Nice-Cannes Relay Marathon
By Amanda Johnson
This article is published on: 15th September 2013
After completing my first Race for Life in France last year, Sarah has very kindly given me the opportunity to share an event that I am taking part in this November. It is the Nice-Cannes relay Marathon and I am running as part of a team of colleagues who will divide the 42 kilometres distance. I am in training as we speak!
I am very proud to be taking part and The Spectrum-IFA Group is raising money for our charity for 2013; “GIVEWATTS.org”.
There are thousands of people living in Off-Grid areas in Kenya. They are organised communities but spend up to 40% of their income on kerosene to burn for light which is not only expensive but dangerous, with terrible fumes, a high CO2 impact, the risk of starting a domestic fire and of burning a child. It also gives off a terrible dull yellow light.
Consequently many parents don’t let their children study after dark. Grades are held back and a chance to escape the poverty-trap is limited.
GIVEWATTS is doing a very simple but effective thing: providing high quality solar lamps that also have a USB charger built in for mobile phones, avoiding the need to walk for miles and to pay to charge them!
Lamps are not given to the parents, they are provided with micro-finance. The school calculates the average a family is spending on kerosene. That is the instalment amount they pay to the school to repay the lamp, thus, there is no extra cost/or resistance barrier to overcome and the lamp immediately 100% replaces kerosene. As soon as that person has finished paying they are 40% a week better off and they own the lamp.
For more information please look at our devoted web page on our website spectrum-ifa.com/givewatts or contact me.
Here is a photos of my colleague Chris, Board Member of GIVEWATTS Switzerland, who visited earlier this year.
