BAMBALANG SOLAR LIGHT PROJECT
Bambalang is a remote village community in Ndop, Ngoketunjia division of the North West Region of the Republic of Cameroon, with more than 22,000 inhabitants. Only about 2% of the population have access to hydro-electricity. Among the few who have access to electricity, many of them still live in the dark or use kerosene lamps due to inability to pay electricity bills since the people are very poor and live on less than one dollar a day. Kerosene lamps have serious health consequences on the population as many of them suffer from respiratory and eyes problems since they are exposed to long hours of carbon monoxide every night from the kerosene lamps.
Most households have only one kerosene lamp and when night falls it becomes difficult to share this one lamp among the family head sitting in the sitting room, the mother preparing evening meals after a tiring day work on the farm and children completing their assignments and preparing for tests and exams. The lack or poor lighting facilities has a negative impact on academic performance as the results of these pupils/students in the village is low compared to those of their counterparts in towns or semi-urban areas where there is more access to good lighting. Many of these children drop out of school with negative social impacts like involvement into drugs, crimes and early sexual activities. It has been observed that children who perform well in school postpone sexual activities to a later stage in life.
The distribution of lights will bring relief and joy to the people of Bambalang, help prevent respiratory and eye diseases and improve academic performance.
The primary targets of these lights will be pupils and students. To ensure maximum impact, and to make sure that as many children as possible get access to quality lighting only one light will be given per household. This is to help learners complete their school assignments and study to improve on their academic performance.
I will be going to Bambalang in late August 2017. I will be grateful if you can support me with 250lights for distribution with members of my organization, HOPE FAMILY LIFE. Due to the short notice for this request, and the importance of this project to the village people, I will still be very grateful even if I have to go for the distribution after the scheduled date. If you wish to know more about our activities please feel free to visit our website: https://www.hopefamlife.org. Please donate today!
