The Rotary Lunch Club of Moorestown has provided 550 schools in Uganda with solar lamps.
Thanks to a grant for $6,000, spearheaded by the Rotary Lunch Club of Moorestown, 550 primary school students in Central Uganda now have their own solar lamps.
Previously, the students depended on open-flamed tins of kerosene for lighting. The dirty smoke produced by burning kerosene caused eye and respiratory irritations and often led to pneumonia, burns and house fires.
With solar lights, the students now read and study in a clean, safe environment. When the children are at school, their families can use the lights, thus increasing the number of people served to nearly 3,500.
According to Amy Webb, Moorestown Rotary President, a Rotary District 7500 grant gave the project a strong start. Additional financial support from the Moorestown Breakfast, Maple Shade, Central Ocean and Asbury Park Rotary Clubs funded the purchase of the solar lights.
Moorestown Rotary purchased the lights through Let There Be Light International, a Connecticut-based 501(C)3 agency. Distribution to five schools, data collection and education were fielded by a local Ugandan NGO with the help of volunteers from Ugandan Rotary Clubs and school administrators.
In the recent past, Moorestown Rotary has funded solar lighting for health clinics in off-grid Gambian villages, allowing emergency surgeries and nighttime child births to take place safely, said Micki Ginsberg, who with Carlo Scaramella, co-chairs the Rotary’s International Service Committee.
