Light Gives Girls and Women a Chance at Night School
FrontLines - June 2009
At Sanniquelli Central
High School in Nimba
County, a precious
commodity is locked
in a closet: compact
flourescent light bulbs
powered by a solar
roof panel and used for
night classes.
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Solar lighting outside teacher trainee and faculty residences at Rural Teacher Training Institute in Kakata, Liberia, provides safety and also lights the way home at night,
when it is pitch black in the countryside. Until the lights were installed, the newly refurbished residences couldn’t be used.
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A student at the Sanniquellie Night School listens intently in
class while her child takes a snooze. Solar powered lighting allows
students to go to school at night.
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Night school enrollment in USAID’s Accelerated Learning
Program has increased 24 percent since LEAP installed the solar
panel and four solar “street” lights in each corner of the school
yard. Most of the 900 part-time students eke out a subsistence
living and tend to basic family needs by day; many are women
with babies or are pregnant teenagers who are no longer permitted
to attend regular school.
Night school principal Sylvester Gonquoi said women feel safe
because of the lights and more attend because they know class
won’t be cancelled. “When we relied on generators we didn’t have
the fuel money for regular night classes, and once a generator was
stolen. When people hear we have consistent light, they come
every time.”—N.T.
Powering Up a Small Business
The Be Honest Fishery lies
in a tiny hamlet just outside
coastal Greenville in Sinoe
County. Fishery owner David
Gbanwulue says he wants
to attract customers with
his motto.
LEAP provided a solar lantern,
a street light, and workshop
lighting along with business
development support from USAID’s Liberia Community
Infrastructure Program. The light
allows Gbanwulue to operate
longer hours—before dawn and
after dark—to prepare nets and
gear, to fish at night, to add to
the types of fish he sells, and to
sell more.
As a result, Gbanwulue, who
used to struggle to buy school
supplies and shoes for his children, now employs five
assistants and several market
women full-time who dry and
sell the fish.
“The lights help all my neighbors—
people come to read, to
do their hair, to charge their
phones,” said Gbanwulue. “It’s
very black out here at night and
the light frightens away
criminals.”—N.T. . ★
Lights Revive
Social Life in
Robertsport
Roberstport is the capital
town of Grand Cape Mount
County, known for its scenic
beaches, lakes, and hills. But it
had no street lights for nearly 20
years until LEAP installed 10 at
the center of the town.
A cook at a small camping
lodge catering to tourists from
Monrovia said shops are open
longer and the lights enable her
to work at night and get home
safely. And the lights revived
social life after years of conflict.
“Now people come out
at night; they aren’t afraid
anymore; they meet and talk.
I think the lights bring us more
together,” she said.—N.T . ★.
Investors Wanted for
Renewable Energy
The Liberian government now seeks international partners and
capital investors to scale up solar power use, as well as biomass and
hydropower to meet the country’s electrification needs for industry and
economic growth. In her 2009 State of the Union address, President
Johnson Sirleaf cited USAID’s LEAP, stating “with the recorded
success of the pilot projects, we will now move along quickly to
launch full-scale implementation…” The challenge is largely financial.
Solar-powered systems are cost-effective over years of use but require
large up-front investments. Public-private partnership is needed.
★
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