We are not out to save the world but to tell the stories
of those who are. |
Electronics dominate our world today. From cell phones and computers to subways and air traffic control systems, our dependence on energy is increasing. Without these technologies our world would come to a standstill. Despite the fact that more than 1.6 billion people live without electricity, the importance of energy in the developing world is no different. Energy is fundamental to many of our needs such as illuminating a room, operating a medical facility and staying safe at night.
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A Brighter Future
writer: meghan garrity
(story synopsis)
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Natives of Benin’s Kalalé district, Zacharie Sero Tamou (front), a civil engineer, and Bani Guetido Moussa Guinnin (back), an agricultural technician, work with Solar Electric Light Fund to power their villages. photo | courtesy of Marshall Burke |
Yet development discussions often neglect the importance of energy. Of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals set in 2000, including improved education, gender equality, better health care, environmental stability and poverty eradication, energy is not mentioned. Without energy, advancement in these areas is difficult, if not impossible.
An abundant, renewable solution is emerging: solar energy. This simple answer illuminates the lives of people across the developing world. The following four organizations create solutions to the energy crisis, refusing to allow nearly a quarter of the world’s population to live in a perpetual blackout. |
Paths of Native Africa, a nonprofit based in California, brought bogo flashlights to students in Ikot Usen, Nigeria.
photo | courtesy of Sven Wiederholt |
Solar Electric Light Fund
1612 K Street NW suite 402
Washington, D.C. 20006
USA
202.234.7265
info@self.org
www.self.org
MPALA Community Trust
po box 92
nanyuki, 10400
kenya
shanni@wananchi.com
www.mpala.org/mct
Art Center College of Design
1700 Lida Street
Pasadena, CA 91103
USA
626.396.2200
swing.reception@artcenter.edu
www.artcenter.edu
Institute for the Science &
Technology of Materials at Princeton
321 Bowen Hall
70 Prospect Avenue
Princeton, NJ 08540
USA
609.258.6704
www.prism.princeton.edu
Sunenergy Power International
1133 NW Wall Street
suite 305
Bend, OR 97701
USA
503.922.1548
wratterman@sunepi.org
www.sunepi.org
Sunnight Solar
1720 Bissonnet Street
Houston, TX 77005
USA
713.522.2320
info@bogolight.com
www.sunnightsolar.com |
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