There are 1.6 billion people on the planet who don’t have access to reliable electricity. That’s one quarter of the world’s population. 70% are women and girls living in developing countries.
They rely on kerosene lanterns and candles for light. They spend hours each day collecting wood to burn for cooking and heat. They spend up to 30% of their family income on energy that is insufficient, hazardous and unhealthy. Unhealthy for people and unhealthy for the planet.
Lack of access to electricity is both a cause and an effect of unremitting poverty. Our companion Diocese of Ezo in the Sudan suffers from acute energy poverty and its devastating consequences, but the Diocese of Rhode Island is working with a social enterprise called Solar Sister to bring light, hope and opportunity to the people of Ezo.
Solar Sister provides women with training and support to create solar micro-businesses, providing much needed household income for the women, and much needed light for their communities.
The most important step to ending poverty is to create employment and income opportunities. Solar Sister does just that by empowering women. The women sell solar lanterns which replace the kerosene lanterns and candles, providing clean, dependable solar light in homes, schools and clinics. Solar light enhances education, improves health and safety and provides economic opportunity, enabling the women to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty.
The women form a by-women, to-women distribution network that is strengthened by women’s natural circles of family, friends and community. This direct-sales network brings the solar technology right to the women’s doorstep and provides income generation opportunities for the women.
In April, the Diocese of Rhode Island is bringing the Solar Sister program to Ezo. Women will be chosen by the Ezo Mother's Union on the basis of their entrepreneurship potential and economic need to become "Solar Sisters". These women will receive a "business in a box" of solar lanterns that bring clean, affordable light to their community. The Ezo program will be the first Solar Sister program in war-torn Sudan, where light is an important element of safety as well as opportunity.
Keep an eye out in future issues of RISEN Magazine for updates about Ezo and the Solar Sister program there. You can also visit http://www.solarsister.org/ for current updates or just to learn more about the organization.
Solar Sister was founded by Katherine Lucey, the wife of The Rev. David Lucey, who is the Rector of St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Bristol, RI.
To learn more about what you can do for our companions in Ezo, or to get involved with our Companion Diocese Committee, please email Mary Ann Kolakowski, our Director of Christian Formation, at maryann@episcopalri.org
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