Compassion International, Kenya and Schneider Electric have teamed up to support up to 1700 homes in rural Kenya with access to energy. Beneficiaries of the program will be issued with a Homaya Solar Home System, an all in one stand alone solar solution that meets all the critical energy needs of a home.
In its efforts to improve lives and release children from poverty, Compassion International has developed programs meant to provide holistic children development while partnering with the church to lift the children and youth out of spiritual, economic, physical and social poverty.
This program by Compassion International recognizes that many people in the rural areas like Sultan Hamud have no access to lighting with most using Kerosine Lamps as the main source of lighting. This generally has long-term effects on health and contributes to poor performance thus lowering the dignity of families.
Compassion International, Kenya led by Senior Manager of Business Support, Ms Linet Ochieng while speaking during the handover ceremony noted that the organization seeks to ensure children can thrive and achieve their full potential by addressing their spiritual, physical, social and economic needs.
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She pointed out that the Solar lamps aim at removing obstacles that impede holistic development of children. “The Solar lamps will go along way to improve academic standards, reduce health risks and provide adequate and affordable lighting not only to the child beneficiary but also families and the community will benefit.
Compassion International directly serve about 130,000 infants, children and youth with over 60,000 youths having completed the program already.
In this phase of the project, the Homaya System will be distributed to homes around Kakamega, Kitui, Mwingi and Sultan Hamud.
The Homaya offer by Schneider Electric was designed to meet three key specifications: robustness, quality and affordability. The reliable Lithium Ferro Phosphate battery, which has a five-year lifespan, comes with two lamps with five-meter long cables, enabling them to be positioned around the home. The battery can also charge 1-2 portable lamps and power direct-current (DC) devices such as televisions, fans and radios, while its three USB ports can charge devices such as mobile phones.
It is also possible to add a second solar panel to accelerate the battery charging.
Speaking during the handover session, Carol Koech, Head of Sustainability, Schneider Electric East Africa pointed out that “Schneider Electric’s mission is to offer all its client’s solutions that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable.
For populations who are not yet connected to the grid, solutions like Homaya come in handy as these products have been designed to withstand conditions such as extreme heat or humidity, while also being affordable.” She further noted “We are excited about this partnership with Compassion International as it gives us the opportunity to impact the communities of Kenya matching our commitment to promote sustainable development and provide safe and clean access to energy.”
Schneider Electric has long made sustainability objectives a strategic priority. The Access to Energy program aims to offer access to sustainable energy to people in remote areas. Providing the greatest population with access to energy entails the implementation of simple, efficient and affordable solutions from Solar lanterns to decentralized micro-grids.
With 1.1 billion people worldwide without access to electricity and 634 million of them living in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, access to modern sustainable energy is essential for improving the living standards and health of the local and peri-urban population. It is a key factor to promoting economic development as it supports Access to Education, Increased productivity by entrepreneurs; Improvements in Health and Quality of life as well as aid in the movement to low carbon energies.