Solar lamps to combat a pandemic in the Amazon
Picture source: https://lighthumanity.org/
Indigenous communities in the Amazon protect the world's forests and contribute to the reduction of CO2 for everyone. They are vulnerable to the global health crisis because most of them already have respiratory issues due to the toxic kerosene lamps they use.
The facts
According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), each year 3.8 million people die prematurely from diseases related to the inhalation of smoke from open fires or stoves.
Access to affordable and non-polluting energy is number 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Solar lamps for indigenous communities in the Amazon
Light for Humanity is a social entrepreneurial project that aims to replace the toxic kerosene lamps used by the inhabitants of the Amazon with solar lamps. As a result:
The polluting use of fossil fuels in the Amazon is avoided.
Access to electricity from solar energy is facilitated to the inhabitants of remote areas.
Picture source: https://lighthumanity.org/
Kerosene or diesel lamps are not only expensive and polluting for the environment but toxic too for humans’ health as they cause respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia.
Picture source: https://lighthumanity.org/
With the purchase of a solar lamp in Europe, a lamp is financed for a family that lives without energy in the Amazon.
NO ONE CAN COMBAT A PANDEMIC WITHOUT ELECTRICITY
Many people across the world live without electricity, just like in the world before Thomas Edison first invented the lightbulb. Electricity access is even more crucial during a pandemic: doctors need it to offer their services after sunset, as well as, patients to benefit from x-rays and incubators. Likewise, vaccines and medicines cannot be stored and doctors cannot communicate with other doctors without electricity.
Therefore, Light Humanity’s social innovation preserves the respiratory health of local indigenous communities during Covid-19.
This social enterprise launched in April 2021 a “crowdfunding” campaign and they successfully raised 15,000 euros to finance 1,000 lamps. The goal is to reach 10,000 solar lamps.
