Like most teens, Jacqueline Evershed likes to watch TV, check e-mail on her computer and listen to her iPod.
In our wired, Western world we take electricity for granted. Blackouts cause chaos.
It's a far cry from the small villages in Nepal to which Jacqueline, 17, and 10 other Canadian teens will trek this spring. The youngsters will deliver solar panels, batteries and high-efficiency LED lights and wiring to villages so cut off from the world they have no electricity.
The Himalayas are a natural barrier that prevents the import of electricity.
"They don't have proper infrastructure; they don't have electricity. They only have kerosene lamps," Jacqueline explained.
"These kerosene lamps are fire hazards, health hazards and they are environmentally unfriendly," she said.
The trip is under the auspices of Light Up The World, a non-profit Alberta-based organization that delivers solar-powered and hand-generated LED lighting to developing nations. It has so far lit up 17,000 homes in 50 different countries.
"It isn't good for children to sit at home and work with kerosene lamps," Jacqueline said. She points out Nepal has a literacy rate of just 42% -- one of the lowest in Asia.
Light Up The World is the brainchild of University of Calgary electrical engineering professor, Dr. Dave Irvine-Halliday. Ever since his first trip to Nepal in 1997, he has made it his mission to bring safe lighting to remote parts of the world.
17,000 HOMES
Nepal was his first project. Since then, the organization has expanded to 17,000 homes in 50 countries worldwide. It estimates that 2 billion people around the world have no access to electricity.
Aside from Nepal, they have projects in Tibet, Papua-New Guinea and parts of Africa.
Along with Jacqueline, who's from Toronto, students from the Yukon, Nova Scotia as well as from London, Ont. will fly to Kathmandu at the beginning of April to start their climb. From there, they will fly to Nepal's second largest city, Pokhara, and transfer to Thare Khola to begin the trek.
The group are all students at Neuchatel Junior College in Switzerland. The aim is to light up three villages. They'll spend 11 days trekking through the remote Annapurna sanctuary of Nepal hauling not just the lights but their hiking gear to an elevation more than 4,100 metres. The region is so isolated, it was cut off from the world until 1956. They'll be accompanied by guides from Canadian Himalayan Expeditions. The youngsters will also help install the lights.
Part of the project requires the students to raise money.
They're aiming for a total of $50,000. Toronto businessman John Bitove was so impressed by Jacqueline's pitch that he's pledged his support. But they need more people like him to help them out.
The young people hope to take along two Nepalese students, so they need to do some extra fundraising to pay for their expenses.
It will be a learning experience for the Canadians, too. Jacqueline hopes also she will be able to learn more about the rich culture of Nepal. And she's already in training for the hard climb, which she knows will be physically challenging.
"We hope we can reach out to the people of Nepal," she says.
"If they take advantage of these lights and excel in reading because of it, then we feel we have achieved something," she said.
You can donate to the trek on the Light of the World website. Go to www.lutw.org/home.htm and click "Donate now." If you mention Neuchatel Junior College, your donation will be directed to the Nepal trek. Or you can mail cheques to LUTW at 500, 340-12 Ave., SW, Calgary, Alberta T2R 0H2.
PAYING THEIR WAY
The students are paying their own way, so all the money raised will go to purchase lights and batteries.
There's a Chinese saying that it is better to light one candle than curse the darkness. Jacqueline and her friends are taking it one step further.
With their batteries, lights and solar panels, they're hoping they can light up three villages -- and chase away the dark shadows of illiteracy for children a world away.
By CHRISTINA BLIZZARD, SUN MEDIA
0 comments:
Post a Comment