‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

 
Incredible news! Together we've raised enough to install safe and
sustainable solar lighting systems in nearly double the number of homes we
set out to help, transforming the lives of 1,000 families in Uganda where
few have access to the national grid. 

What makes this news even better is that our partner, Solar Links, is
training and empowering them to bring solar lighting to neighbouring
communities, extending our impact well beyond each individual home.

Moments like this are why we do this work -- and we simply could not make
any of this happen without you.

 

Thank you for all that you do,

Yasmin, Allison and the SumOfUs team


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[ [link removed] ]Engineer on a roof installing a home solar lighting system

John,

Nearly 800 million people worldwide live without electricity. It’s a
silent killer – the deadly fumes inhaled from kerosene lamps are
equivalent to smoking 40 cigarettes a day.

The crisis is especially acute in Northern Uganda, where 99% of the
population can’t access the national grid and more children die from
respiratory illness than anything else.

But there’s a proven, simple solution: solar lights.

An amazing organisation called Solar Links works with community-led groups
to install solar lighting in rural households in Uganda – and they’re
racing to get these lights in more than 500 homes before skyrocketing food
and kerosene costs drive them further into darkness.

They won’t start installing until there are enough funds to light every
home in the village so no one is left out – and together we can make it
happen quickly, with no red tape. 

Each light costs just $20 – can you chip in so that together we can
empower an entire village with solar lights? 



[ [link removed] ]Chip in
$3[ [link removed] ]Chip
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Without electricity, people can spend up to half their lives in darkness.
After sundown, children can’t study, farmers can’t finish chores and
entire communities are forced to shut down.

The alternatives like kerosene make homes a dangerous place to be –
leaving everyone inside vulnerable to a fire suddenly erupting and a
dangerous amount of black carbon fumes. A single kerosene lamp emits up to
one tonne of carbon over five years!

And for the first time in years, the number of people without electricity
has actually increased in sub-Saharan Africa during the pandemic.

That’s why the work Solar Links is doing with local communities is so
important.

Households can save as much as 30% of their income by replacing kerosene
lamps with solar lights – money that can be used for food, school fees,
bedding and roofing. And because there are no carbon emissions from solar
lighting, people live healthier lives for longer.



[ [link removed] ]Chip in
$3[ [link removed] ]Chip
in
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in
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$12[ [link removed] ]Chip
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Solar Links has already given 15,000 families, schools, hospitals and
clinics in Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi the gift of light –
transforming entire communities one by one.

The impact reaches way beyond each individual home. Every family
contributes a small amount towards the cost of the light in the following
year, funding solar lighting in further communities. And because they
train members of the community as Lighting Engineers, Solar Links empowers
communities to keep the technology working properly and carrying forward
the mission of bringing light to their neighbours.

Now, Solar Links is ready to go with an urgent plan to provide solar home
lighting systems to 540 subsistence farming households in Northern Uganda.
They just need the funds to do it.

John, it’s rare that a single donation can make such a huge
difference almost instantaneously.

If each of us chips in what we can, together we can transform an entire
village with solar lights – can you help? 



[ [link removed] ]Chip in
$3[ [link removed] ]Chip
in
$5[ [link removed] ]Chip
in
$6[ [link removed] ]Chip
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$12[ [link removed] ]Chip
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P.S. Any extra raised will go to power our campaigns against fossil fuels
and in support of renewable energy projects worldwide.



  Thanks for all that you do,  
Allison, Yasmin and the SumOfUs team



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More information:

[ [link removed] ]Masaka’s journey from rural town to key commercial hub
Monitor. July 2022.

[ [link removed] ]Access to electricity
IEA. April 2022.

[ [link removed] ]Solar Links Initiative
Solar Links.

[ [link removed] ]Energy revolution promises to transform East Africa
BBC. February 2013.

 

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep SumOfUs strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]