For years, everyday heroes have been quietly gifting solar lights to students in South Africa so that they can learn after dark. Their story hasn’t been told until now, and not to spoil the end, but loadshedding doesn’t come out on top!
South Africa (20 November 2023) — For years, everyday heroes have been quietly (but surely) making a difference in South Africa where sunset and a national nemesis (loadshedding) stand in the way of learning opportunities. They are the people behind ‘Light to Read’, and their story has not been told until now!
The idea that sparked the Light to Read Programme is simple, but trajectory-shifting. A simple question, ‘What if we managed to fundraise and get solar lights to students so they can learn safely after dark?’ has taken the light from the end of the tunnel to the beginning for many students on their educational journies. And this light is only growing.
Started in 2016 from the mind of Chris Kelway, the vision was to supply solar light to young students (Grades 1-7) whose educational development was heavily impacted by a lack of electricity.
These lights would be given to entire primary schools and awarded to the learners who had earned them, at the discretion of the school’s leadership.
This meant that more young minds could gain critical educational skills from an early age and strengthen their literacy levels. As many students came from backgrounds where electricity was unaffordable, this was a huge deal.
Now, 7 years strong and a fully-fledged NPO, Diane Kelway of Light to Read shares that the little programme has positively burst with brightness, especially as loadshedding took more people off the grid of their goals.
An impact on 10,000 learners, educational staff and their families all across South Africa has been the result.
Beyond gifting light to students and their families, the lights have also stood the test of time; meaning many little lights have accompanied students after their primary school phases.
In letters of appreciation from schools to the Light to Read Programme that Good Things Guy got to read, the tremendous impact is ever-evident. For some, the lights have quite literally lit the path to a love of reading. For others, it has provided families in rural communities with the opportunity to take care of their children in the dark hours by using the solar lights to cook food, make bathtime and bedtime easier and of course, keep up with homework.
Of recent big moments, 1000 lights were shared with two rural schools in Limpopo on 13 November. Rathaga Primary School received 198 lights, while Senopelwa School got 720.
“The lights will increase the love of reading. Educated learners move away from crime, thus reducing criminal activities in the entire country. It will be simple for parents to cook for learners and protect learners from injuries when walking in the house,” said Headmistress Jane Mogale from Senopelwa School of the donation.
It was a hugely successful day and one of many. But Light to Read isn’t slowing down and its team believes that as it grows, it has become more evident that this programme is about so much more than ‘just a light’.
As Diane shares:
“A key reason for the ongoing success of this programme is threefold, the first is the actual school selected, the second is the ongoing engagement and interaction with the Head of the School. The third being the parents of the learners. Parents have played a strong role from the outset in protecting the solar light device and across all the schools. The view from the parents and learners is that the solar light is a valued and protected asset for the whole family.”
She adds:
“Each time we engage with the schools we learn about new benefits derived from the programme. We are not going to stop now. We have a long and rewarding journey ahead of us! We plan to benefit as many young learners, across South Africa as we possibly can to enable them to participate with this incredible Light to Read project.”
So, what if more people got involved to make the light reach further? In 2016, many privileged South Africans couldn’t fully understand life without electricity beyond sporadic periods of loadshedding. Now in 2023, the nation, unfortunately, understands the assignment very well.
Anyone interested in keeping up with or helping the light go further can find Light to Read here.
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