Lights for Life – Solar for Indigenous Communities

The Problem

Electricity plays an extremely important role in modern life. However, as of 2021, 759 million people were living in the dark.

We can support families who are energy poor. Making electricity available for rural communities like in the indigenous Orang Asli villages of Malaysia increases productivity, encourages education progression of children and increases overall household financial savings. In a nutshell, electrification reduces poverty.

Your donation would supply clean energy to indigenous families using Pico Solar PV Technology.

The Solution

Our mission is to empower rural indigenous communities by equipping them with Pico Solar PV Technology which is not only cost-effective but also energy efficient.

Our potential beneficiaries no longer have to be exposed to noise and smog pollutants from generators, constantly having to purchase petrol and lighting lamps. In fact, numerous studies have also found that access to electricity is associated with better school outcomes as students are able to study later into the night.

The Impact

We have identified 151 families within Peninsular Malaysia that have been living off-grid for the past 3 generations. Your donation will ultimately benefit rural indigenous communities that, throughout generations, have not had access to electricity.

Specifically, we are targeting 6 villages within Peninsular Malaysia that would greatly benefit from the installation of solar panels. These communities are :

1. Sungai Perangin Village, Perak
2. Kolam Village, Perak
3. Langkap Tanjung Ipoh Village, Negeri Sembilan
4. Pucur Village, Johor
5. Hanir Village, Kelantan
6. Sempar Village, Pahang

Join us to make a difference in the lives of the indigenous communities today!

Thank you for your support!

Thank you Rakyat Malaysia. With your donation and support, you brought light to 15 Orang Asli homes in Kampung OA Perangin, Mualim, Perak. Thanks to the great effort and teamwork from all the volunteers, we successfully installed the PICO solar lights systems on July 17, 2022. Our volunteers were from various backgrounds, such as Solar Academy students, teachers, SOLS 24/7 team members and also the public. 

These villagers are living in a very rural area with very basic facilities. They are getting water from a nearby river, and they plant much of their food such as bananas, tapioca as well as other vegetables and fruits. They do not have access to the TNB grid, and so their electricity supply is completely dependent on their means of income.

Some villagers have used their savings to buy generators. From our conversations with them, they informed us that most of them are using petrol to run the generator for 5 hours per day from 7pm till 12 am midnight and it costs them approximately RM500 minimum per month. As they earn about RM1,500 per month, they already use ⅓ of their income to power up their few electric items for a few hours a day.

We are very happy and blessed that we had the opportunity to help Orang Asli families by installing a PICO solar lights system in their houses. It was an adventurous and fun activity working together with the villagers. They were very friendly and welcoming to all of us. We were having a good time dancing and karaoke, playing around and chit chatting.  The mothers provide us with some fruits to bring back home as compliments for our hard work and contribution to their village. 

Again, we would like to thank each and everyone of donors and supporters who have contributed to the Lights for Life campaign.