Reflections on the festival of lights

Today, the festival of lights “Deepawali” ( or Diwali, literally meaning lighting rows of lamps) is being celebrated in India and by the Indian diaspora world over. This special festival is a celebration of the symbolic win of light over darkness, good over bad, knowledge over ignorance. Light is so powerful, both literally and metaphorically, for all it stands for: joy, gratitude, enlightenment and so much more. It is this power of light which makes Deepawali such a beautiful festival.

A time for celebration is also a time for memories and reflection. Memories of a childhood spent lighting up the whole house with candles,oil lamps and little bright electric lights; memories of getting new clothes and gasping looking at firecrackers lighting up the night sky like an exploding web every time you look up, memories of gifts, laughter and delicious food made by my mother. This celebration is also a time to reflect on the present, to not take this light for granted, to be grateful for the light you and I have, and to do something for those for whom light is a distant dream once the sun sets in.

So as the millions and millions of lights lit by people across India’s 1.2 billion strong population go out with the dawn of a new day, I reflect on one quarter of humanity – 1.6 billion people living without the most basic energy access for whom darkness is a reality of life. More than 400 million of these are in the land of origin of festival of lights – India – largest number of unelectrified people in any single country in the world. In terms of regions, Africa has the lowest electrification rate in the world with as many as 547 million people without access to electricity.

Statistics are powerful but they are not just another hard-hitting number – we must think of the faces behind these numbers in this time of reflection.  So let’s stop and think of 8 year old Sunita in a village in India who cannot study at night for the lack of a light bulb; of the 16 year old mother of four Zuura in Uganda who cooks in smoky, greasy makeshift kitchen with “ Tadooba” - an open flame dim smoky kerosene lantern which has burnt her many times; of 14 year old Grace in Tanzania delivering her first child at the midnight hour in her dimly lit smoky mud hut. There is no festival of even a single light for billions around the world as they go on with their daily lives.

Electricity access is fundamental for achieving UN’s millennium development goals (MDG’s), the most broadly supported, comprehensive and specific development goals the world has ever agreed upon. These include goals and targets on income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development. Target year for accomplishing these goals: 2015.  Clean energy access has a direct impact on each of these goals. World Health Organization estimates that the indoor air pollution resulting from use of fuels like firewood, dung and kerosene is responsible for 1.5 million deaths per year, most of them children and women. Kerosene and paraffin lamps spew green house gases and black carbon, which contribute to climate change.  Each year billions are spent as subsidy on kerosene from government budgets (a large part of this kerosene is channeled in the black market to adulterate motor fuels due to the wide price differential). At the household level, as much as 40% of family income is spent on inefficient fuels. Even small incremental amount of clean energy access can improve this situation.

The most fundamental of energy access itself is light. As we look for the next big invention to solve the global energy and climate change crisis, the question for Sunita, Zuura, Grace and millions of women like them around the world is: How can we light their lives? Quite literally, really. How can we give them the power to go into the night knowing that there is light at the end of this dark tunnel?  The answer lies, firstly, in recognition of energy as a human right. Secondly, a new model of public-private-people partnerships spanning across international, national and local boundaries must be launched. Thirdly, the focus must shift from subsidy driven unsustainable and inefficient schemes to affordable and enterprising solutions that tap into ingenuity of the energy poor, especially the women. Fourthly, solutions must be scalable while having the bandwidth to incorporate local social, economical and cultural factors affecting the energy consumption patterns.

Solar Sister’s innovative women driven business model aims to achieve all this. We do this not just on Deepawali but every single day of the year by bringing light, hope and opportunity to those living in darkness. Let’s make an everyday festival of atleast a single light possible for communities around the world by helping them take the first steps towards a brighter life. Have you spent some time reflecting on light today?