Imagine if your day ended at 6pm; if you had to spend the rest of the evening and all night in complete and utter darkness. Imagine if there was no light in which to cook dinner, sit and chat with friends and family, get your homework done, or snuggle up and read a bedtime story to your kids.
This is the reality for 598 million off-grid Africans, who have no access to electricity. Many rely on toxic kerosene for lighting, but these brutal lamps emit noxious black smoke and burn up to 20% of the household income – locking millions into poverty.
For something as essential as safe light to be unavailable to so many has really touched the team here at Givey – which is why we’re lending our support to SolarAid. SolarAid is an international charity that provides clean, affordable solar lights to communities in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, to replace expensive, high polluting kerosene lamps.
By contrast solar lights pay for themselves after 12 weeks and last for five years. By giving around 2 hours extra light every night, it is estimated that an average family of five will get an extra 2 years of time in the light together over this period. Pretty amazing.
SolarAid have a goal to get safe light into the homes of over 1 million families in Africa, and you can help. Just £5 allows one family to replace a kerosene lamp so they can study, work and have fun once the sun goes down. You can donate directly to SolarAid now on Givey, and you can also vote for them to win £500,000 in the Google Global Impact Challenge – before 31st May.
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