On the 17th June 2018 I will be conquering the Dartford Bridge Olympic distance triathlon to raise funds to provide clean, safe light to 200 families living without electricity in predominantly the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka, where electrification rates lag behind the national average. The day after the triathlon I will be flying out to Sri Lanka (self-funded) to work with iEnergy’s local charity partners for this project, which are Smile Foundation and KGM Foundation, to deliver the Solar lanterns to selected families across a number of villages including Unnichai, Nelloor, Mankerni, Vakarai and Chettikulam.

As many of you know I have a deep fear of water and have had to learn how to swim again. So overcoming 1500m will be a gruelling physical and mental challenge not to mention the 42km cycle and 10km run that will follow. However, all of that pales into insignificance when compared to the struggles encountered by countless marginalised families living without electricity.

Globally, almost 1.3 billion people live without access to electricity. In Sri Lanka despite recent improvements in electrification rates tens of thousands of impoverished and marginalised rural families still live in relative darkness.

In the absence of electricity these families rely on traditional kerosene lamps for light. These lamps are expensive to run and on average families spend 15-20% of their household income on kerosene. Kerosene lamps are also extremely dangerous with 40% of all burn cases in Sri Lanka being attributed to them and their toxic black fumes contributing to serious respiratory diseases. As a result day to day tasks such as cooking and studying become almost unbearable under the smoky, dim light of a kerosene lamp.

Solar lanterns, however, provide a safe, affordable alternative to kerosene lamps. During the daylight hours they can be left out to charge in the sun. Once fully charged these solar lanterns can provide clean, bright light for up to 8 hours for these families whether that be for cooking, studying or socialising. Each Leader EP-31 Solar lantern costs £10 and with the funds that we raise we hope to give the gift of light to 200 families!

For more information on iEnergy and to see our previous projects visit:

Website - http://ienergyuk.weebly.com/recent-projects.html

Facebook- Infinite Energy Sri Lanka