“We have no electricity here, so you can imagine how useful this is for us,” says Abdul Karim as he points to his solar lantern that is now charging in the sunlight through its small solar panel. His family lives in their simple two-room wooden hut with charpoys outside and overhead shades to protect them from the hot sun in the remote village of Shafi Mohammed Shah in the disaster prone Badin District. “We used emergency lamps powered by batteries before, but the batteries would cost Rs20 each and would not last very long, only two nights at the most. Kerosene oil is even more expensive than the batteries. These solar lanterns are great because there are no expenses, very little maintenance and they do not get spoilt”.

Abdul Karim is a small farmer who lives in the Union Council of Bughra Memon in Badin District that was badly affected by the floods of 2011 that hit Sindh during the monsoon season. The Larr Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) with the support of the UNDP’s Small Grants Programme recently implemented their early recovery project in the area under the title of: “Fostering alternative energy in Union Council Bughra Memon”.

The major interventions of the project included the free distribution of 1,005 solar lanterns and free installation of 21 solar floodlights in 32 target villages of the union council. A comprehensive baseline survey was conducted at the household level before the start of the project. This was followed by the formation of village committees to identify the beneficiaries in target villages (one lantern per household was given out). Most of the villagers here are either small farmers or fishermen and their livelihoods were badly disrupted by the floods. When the floods came, many were forced to move to their roofs or higher ground and had to wait for the water to recede, which took almost a month.

LEAF began their project in January 2012 and successfully bridged linkages between the community members and the local vendor, Shaan Tech Energy Solution (Pvt) Ltd. LEAF coordinated two community meetings with the vendor and shared specifications of the solar lanterns and floodlights. The vendor was convinced to add these items in shop hives. A solar mechanic was also hired and he shared his contact details with the community so that timely maintenance and repair could be administered.

“These lanterns are made in Karachi at the cost of Rs3,400 each for export and we convinced them to distribute them here” explains Allah Nawaz who works for LEAF. “The lanterns were distributed over a three-month period until March 31, 2012. After the floods hit last year, there was no electricity in 95 per cent of Union Council Bughra Memon, so we selected it as our target area. Through the solar panels the villagers can also charge their mobile phones. In case the floods come again, the phones will be used as a part of the early warning system. With these lights the women can do embroidery at night and the children can also stay up and study. They are also useful because most of these villagers don’t have proper latrines so there is open defecation and they can take the solar lanterns outside when needed”.

The villagers are now saving thousands of rupees per family that they would otherwise spend on batteries or kerosene oil. The solar lanterns come with a one-year warranty and the faulty ones are replaced without cost. With the solar floodlights, night-time activities can be held in the villages, such as community meetings, gatherings and local games like kabbadi. Each solar floodlight cost Rs 83,000. “The solar panels and the LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulbs are expensive but they are of very good quality”, explains Allah Nawaz.

For Abdul Karim, the solar lantern has brought many benefits — not only can his son study at night but he can now charge his mobile phone and the next time a flood comes he can warn his neighbours. So far this year, no major floods have hit Badin — but the people are getting ready for the worst to come. “The climate is changing — we are having bad storms with hail in even May/June now. We need to be better prepared and thanks to NGOs like LEAF we can survive — without them we would probably perish”.