The eduction based fund campagin is being raised in order to install a solar based power supply at St. Theresa’s Tribal Girls Hostel at Shahgarh, a interior village town in the District of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh (India). The hostel is fighting all odds and challenges to promote girl education and empower them to bring them to the mainsteam of the Society. St. Theresa Tribal Girls Hostel, Shagarh stands high and play promient role in the locality in promoting and empowering tribal girl children. It is a hostel for tribal children who are socially and economically weaker in the society. The vision of the hostel is to establish a self-conscious, eco-friendly, rural based, well educated, healthy, value oriented and rich self-help rural society, where socio-economic developmental process helps to cater to the need of poorest of the poor. The hostel is rendering its service for the last 25 years.

Why the fund required Now?

Over the last two decades, the rural areas of India have witnessed many changes. There are better road connections, there is a significant improvement in health care, literacy levels have gone up and mobile phones have become ubiquitous. But one thing that hasn’t changed much is the sorry state of electricity supply. 12-14 hours load shedding is a common phenomenon across most states of the country. When there is no electricity for such a long time span, one of the most affected lot are the school going children.

In the absence of electricity or the irregulgar power supply, students either do not study at all or they study under kerosene lamp. Either situation is not good. In India over 120 million children depend upon crude kerosene lamp for studying due to lack of grid electricity supply. Kerosene lamps do not emit sufficient light to enable children to read in comfort. They also emit carbon monoxide, which is harmful to the health of a child. There is also a chance of kerosene spilling resulting in a fire hazard. The end result is students fail to keep pace with school teaching and when they pass, they are less confident and less skillful to find employment opportunities.

The availability of light during the study hours of children is very important. So how to address this challenge?

Among all possible solutions, solar energy based solar lanterns appear to provide the cheapest and quickest solution. Emerging LED lighting technology which is semiconductor based presents a wonderful solution to this simple lighting issue. With the white LED revolution it is now possible to provide a simple light suitable for reading purpose that consumes less than a quarter watt but provides 10 to 50 times more useable light than a wick lamp.

Objective of the Project

 The Project involves setting up solar modules on hostel roof top and distribution solar lanterns to these children. The solar modules installed on the hostel roofs would generate the required electricity to charge these lanterns. It wil also promote healthy living through use of environmental friendly solar energy, while avoiding the use of kerosene or other source of lights which are not healthy and causes damage to the environment through carbon emissions.

How You can help?

The fundraising campagin through www.indiegogo.com is titled “Educating and Empowering Village Girls”. The fundraising target is USD 6000/-. The amount will help us to install a solar based power supply system in the hostel and whereby helping these poor girls to educate and empower themselves.

Our Fundraising campagin link is https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/educating-and-empowering-village-girls#/

Source: ICNW