Recently, I visited a Solar Sister Entrepreneur in a Maasai community in Tanzania. While spending time with her family, her husband, and four children and chatting with neighbors who stopped by, I encouraged her to ask me anything she was curious about.
Loveness asked me, “What do you do when the electricity goes out?”
For a moment, I was at a loss for words. Living in North America, I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve lost electricity in my adult life. After a pause, I replied, “Well, it rarely happens, but when it does, we have a battery-powered lamp or a torch.”
Her question stayed with me, a reminder of how different our experiences with energy access are.
Like many in her community, Loveness and her neighbors don’t have electricity. They use candles or a kerosene lamp for light after dark. This comes with serious risks: the toxic smoke affects their health, and there is the danger of accidental fires. Tasks like cooking and cleaning are challenging in the dim light, and her children can’t study at night, limiting their opportunities to learn and grow.
A single solar lamp can transform daily life by providing safe, reliable light for studying, cooking, and more. This Giving Tuesday, your gift can bring light, hope, and opportunity to communities like Loveness’s, where access to electricity is still a dream.
The impact of a single solar lamp is incredible. It’s portable, durable, affordable, and powered entirely by sunlight. Its bright, reliable light transforms daily life -making it easier to study, read, cook, and even milk cattle after dark.
For women in rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa, selling and distributing solar lamps brings much-needed light to their communities, creates a sustainable source of income, and empowers women to support their families while addressing a critical local need.
Your gift of:
• $50 provides light for 15 people.
• $250 offsets CO2 emissions equivalent to planting 331 trees.
• $500 trains an entrepreneur to start, build, and grow her business.
“In our culture, for a woman to be a businesswoman is like boarding a plane.”
https://solarsister.org/loveness-sabayas-dream/