Super-Cool : The Aussie Kids Making Solar Lights For Others

Australian kids making solar lights

Children in Queensland have been busy assembling solar lights that are then sent to other children in Papua New Guinea.

It’s one of the very few times this writer has ever wished he was back in school.

The project is occurring via SolarBuddy, an organisation with a mission to provide safe, clean and reliable solar energy solutions to communities in developing nations battling energy poverty.

The first Australian Buddy2Buddy project saw SolarBuddy teaming up Amberley District State School, near Ipswich, to send solar lights to kids living in Tufi, Papua New Guinea.

Just 12.4% of Papua New Guineans have access to mains grid electricity; and only 3.7% of the rural population is connected.

The school’s student community raised the money to pay for the solar lights through the Student Council. Year 6 students put the lights together as a part of their study of electrical circuits.

It’s been a great way to nurture interest in solar technology and the activity has also yielded other important lessons.

SolarBuddy - Queensland school

“It’s helped their understanding of how others live in the world and what this initiative could do for others,” said Amberley District State School teacher, Sarah Duce

“It’s also a really fun project for the kids to do … we want kids to be excited to come to school, excited to learn, to be asking questions rather than waiting to be taught things.”

Deputy Principal Leisa Cave says the project has been such a hit that students are already cooking up new fundraising ideas to purchase more light kits.

“The alignment between the Buddy2Buddy project and the Australian Curriculum: Science provided a great practical way for students to apply their learning in a way that benefited others,” stated Ms. Cave.

The children also send notes with their lights and receive a letter back from the recipients. Distribution partners take photos of the children receiving the lights so the donor school can see the reactions of their new friends.

According to the ABC, Buddy2Buddy is now being rolled out to schools across Queensland.

A Buddy2Buddy project earlier this year saw Soong Ching Ling School in Shanghai, China assemble 228 lights, which were donated to children at Katwe Martyrs’ Primary School in Kampala City, Uganda.

Learn more about SolarBuddy.

On a somewhat related note, a recent study found solar-LED lighting could create 2 million jobs in developing nations.

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Solar Education For Kids

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