Grand Circle Foundation, East Africa recently donated 376 study solar “D” Lights to children in Grade 7 in our 5 schools in Karatu.

We have been asking how do children study and do homework in these rural communities. In 2 schools out of 134 children in grade 7, only 15 had access to electricity and a further 25 had access to some sort of solar lighting. The other children were using kerosene lights or candles to study with. We found schools in town close to the main road had better access (55 kids out of 109 had electricity)

For 8 years now we have been lighting up our schools with these individual solar lights. The children receive their light in January and use it until their exams in September. Every month they return the light to school for a teacher to check they still have it and it works. Every year the head teachers ask us to roll out the project again as it directly impacts the kid’s academic performance.

During the 8 months, the children must adhere to 3 rules.

Respect their teachers
Try hard in school
Attend school missing no more than 10 days out of 192.

If they achieve all 3, GCF gifts the light to them and as they move into Secondary school, they take their solar light with them.

We thank our travelers who travel with Overseas Adventure Travel and who generously donate to Grand Circle Foundation, allowing us to roll out small, but incredibly impactful projects like this.

Sandra Vaughan, GCF East Africa Project Consultant