Light up Rural Nigeria

Dear Friends,

Do you know with N12,000, $35 or £30 you can help solve a plethora of issues faced by and marginalised indigents in rural Nigeria? There is a handful of what such an amount would do,  but not as life-changing as the purchase of one Solar Home System for at least 10 beneficiaries including children.

We are excited to announce our  "Light Up Rural Nigeria" campaign: an initiative which started out by providing electricity to three 200-year-old communities who had no prior access to electricity.  With the rapid increase in poverty across the nation, we are soliciting for your help in giving the gift of power to fifteen other communities alike across five major states in Nigeria to help improve their quality of life.

The first three community beneficiaries under the "REES Lights Africa project" in Lagelu, just celebrated 7200 hours of 24-hour electricity on the 4th of November, 2018. The residents of Lagelu are forever grateful and inundated with joy. We want to do more this December 2018 and we are counting on you to join us in making this goal a reality by the 31st of November  2018.  We solicit for your financial contributions.

Here is a bit of who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

REES Africa is a non-profit organization that aims to enable renewable energy access and promote environmental sustainability. With our initiatives serving as solutions, the Light Up Rural Nigeria (under REES Lights Africa) aims to eradicate energy poverty in rural and marginalised areas. 

Nigeria has recently been crowned the poverty capital of the world. This fact reflects highly on the inability of over 41% of Nigeria’s population with no access to electricity. Household poverty is directly linked to energy poverty. 

Also, with climate catastrophe on the horizon, our energy lifestyle needs to change from using fossil fuels to clean and renewable sources such as solar and wind.

Can you imagine living in your current location without any light? It is unimaginable, especially in urban cities where power is used for aesthetic purposes such as decoration. But quite unimaginably, fifteen identified rural communities across states in Nigeria, yearn for just a bulb of light to be used practically in their household as they have never experienced electricity.

Why should these rural indigents use the light from the slow killer smoke birthed from kerosene lamps and palm oil lamps when we can collectively provide solar power for them? Also worthy to note is that in turn, we will be decimating the problem of climate change, improving the health and generally, the way of life in such communities for the residents that include children and the elderly. 

In February, we alleviated energy poverty in three rural communities in Lagelu Local Government, Oyo State. Ever since their lives and businesses have never remained the same. Children can now read at night, respiratory challenges resulting from carbon soot, are a thing of the past and poverty has been drastically reduced as monies that were spent on dangerous and expensive fuels are now channelled into impactful ventures.

With the support of friends like you, we helped the likes of Mama Turayo and Adisa ( a teenager), enjoy the benefits of working longer hours to earn more cash in their trading and basket weaving duties respectively.

There are several success stories which this initiative has birthed. This is what makes us want to do more, knowing that we are bringing Africa close; beginning with Nigeria, to the reality we dream of. 

In the same vein, we know that none of this is possible without your support. Our goal is to make access to 24 hours clean, affordable, and sustainable off-grid electricity for all Africans (starting with Nigeria) This should be a reality by the year 2030, alleviating energy poverty. And thus, we need your help. 

Read more here: www.reesafrica.org
 

Our Current Goal. . .

Our fundraising goal for "Light up Rural Nigeria," is N6,700,000.00 Naira ($18,500.00 USD) to sponsor at least 2,000 direct beneficiaries across Lagos State, Ogun State, Oyo State, Abuja, and Kaduna State who have no prior access to electricity in their homes. It costs N12,000.00 Naira for one solar home system capable of lightning their households and charging their phones.  

We invite you to support our campaign and help us Light up Rural Nigeria for sustainable development and alleviation of the effect of climate change. 

A simple solar light might not mean much to you but it means a whole lot to the rural people whose days begin in darkness and is cut short by darkness. But there is a ray of light and hope: YOU.

Thank you as you donate.