Karishma Popli organized a donation of solar lights for students of the Mercy Care Centre school in Nairobi, Kenya.
Karishma writes:
I am committed to teaching rural village students about sustainable, alternative energy resources such as using solar lamps to harness the power of the sun to study effectively at night when there is no access to electricity in developing areas of the world. After winning a second grant from my high school, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in my junior year, I worked with elementary, middle, and high school students to bring solar lights to another village school in Africa.
With my grant award and support from One Million Lights, I provided solar lamps to the Mercy Care Centre school in the Mathare Valley slum of Nairobi, Kenya where students have no access to electricity at night. Students of all ages, both in the U.S. and rural villages around the world, are learning about the importance of alternative energy such as solar technology to improve the lives of underprivileged students through my project. I hope to continue my efforts by bringing solar technology to rural villages in other underdeveloped countries and increase awareness of the environmental impact a small change can make when solar lamps are utilized as an effective study aid at night.
Karishma’s former middle school science teacher, Maria Theresa Dragg, helped with the initial distribution of lights on June 18, 2011.
Fellow Nysmith School for the Gifted teacher, Simon Stevens, filmed this video.
Karishma and One Million Lights have teamed up before to donate lights at a school in India. Read more of Karishma’s story here.
