Kerosene lamp that lit the road to charity

He is little known in towns including Nairobi where he is based. But Evans Wadongo is a hero in the rural areas of Western Province and parts of Rift Valley where his solar-powered lantern lamps have lit hundreds of homes, earning him recognition from many including billionaire entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson.

It is because of this that Evans is a nominee of the CNN World Heroes project whose champions will be selected on November 25 in Hollywood, US.

There are 10 finalists from a list of 100 nominees and Evans is representing Kenya and Africa as a whole.

Sir Richard was on the panel that assessed Evans’ work.

“You don’t have to be rich to support the community. The fact that my efforts have been recognised is a great motivation, bearing in mind there are a number of great people with great ideas out there who did not get a slot,” says the 27-year-old who graduated last year from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology with a degree in Engineering.

Although he began the project four years ago, it did not bear fruit until he completed his studies and dedicated his full time to it. He could even skip a meals to ensure he raised money for the project.

Evans says his eyesight was affected when he was in primary school because of the smoke emitted from the kerosene lamp commonly known as ‘koroboi’ in Kiluhya. This is part of what drives him to give back to the community by supplying the lamps free of charge.

“This is done through community groups of 30 members within each village. It is painful that poor people in villages spend the little money they get on kerosene. With the solar lamps, they will be able to save the money and spend it on food and clothing,” says Evans.

There are more than 50 groups from western Kenya that have benefited from his organisation — Sustainable Development for All-Kenya — whose headquarters is in Nairobi’s South B estate.

A section of his office has been turned into a store and workshop where all the materials are assembled and worked on. With a team of five, he is able to make 100 solar-powered lamps daily.

“My dream which I strongly believe will come true is to have more than 100,000 lamps distributed to different homes countrywide by 2015,” says Evans who has been on many TV shows including CNN’s Larry King Live.

According to him, 14,000 lamps are already lighting different homes in rural areas.

The solar-powered lamp can light up for six hours if it is fully charged by being left in the sun during the day. The inventor says the life span for the lamp is between six and 10 years.

“But all this depends on how the lamps are taken care of. They can even last longer than this if they are well maintained.”

He is working on the latest models of lamps that will have a radio to enable the users to listen to news and be entertained as they light up family homes.

“The modification will be done to also include a charging system for mobile phones because in rural areas, people don’t have easy access to electricity to charge their phones,” says Evans who was born in Malava, Kakamega.

The last born in a family of five, Evans attended Malava Primary where the memory of the “koroboi” smoke and the constant fights with siblings over a single kerosene lamp are still fresh in his mind.

Despite all these, he did well in KCPE examinations and joined Kakamega High School and later JKUAT where he graduated last year.

“My background instilled discipline and hard work ethic in me. Had I been brought up where electricity and other comforts were, I would not be where I am today.”

Evans leaves the country on November 15 for Hollywood and he believes Kenyans will vote for him to clinch the award.

“I’m banking on Kenyan votes and I believe they will give me an opportunity to be able to serve the rural areas better,” he says.

Voting that can only be done online, began last Friday and closes on November 20. The address for voting is www.cnnheroes.com