Using an entrepreneurial distribution model, the Natural Light project will now donate a second instalment of 20,000 solar lamps. These will be sold by new sales agents in off-grid communities in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and, for the first time, in Malawi.
The aim of this project, besides bringing a sustainable light source to off-grid communities, was to create a business model for local sales agents to make a living. This has been a great success. Today more than 50 sales agents in three African nations – Zimbabwe, Zambia and Sierra Leone – have their own businesses selling Natural Light solar lamps.
The Natural Light project, in collaboration with social business Little Sun, and NGO Plan International, was created to celebrate the VELUX Group’s 75th anniversary. Following an international design competition last year, which received 172 submissions from all over the world, the winning design was chosen and 14,500 units of the solar lamp were distributed in Africa – one for each employee of the VELUX Group and its sister companies.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/8006751-velux-more-natural-light-shine-in-africa/
As “The Oprah Winfrey Show” nears the end of its 25th and final season, the Friday, May 20 episode of the program featured an hour titled “Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Guest Revealed!” updating viewers on the lives of some of the program's most memorable guests. During the show, Oprah also revealed that her favorite guest of all-time is Tererai Trent, a woman from the village of Zvipani in Zimbabwe.
Tererai touched the lives of millions when she first appeared on the program in 2009, sharing her passion for an education, and a lifelong dream to go to school.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/savechildren/50389/
Welcome to Zimbabwe. We’re in the nation’s capital, Harare. And this is Rufaro Stadium. The Zimbabwean finals of the Volkswagen Junior Masters recently took place here. The Volkswagen Junior Masters is a global football development tournament that culminates in May when teams from twenty countries will participate in the world finals, to be held at the famed Bernabeaú Stadium in Madrid, Spain. Zimbabwe’s national team failed to qualify for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in neighboring South Africa but hopes are high that Zimbabwe’s junior players will perform well in Spain.
Approximately one year after leading roof window manufacturer VELUX Group joined forces with social business Little Sun and NGO Plan International, launching a design competition to bring clean, sustainable light to Africa, the first solar lamps have now arrived on African soil.
The VELUX Natural Light International Design Competition received 172 proposals from 65 countries. A high-level jury of experts in the fields of architecture, art and design subsequently selected the winning design, by Mariana Arando and Luca Fondello of the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their solar lamp design was inspired by the way light can bring people together.
The VELUX Group has so far produced and donated 14,500 of the solar-powered lamps, and 150 local sales agents are now being trained in how to sell the lamps in off-grid communities in Senegal, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The training combines workshops, roleplay, demonstrations, and group work.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7724551-velux-natural-light-solar-lamps-in-africa/
Today leading window manufacturer The VELUX Group and the social business Little Sun announce a partnership with the NGO Plan International to distribute a new solar lamp – the Natural Light solar lamp – in three African countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia and Senegal. The partnership with Plan International will deliver sustainable solar-powered light to people living off-grid in areas without electricity, through a program that involves and empowers local communities.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7519251-velux-plan-partners-solar-africa/
Globally, 1.2 billion people have no access to electricity. On the occasion of VELUX 75th anniversary the company decided to address this issue. Together with the social business Little Sun and the NGO Plan International they are collaborating to bring clean, reliable and affordable light to off-grid regions in Zambia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.
14,500 Natural Light lamps from the VELUX Group have now arrived in Africa and the first recipients can already look forward to a better quality of life.
Among them are young girls between 10 and 18 years of age who live in a safe house in the slum area Mntendere in the Zambian capital Lusaka.
"The lamps mean the girls can do their homework when they get back from school and can feel safer at night, instead of huddling together in the dark after sunset. And it’s particularly important for our children that they feel safe – many are carrying the mental baggage such as the trauma of violence, rape or drugs," says safe house manager Verann Delarey.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7769151-velux-natural-light-and-life-zambia/
Watch on http://www.chauya-chauya.com Chauya
Chauya: A Risky Life is 69-minute documentary about how a group of
women survive on the streets of Zimbabwe. The film intimately captures
in close-up details of the life or death decisions they make every
single night. From the poverty stricken streets of Harare Zimbabwe
comes reality in the form of the world's oldest profession.
Prostitution in Zimbabwe, where 10 to 25 percent of the population is
estimated to be HIV positive is a risky business.
With 830 women dying every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and over 16,000 children under age five dying daily, Bayer and the White Ribbon Alliance today released critical policy recommendations and launched community programs to support the reduction and prevention of maternal, newborn and child mortality in two developing countries.1,2
Established through a three-year $1.3 million commitment from Bayer, these programs will expand work conducted by White Ribbon Alliance in Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to support the United Nations Secretary General’s Every Woman Every Child movement.
This announcement comes at the one-year anniversary of the Bayer/White Ribbon Alliance commitment in support of the Every Woman Every Child movement and will contribute to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/77126510-bayer-white-ribbon-alliance-self-care/
