Can aid that focuses on decreasing reliance on traditional energy sources be a sustainable solution?
GIVEWATTS is a non-profit organisation / Social Enterprise bringing clean and safe energy to people in developing countries, starting with East Africa. GIVEWATTS distributes solar lamps and efficient stoves in places that would otherwise rely on daylight, firewood and kerosene. The GIVEWATTS vision is to make renewable energy available to all households across the off-grid world in a sustainable way that does not create dependency.
This seeds addresses challenges related to education, health and energy. Solar lamps provide light for studies in the evening and have been shown to have a substantial impact on school grades. Using solar lamps as a light source instead of kerosene, and efficient stoves for cooking instead of firewood, saves time for women and children who otherwise spend many hours collecting firewood. The replacement of firewood and kerosene also improves health as indoor air pollution is decreased.
GIVEWATTS solutions are simpler, cheaper and less time consuming than the alternatives used today (kerosene/firewood) and contribute to an improvement in health and education, and in the end also household economy. With simple approaches and materials, this initiative is building wireless energy infrastructure that has large social and economic impacts.
