Guardian, on why SolarAid is part of its Christmas appeal: “Chepnyaliliet school, with its rough concrete walls and tin roof at the end of a dusty lane lined with cacti and wild roses, seems an unlikely place find early adopters of technology. But that is exactly what Rhoda Sigei is. The determined nursery teacher was the first person in Bomet county, a verdant patch of Kenya‘s Great Rift valley, to buy into the potential of using solar lamps.” “When the headteacher brought some samples to the school, Sigei knew she had to have one, so she asked for an advance on her tiny salary. “It was a struggle to get the first one, but I didn’t stop there. I bought three,” she says.
She quickly realised the £5 orang plastic lamps, branded as d.lights, would pay for themselves because she and her husband, who farms a small plot, would no longer have to pay £8 a month in fuel for their paraffin lamp.
That is a substantial saving when you earn just 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£21) per month. A reliable light in the evenings has enabled Sigei to help her 12-year-old daughter, who is struggling at school, and let her 14-year-old son indulge his interest in science.
It has also allowed Sigei to study for a diploma that could result in her being promoted to a full teaching job that would treble her earnings.
The d.lights are part of a range of durable and affordable solar lamps made by Sunny Money, a subsidiary of the UK charity Solar Aid.”
She quickly realised the £5 orang plastic lamps, branded as d.lights, would pay for themselves because she and her husband, who farms a small plot, would no longer have to pay £8 a month in fuel for their paraffin lamp.
That is a substantial saving when you earn just 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£21) per month. A reliable light in the evenings has enabled Sigei to help her 12-year-old daughter, who is struggling at school, and let her 14-year-old son indulge his interest in science.
It has also allowed Sigei to study for a diploma that could result in her being promoted to a full teaching job that would treble her earnings.
The d.lights are part of a range of durable and affordable solar lamps made by Sunny Money, a subsidiary of the UK charity Solar Aid.”
