Lighting-up learning for children in Gaza
By: Namene Solar
Tags: Renewables, Sdgs, Tech, Solar Energy, Gaza

Lighting-up learning for children in Gaza

With the help of the International Development and Relief Foundation and the Culture and Free Thought Association, we’re supporting children’s learning in Gaza with our SM100 solar lights. Namene Solar Nov 16, 2020·3 min read

Sometimes, the journey our lights make to reach the hands of people who need them most, can be a dangerous one.

But with the help of the International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) and the Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA) we’re supporting children’s learning in Gaza with our SM100 solar lights.

The situation in Gaza is complex. For children, their daily reality is one of disruption and uncertainty. Amidst their struggle to meet basic needs, they face blackouts and energy shortages which can make a simple task like doing homework almost impossible after dark.

That’s where our solar lights, distributed with the help of the IDRF and CFTA, can have a real impact in their lives by restoring a piece of security with a clean, safe light in their homes.

The IDRF and CFTA education project works to improve children’s learning outcomes and quality of their education learning for those students being schooled in challenging environments. The project also provides psychological support to students through expressive art and drama therapy.

“A significant challenge the students in our program faced over the past few years was limited electricity access.” Nabil Ali, Director of Programmes at the IDRF said.

“Through the generous support of Namene Solar, the students could now have lights in their homes. This allowed students to continue to pursue their studies and arts and gave their families the ability to cook at night. Our project participants were extremely thankful for the support and felt it made a positive impact on their lives.”

Children using the SM100 in Gaza, during the olive picking season.

Empower Gaza co-creator Dr. Ben Thomson, who helped the lights reach the children in Gaza, has seen the situation on the ground.

“In Gaza, electricity shortages are a daily reality, leading to most of the day without power in most buildings. The Palestinian people are resilient, but there are limitations to this.” He said.

“In hospitals, several international humanitarian projects have installed solar systems to assure continuous electrical supply to operating rooms, emergency rooms and dialysis units. Of course, solar systems are more expensive and not possible for the majority of Gazans. For children, this means they often find themselves in the dark when it comes time to do their school work.” He continued, “Namene solar’s lights are an innovative and effective solution to overcome this, lighting up the children’s books and minds.”

A thank-you note to Namene Solar, written by Jawad, one of the children in the Gaza project. It reads “Thank you to those who give us a glimpse of the light when it is dark so we can learn.”

At Namene Solar, our purpose is to bring clean light and power wherever it is needed. That’s why our SM100 Solar Light is designed to be durable, portable and versatile, to meet the basic lighting needs of a household as certified by Lighting Global.

By bringing affordable solar light into homes — many for the first time — we are directly contributing to the The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 7 clean, affordable energy for all.

Find out more about our lights and power projects, visit namanesolar.com