Meeting Margareth with The Door Kenya 

In 2022, BRIGHT donated 340 solar lanterns and home systems to Norwegian Aid. Norwegian Aid’s local partner, The Door Kenya has delivered these to students and families in Kenya, as well as to a children’s home in Nairobi.

In November 2022, Norwegian Aid joined The Door Kenya to visit one of the recipients at home in November, Margareth 29, who lives in Kiambu with her 12-year-old son. They recounted:

“Margareth invites us in. One bed takes up almost all the space in the room inside. Her son also has a friend over, and we all sit on the bed.”

An everyday life filled with worry   

They have lived in Kiambu, a suburb of Nairobi, for five years. The area is notably affected by urbanization, poverty, and social differences.  

  They live in a small house made from corrugated iron with a soil floor and a piece of cloth hanging instead of a front door. The shed has no windows, and it is entirely dark in the room. They have a tiny patch of land outside, where they can grow potatoes for food, weather allowing.  

 Margareth describes an everyday life filled with worry and hard work. She has only two years of primary school and no regular income. Every morning, she looks for odd jobs that can earn her enough to pay rent, food, and school supplies for her son.  

New hope

A short while back, Margareth contacted Norwegian Aid’s local partner organization in Kiambu, The Door Kenya. Through them, she got the SunBell solar lamp that now ensures her son can do homework inside and that they have light when it gets dark at 18:30. It has become one of their dearest possessions and is firmly attached to the wall inside the shed. Her son turns the lamp on and proudly shows how you can hang it up and use it as a torch and ceiling light. It has made a significant difference in their life.   

 The Door Kenya has been helping the small family in several ways. Margaret has been getting psychosocial help and will receive support to cover her son’s school expenses so he can start junior high. Giving her son better opportunities than she has had is her greatest wish, and she tells us she is now hopeful for the future.

Norwegian Aid & BRIGHT collaboration 

In 2022, BRIGHT entered a pilot collaboration with Norwegian Aid to distribute solar lamps to families needing electricity and light. The goal is to see how it can help them reduce the cost of electricity and start using solar energy as the primary energy source.    

Electricity costs have shot up in the last couple of years. As much as 50% of electricity costs go towards lighting.    

BRIGHT and Norwegian Aid will continue exploring further possibilities for collaboration and contributing to UN Sustainability Development Goal 7: Access to affordable, reliable, clean energy.