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70% of all South Africans own a cell phone and many of them have more than one pre-paid
phone subscription. Compared to just 10% of the population having access to computers,
cell phones in South Africa have become the defacto standard for access to information
used in all social strata, and crossing socio-economic divides.
2.5 million rural South Africans have no access to electricity. For this reason leveraging
existing mobile technology to extend student learning is hampered by stuttering access
to a consistent source of energy to charge their mobile devices.
Let’s consider for a moment students currently in grades 10 through 12, who represent just
over 50% of the total number of students who started schooling 10 to 12 years earlier.
They need an inexpensive reliable source of energy for these mobile phones - devices which
have now become core to their learning experiences.
The three members of the Sonlig Team have partnered with the M-Ubuntu project to provide
a reliable source of renewable energy to charge handheld mobile learning devices, as well
as provide a safe means of illumination for studying.
Inexpensive, multi-functional mobile devices are now being used for learning more and more
at heavily under-resourced rural South African schools. With learning initiatives such as
M-Ubuntu, students have hailed the new opportunities but lament over the stumbling blocks to learning
that an exhausted battery implies for them.
While there are many projects and organizations working to provide solar photovoltaic systems
to assist areas with little or no access to electricity, the Sonlig Project goes one step
further. By helping youth learn to assemble and maintain their own charging systems, a
solid foundation of knowledge is established that will enable them to eventually design
their own solar solutions. By doing more than merely providing hardware, the Sonlig team
combines education and technology in a way that empowers youth with the means to make
a difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them.