Gone are the days when the noise of stumbling stuff overpowered the cry of a baby. Mugirasomi Vestine now just has to flip a switch rather than lighting up her kerosene lamp to feed her baby at night. Thanks to the Nuru light, a battery-powered lamp that requires bicycle pedaling to charge. The brainchild of Sameer Hajee, a Canadian electrical engineer and social entrepreneur with Kenyan and Indian roots, the light is one innovative idea that is here to change things for the environment.
All you need to know is how to ride a bicycle and you get your share of power. Just 20 minutes of pedaling provides enough energy to light it up at night for nearly 10 days. The machine used to power the Nuru light is called the Powercycle. It comprises of two cycle pedals fitted to a box that is capable of charging up to five lights at a time using pedal-power. This brilliant concept won Hajee the U.N. Environmental Program Sasakawa Prize for 2009-2010.
The users in Rwanda, Kenya are delighted to own the recharging solution and even hope to make some money by charging customers to recharge the lights. The Powercycle, costing $150, can be purchased using micro-finance loans that can be paid off later. Now children no longer have to walk to their schools to study during night, the light of the lamps can be used to help children study.
Via: AlertNet