Anna Sidana, Founder of One Million Lights (INTERVIEW)

Replacing Kerosene Lamps with Solar Ones

ANNA SIDANA

In January we profiled a social enterprise called One Million Lights, which sells rechargeable solar lights to developing nations. Their goal is to create a more environmentally-friendly and safer alternative to dangerous kerosene lamps by replacing them with one million hand-held solar lamps.

We had a chance to catch out with the founder, Anna Sidana. In the interview below, Anna shares where the idea for her ambitious project came from, and how she keeps herself motivated on this challenging—but world-changing—social venture.

3 Questions with Anna Sidana, Founder of One Million Lights

1. How did the idea for the business model come about?
We learned through experience. After starting with a completely donation-based model we evolved into a more of an ‘entrepreneur’ based business model. The donations still play into our business model because that helps us subsidize the price of a solar light to a level that is affordable in the remote regions where we distribute. However, our goal is to create a sustainable supply chain that can reach the people who need this the most. The retail price of a solar lights ranges from $25 – $50 and often that is too high for a family living at subsistence level. In most regions where we deliver the lights, the families live on less than $2-$5 per day.

2. How did you decide to join this sector?
It was quite by accident that I ended up starting a nonprofit. I was inspired by a visit to a village school that my father had founded some 45 years ago in Rajasthan, India. I was inspired by the village children who were so bright, motivated and excited at the prospect of education and advancing themselves. These children lived in a rural. agricultural setting with no access to reliable electricity but they wanted to become doctors and engineers and teachers. I felt like doing something for them.

When I returned from my trip, I coincidentally became a mentor to a group of students at Stanford who were designing a solar lamp. One thing led to another and I decided to start One Million Lights with a view that the need is vast and global. I still work full-time in high tech but love working on One Million Lights in my spare time.

3. How do you reset yourself to be creative? Do you have any rituals?
No, I don’t have any particular rituals. But I do step out of the corporate world and the role of a CEO to take vacations with my family and two children. I also exercise regularly, do art for fun and enjoy a good movie!

If you’re on Twitter and want to help support One Million Lights, you can follow their updates @millionlights.
Published: Feb 22, 12 • References: trendhunter

Bid to re-inspire

THE third annual Energizer Night Race promises to re-inspire participants and consumers with a new theme – “For a Brighter World”.

(From left) Sepang International Circuit chief operating officer Sharmila Nadarajah, Twenty-First Century Sports Sdn Bhd managing director Nithiaseelan Vegayathunam, Energizer Malaysia managing director Mike Foong, Kiwanis Malaysia governor Ng Bee Keong and International Trustee of Kiwanis Malaysia Lee Kuan Yong, launching the official race registration website.

The announcement closely follows Energizer’s recent global launch of That’s Positivenergy, a major global initiative that changes the way the company engages consumers in working together to make a positive difference to the world.

This year’s race will be held at the Sepang Circuit for the second time on April 21, and will be open to 5,000 participants.

The race will have three categories — 42km, 15.5km and 5.5km — which involves running on the racetrack in part or in its entirety.

Before unveiling the race registration website recently, Energizer Malaysia Sdn Bhd managing director Mike Foong announced that Twenty-First Century Sports Sdn Bhd has been appointed as the race organiser and director after considering feedback from previous participants as well as the company’s experience and track record.

Twenty-First Century Sports is a sports event specialist with an expertise in major road races and marathons, especially night races.

“We sincerely thank all parties for the support and input since last year’s race and look forward to a better and improved Energizer Night Race 2012,” said Foong.

The Energizer Night Race is part of a global series of races that was first launched in South Africa in 2007, and has since been held in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. The series’ new theme of “For a Brighter World” reflects a global partnership between Energizer and OneMillionLights.org to bring safe and clean solar lighting to people around the world who do not have access to electricity.

For the Malaysian race, Energizer will be partnering with the Malaysian District of Kiwanis, an international not-for-profit organisation well-known for its established initiatives such as the Kiwanis Down Syndrome Foundation and the Service Leadership Program (SLP), an international youth development programme that provides leadership training.

Under the partnership, Energizer is pledging RM10 from every successful registration for the Energizer Night Race to children with disabilities and learning difficulties as well as children development and learning programs by Kiwanis Malaysia, totalling RM50,000 from an estimated 5,000 participants.

Energizer Malaysia is also planning to enhance the contribution by raising another RM210,000 through the sales of Energizer battery packs from March to May this year. With every pack sold, 30 sen will be set aside for the contribution to Kiwanis Malaysia.

In an added act of generosity, Energizer’s key distributors and business partners have pledged additional amounts that now put the total charity contribution target at an impressive RM340,000.

Log on to www.energizernightrace.com.my to register for the race.

Published: Feb 19, 2012

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In December, Typhoon Washi swept through the Philippines, claiming two cities in northern Mindanao, and more than 1,200 lives. Flash floods and mudslides washed away entire homes, with residents still inside. On the morning of December 18, the people of Cagayan De Oro found only mud and debris where their villages once stood. 10,000 homes were destroyed, and 60,000 Filipinos were homeless.

Following the typhoon, One Million Lights partnered with disaster relief organizations to send aid. Our team of Philippines ambassadors donated 300 solar lights, which were delivered in January through organization SURE (Solutions Using Renewable Energy) in addition to hundreds of other lights, tents, and water filtration systems.

As aid requests in the Philippines continue to rise, One Million Lights is proud to have lent a hand.  In the crowded evacuation centers, One Million Lights frees a few typhoon victims from the darkness.


See more Philippines projects and our Philippines ambassador team here

The need for education in Pakistan is dire.  Meredith Gloger, from Harvard University, describes her visit to one memorable Pakistani school.

As an American woman living in Pakistan this past summer, I was accustomed to reading about the troublesome state of affairs in the country and receiving regular warnings about my personal security. Nonetheless, I was eager to venture outside of Islamabad and immerse myself in the “real” Pakistan. I jumped at the opportunity to visit Mubarika Campus, a school located in a poor farming village in the Sialkot district of Punjab province, about 10 kilometers from the border with India. The long drive through remote farmland and dirt roads was well worth it.

Entering the gates of Mubarika Campus was unforgettable. The strong foundation of this modern building promised a future for this underdeveloped, struggling community. Children forgotten by the Pakistani public schools came here to receive a quality education, and a chance to build a future.

Improved education is arguably the most pressing need in Pakistan today. One in ten of the world’s out-of-school children is a Pakistani. Around 63 percent of Pakistan’s 187 million citizens are under the age of 25 and thousands are resorting to extremism in the absence of educational and employment opportunities, threatening the stability of the country.

Nawaz Ahmad Minhas and his wife Salma Akhtar Malik constructed and inaugurated Mubarika Campus in 2006 in response to the country’s widening education deficit. The school itself is situated in a region characterized by socioeconomic deprivation and low educational attainment. More than 90 percent of the female population is illiterate, and a significant proportion of primary school-aged children do not attend school.

More than 700 students are currently enrolled at Mubarika Campus. Among them, girls and boys diligently read their textbooks and confidently recited sentences in English as I observed the classes in session. The young students looked over my way with curiosity and grins on their faces. . They looked over my way with curiosity and grins on their faces as I observed the classes in session. As a result of the stipends Mubarika provides to needy children to support their education and daily transportation, expense no longer prevents families from sending their children to school in this area.

These achievements notwithstanding, the work of Mubarika Campus is far from over. The Minhas family aims to expand the school to increase student capacity and launch new programs to, among other goals, provide students with vocational training that will equip them with critical life skills. Nawaz and Salma also dream of a day when the school can run on 100 percent solar energy and Mubarika’s students have safe and healthy lighting in their homes to enable the children to study at night. Given Pakistan’s current energy crisis—with some regions of Pakistan experiencing power outages for up to 16 hours per day and more than half of the population lacking access to basic electricity services—the importance of helping Mubarika Campus realize this vision cannot be overstated.

Pakistan’s future rests in the education of its children, particularly girls. Pakistan cannot become more peaceful and prosperous if half of the population is unable to participate in the country’s civic and economic life. Mubarika Campus is a leader in this effort and a true inspiration. With external support, Mubarika Campus can achieve its goal of meeting the educational needs of more young Pakistanis and, in doing so, advance a cause that is essential to long-term development and security in the country.

Your donation to this project provides materials & funds for an engineering student to build one rechargeable, solar-powered LunaLight in the Cal Poly laboratories. The students learn to build and engineer a real product, and also learn the meaning of giving back. Each light produced in the 2012 LunaLight project is donated to a village in rural Kenya, where they help families to make more income, children to study at night, and brighten the futures of people in need.

Sponsor a Cal Poly engineer and support a family in Kenya LunaLight project: $100 each All donations 100% tax deductible through One Million Lights 501(c)3

Read about the Cal Poly project They LunaLight is a solar-rechargeable LED lantern designed for villagers in developing countries. This complete product was created in 2011-2012 through Cal Poly’s multi-disciplinary program — five entrepreneurial  engineers, in conjunction with finance and graphic communication students –  to be a practical, economical, and socially responsible technology for those less fortunate than ourselves. Sleek. Compact. Bright. The LunaLight contains rechargeable batteries that are charged using the solar panel provided. Stored energy in the batteries power the bright white LEDs, or charge a cell phone through a built-in USB port. By running a strap through the handle, the LunaLight becomes a portable, hands-free light that provides brighter & longer-lasting light than products currently on market. Support hand-on education and help these students build social entrepreneurship by making a donation today. The LunaLight design team.

Village life in Kenya In the village of Enoosaen, in rural southwest Kenya, families live in small mud huts with no windows.  The typical family lives off an income of $1.30 per day, and as much as half of this income is spent on kerosene for lighting.  Children, who work long hours in the fields each day, need light in order to learn and study at night.A solar light helps a Enoosaen family save money on kerosene, and afford more food, clothing, & medicine.  The light helps adults to extent their workday and increase their income, and children to receive an education.  A donation of a LunaLight gives these families a chance at a brighter future. The lights produced in this partnership with Cal Poly  will be donated to the Enoosaen families, and Maasai communities outside of Kilgoris, in southwest Kenya. The first donation will take place in March 2012, and will continue throughout 2012.

One Million Lights — For this project, Cal Poly Engineering is partnered with One Million Lights, a 501(c)3 charity based in Palo Alto, CA. Our mission is to improve the daily lives of children and adults by providing clean and healthy lighting. We distribute environmentally friendly, rechargeable solar lights around the world, replacing dangerous and polluting kerosene lamps.

The students of Oakville Middle School, in St. Louis, MO, are making a difference, by sending solar light to the kids of Mubarika Campus.  In rural Pakistan, Mubarika and the surrounding village  have no electricity or safe source of light.  By providing 200 solar lights for the kids of Mubarika Campus, Oakville gives their less fortunate peers a chance to learn & study at night, and a brighter future.

Support Oakville and Project Engage! Goal : 200 lights / $3,000 All donations 100% tax deductible through One Million Lights 501(c)3

Project engageENGAGE is an acronym for Enriching our Neighborhood Through Generous Actions, Growth and Empowerment. Project ENGAGE has been designed to encourage and empower students, families and staff of the Mehlville School District to give back to the community through service. Developing character and citizenship in our students is part of our call as educators. Students and families can participate in Project ENGAGE through school-wide projects, family projects or individual projects.  This year, Oakville Middle School has chosen to adopt the kids of Mubarika Campus, and give light to students in need. They will be asked to reflect on the impact their time and service can have on these less fortunate kids, and on themselves.

Mubarika Campus The small farming village of WAZIRPUR-MARRARA is located 10 kilometers from Pakistan’s border with India, in the Sialkot district of Punjab. The area is rampant with poverty where the majority of the villagers are subsistence farmers or landless farm labor. The female literacy rate of the area is very low and more than 90% of the female population is illiterate. There is an only one government run girl school in the area. With insufficient capacity, the school is housed in a ramshackle building of only four rooms without a boundary wall. Through their partnership with One Million Lights, Oakville students provide a better life for these kids, by sending light for them to learn and read at night.  100% of funds donated through this program will be used for this lights.

One Million Lights — For this project, Oakville Middle School is teamed up with One Million Lights, a 501(c)3 charity based in Palo Alto, CA.  Our mission is to improve the daily lives of children and adults by providing clean and healthy lighting. We distribute environmentally friendly, rechargeable solar lights around the world, replacing dangerous and polluting kerosene lamps.

*This article is featured in The Social Good section of TrendHunter .

Rechargeable Solar Lights

One Million Lights Wants to Replace Dangerous Kerosene Lamps

2012, January 19.

By Bianca Bartz

ONE MILLION LIGHTS

One Million Lights is a nonprofit on a mission to provide one million safe, rechargeable solar lamps to people currently using dangerous, toxic and expensive kerosene lamps—or perhaps no lamps at all.

“These solar lights enable children to study at night and adults to extend their workday, all while eliminating carbon emissions, improving household health, and greatly increasing income savings,” One Million Lights says on their website.

They work together with California-based nonpropfit World of Color, which strives to “improve the daily lives of children and adults in rural parts of the world.”

To date, One Million Lights has supplied solar lamps to Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Haiti, Nicaragua, Peru, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and the Philippines.

One Million Lights also has corporate programs, US school programs and university programs to help spread awareness and encourage widespread involvement.

Contact Information:

One Million Lights website
One Million Lights on Twitter
One Million Lights on Facebook

Published: Jan 19, 2012

Typical huts in the village of Pamuwisan, in Mindoro, where the Philippines team will be distributing next April.

After distributing solar lights to 250 families in Catanduanes, Philippines, these student volunteers are continuing their efforts to an even larger scale. With a generous grant from Energizer, these young people will be delivering more than 2700 solar lights for many communities scattered around the Philippines. These lights will change the lives of more than ten thousand people by providing clean, electrical lighting to their lives.

The organization has had the absolute privilege to work with Tricia Peralta, Mark Lozano, Sierra Fan, and Ben Turner. Tricia and Mark are students living in Manila, Philippines. Sierra Fan is a senior at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA, and Ben Turner is a student at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada.

Read about last year’s project experience with “Stories from the Field: Philippines” and “Sierra’s Reflections.”

Young People Making a Difference

Solar Lanterns: 1752 pcs/Solar Bulbs: 1000 pcs

A Catanduanes resident shows off a candle she uses for light

Learn More About It

• Communities such as the Kalinga, Apoyo, and Mindoro provinces, are home to hundreds of thousands of people living without access to electricity
• Partners included: students in Palo Alto, USA, Canada, and the Philippines as well as local Philippine Government officials
• There are more local villages in need. After this distribution, we plan to continue this program to even more locations
• A family, composed of 5-7 people, earn around $90 a month. Of that money, about 30% is used to buy kerosene for their lighting needs. The rest is used on food and education, among other expenses.
• Solar lights will allow families to allocate their budgets to more important matters such as education and nutrition.
• These lights are also safer than open flames, preventing dangerous accidents especially in areas without modern healthcare.
• Frequent tropical storms damage homes and livelihoods, making development very hard.

A group of children in the village of Centro in Mindoro, where the team will be distributing next April.

Contact Mark, Tricia, Sierra, and Ben about this project at philippines@onemillionlights.org

Special thanks to Rotary Club of Nisku-Leduc, the Rotary Club of Edmonton West, the Calmar Secondary School Interact Club, and Gunn High School, for their generous support of this project.

Thanks to Philippine Airlines for providing international shipping free of charge for hundreds of solar lights in previous distributions.

And last but not least, a very special thank you to Energizer, who graciously provided support with all aspects of this project.

Running notebook: Night race to help light up world

2011, November 2
To avoid the heat for much of the year, many Houston runners get their workouts done in the predawn darkness or right after the sun sets. Streetlights or other high-powered electric fixtures illuminate their way.

But imagine those runs without the electric lights and with the hazards underfoot that would remain unseen. That’s the reality for the more than 1.6 billion people worldwide who lack access to electricity and must perform daily tasks in the dark, the World Bank reports.

Solar power

One Million Lights, a charitable group whose mission is to distribute rechargeable solar lights around the world, will be the beneficiary of the Houston Energizer Night Race for a Brighter World set for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11 at Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 North Sam Houston Parkway West.

The battery company has pledged to donate the equivalent of 11 million hours of solar light to One Million Lights. Energizer and the nonprofit group in August made their first delivery of solar lights to students of a rural Argentinean elementary school. They also will distribute lights in other Latin American countries, as well as Ethiopia, Kenya and the Philippines.

Houston will be the first U.S. city to host the night race, which has been held internationally for several years. Other races will be held in 10 countries, from Belgium to Uruguay.

“We landed on Houston – we looked at several different markets – because we saw that Houston had a fabulous running community,” race spokeswoman Sara Miller said.

Evening wear

The race will include an 11K as well as a 1.1K family walk. Every participant will receive an 11-11-11 technical running shirt and an LED headlight to be worn during the race.

“We run at night with headlights because it mimics the experience of these families in developing countries,” Miller said.

Performers draped in LED lights will provide entertainment, and the post-race party will feature barbecue and beer. The founder of One Million Lights will be on hand – as will the Energizer Bunny.

Information and registration are available at energizer.com/nightrace.

roberta.macinnis@chron.com