USAID 4TheChild Brings Light, Joy and Hope to Vulnerable Families with Solar Lamps

Mama Lucia’s hatred for kerosene lamps was never in doubt. The 49-year-old physically impaired mother of four squealed with delight upon receiving new solar lamps from USAID 4TheChild--a testament to her detest for the kerosene-powered “koroboi” and the dangers that come with using the smoky jua kali lamp made out of discarded tins with a thin strip of an old blanket as a wick.

Mama Lucia’s children displaying a solar lamp which they received from USAID 4TheChild that has brought light, joy, and hope to their house

Mama Lucia’s family has no access to main grid electricity or money to purchase renewable energy sources. The family from Galalani Village in Bunyala Sub-County, Busia County, has been using kerosene lamps to light their house at night and, on several occasions, has cooked, eaten, and slept before sunset.

One night, one of her sons blew their lamp out after a cough seized him. Mama Lucia groped in the dark for a matchstick to relight the lamp only to shriek at a touch of a cold skin under a three-legged stool that she used to elevate the lamp to light up the whole room. Mama Lucia declares that she misjudged her husband’s old, leather belt for a snake, and almost died of a heart attack. Her neighbourhood is flooded with green mambas.

A year later, a big mouse toppled their kerosene lamp when she fell asleep while feeding her children. Her family survived a near-death experience as kerosene spilled over their rags, which caught fire and set their one-roomed grass-thatched hut ablaze. Were it not for her husband, who was on his way back home from fishing, her family would have been reduced to ashes. Since then, she has cautiously, yet rarely, used koroboi which has smoked the inside of her stone-and-mud shelter.

This situation also derailed her children’s schooling; her third-born son, 14, the only one that goes to school, had to finish his home assignments before sunset or use light from firewood while cooking or by the moonlight. Mama Lucia confesses that she had to choose between taking her youngest son, 12, to school and buying food.

Mama Lucia started reaching out to her area leaders in 2017 to support her with a solar lamp. She recalls an incident where a local politician who was vying to represent her ward in Busia County Assembly laughed her away as she peddled to his homestead to seek support. Her efforts to join a women’s savings group in her area were futile since she had no money to save therein to qualify for loans to meet her needs.

Mama Lucia displaying a solar lamp that they hope will change their lives. She now bills her neighbours who charge their phones from her solar panel for a living,.

In November 2021, Francis Lukoye, a community health volunteer (CHV) attached to Family Life Education Program (FLEP) – a faith-based non-profit organization that implements USAID 4TheChild to support 9,756 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) from 4,200 households in Bunyala, Matayos, Nambale and Samia sub-counties of Busia– met Mama Lucia. After witnessing her ordeal, he linked her family to FLEP’s Case Manager, Yonah Okado, who screened her family before enrolling them in USAID 4TheChild’s program that seeks to increase the use of quality county-led health and social services for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and their families in Busia County. Since then, Mama Lucia’s household has benefited from the project’s OVC comprehensive and preventive services and an emergency support fund of Kshs. 2,000 (USD 20) every month.

USAID 4TheChild is implemented by Moi University College of Health Sciences as the prime recipient through the AMPATH partnership

Upon receiving solar-powered lamps on 21st December 2021, Mama Lucia rang USAID 4TheChild to share her joy and express her gratitude for the support. “I have asked everyone for a solar lamp for a very long time,” she said. “Thanks to you and the American people, our fear of the night and darkness has been swept away.”

Mama Lucia now bills her neighbours who charge their phones from her solar lamp Kshs. 20 (USD 20 cents). “Besides the lights, I can now collect money from my customers and provide my family with at least a meal every day,” she said. “I hope to reach a point where I can join a women’s group, save with them, and access loans to start and operate a small business, buy land and build a house.”

With no access to main grid electricity or money to purchase renewable energy sources, approximately 60 percent (536,208) of the people in Busia County rely on kerosene as their main source of lighting. (Kenya Electricity System Improvement Project (KESIP), 2019) Since December 2021, USAID 4TheChild has changed the lives of 159 orphans and vulnerable children living in 70 households in Busia County with solar lights. This small sustainable light has enlightened households like Mama Lucia and her family.

“The solar lamp is safe, clean, and renewable,” said Emilly Omudho, USAID 4TheChild Household Economic Strengthening (HES) Manager. “While kerosene lamps and candles are a lighting go-to for such energy-poor households, they are dirty, dangerous, and expensive for the families to operate.”

“School going children in these households are vulnerable to burns, accidental poisoning, respiratory illness and ocular issues when they continue using kerosene lamps to light their homes. This support goes a long way in supporting the children to continue with their studies while at home,” added Kenneth Otieno, USAID 4TheChild Acting Chief of Party.