterns to this remote Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Shan State, Burma. The residents of Loi Lum IDP camp have previously had to rely on expensive, dangerous and unhealthy forms of lighting such as kerosene lamps and candles in order to light their homes after sun down. Not only did this effect the health, safety, and disposable income of the community but made it difficult for the children to study and their parents to continue income generating activities at night.

Earlier this month we were excited to hear that 40 solar lanterns arrived safely at Loi Lum. These provide not only an excellent source of household light but are also capable of recharging phones. Residents can choose the level of lighting, from low to medium to bright, which enables them to maximize their control of battery life. The lanterns provide a light meter reading so that people can position the solar panels to ensure they get the most of the sunlight available.

Sai Tom, the local school principle, said the following in an email:

"I have just given the villages the solar lanterns and they are very happy with them. They would like to thank The Branch Foundation and it's supporters"

We hope to raise the remaining funds before March, at which time we plan to install the solar system for the school and to provide another 7 solar lanterns to the community. We sincerely hope that you consider donating once again to this worthwhile cause so that we can reach our funding target and, more importantly, our goal of providing cheap, safe and clean energy to this remote community.

With sincere gratitude,

Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team

Each household representative receives a lantern

Your donation = A lasting difference for many

Charging up!

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Oct 31, 2014
It's nearly been one year.....

By Tom Rosen | Co-Director/Project Manager

A meeting with Loi Lum's school principle

As this report title suggests, we are coming up to our twelfth month of fundraising in order to supply solar power to the homes and the school of Loi Lum Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. In the past year we have tested solar lanterns in the community to find out which ones would be most suitable, received feedback from the residents in regard to their most pressing needs and maintained correspondence with the IDP camp. In recent developments, we had the pleasure of actually meeting and speaking face to face to Sai Tom - the school principle of Loi Lum who is helping us implement this project. He walked 6 hours, through dense jungle and up steep mountain slopes, to explain first hand to us the importance of solar lighting in his community.

“The residents have been waiting patiently since they tested out the last solar lanterns you brought us. They saw, from testing the device, what a difference it can make to their daily lives. The children could study after dark and the adults can continue to work on income generating activities without having to rely on expensive, dangerous and unhealthy kerosene lamps and candles”.

During this conversation, I felt the urgency in his voice. The residents of Loi Lum had been waiting approximately 10 months since they tested the solar lantern we provided them, I’m not sure whether I could maintain the same level of patience they have shown. Iona, the Executive Director of The Branch Foundation, and I knew we had to push the fundraising to a new level and become creative in our ideas to ensure that the this community in a remote region of Shan State, Burma, could once again experience the benefits of this clean, cheap and non-toxic renewable form of lighting.

We came up with the idea of ‘dinners by candlelight’ - a fundraising campaign to give our supporters and potential donors an idea of the conditions in which the residents of Loi Lum experience in their daily lives whilst also advocating the importance of the project. Lights are turned off and mobile phones ditched as people host dinners for their friends and family using only candles as lighting. We have received a huge amount of interest in this fundraising idea and have already had dinners held in the UK, USA and Thailand. We hope that the aim of this project inspires you to also host a dinner by candlelight, if so - click HERE for more information regarding this campaign. Please note that we are extending the deadline of this fundraising initiative until the end of November.

Sincerely,

Tom Rosen and The Branch Foundation Team

Current condition in which the children study

A 'dinner by candlelight' hosted in Thailand

Links:

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Aug 8, 2014
We are over halfway to reaching our target!

By Tom Rosen | Co-Director/Project Manager

A photo from our last solar lighting project

Thanks to your generous donation, we are over halfway to reaching our funding target for this project. It's people like you that enable to us to bring light to communities who otherwise have to rely on expensive and dangerous forms of lighting such as candles and kerosene lamps.

The benefits of solar lanterns are numerous. Not only do they provide a safe and reliable way for people to light up their homes, but they also allow the children to study after dark and give their parents more time at night to produce goods which they can sell.

Sai Tom, the school principle from the community, told us:

"I stay on the mountain which is very windy. It is dangerous and the risk of the fire is high. However, using solar panels has helped. It (the solar lantern) did improve my standard of living because I don’t need to spend money on candles and I can also work at night. It has also reduced the number of the patients who are sick because of the smoke (from the candles and kerosene lamps)."

As Loi Lum IDP Camp is in a very remote area of Burma, it not easily accessible during the rainy season (July to October). We hope to raise all the funds for buying and installing solar lanterns for residents’ homes and the local school within this time so that we can implement the project in one go. Until that time, we are holding the funds we have received so far and keeping the community at Loi Lum informed of any progress.

We sincerely hope that you consider donating again or telling your friends and family about this project in order to help us reach our funding target on time.

With gratitude,

Tom Rosen

Children studying using kerosene lamps as lighting

The school where we will install solar panels

Links:

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