Making the real change happen

As many people who made real change in the world, Evans Wadongo would not be recognized by many in the crowd or on city streets. But the truth is, this young man is truly exceptional and has already changed thousands of lives in his home country Kenya with his solar lamp project. 


While at university, Evans designed a solar lamp which he calls "MwangaBora (Swahili for good light). He told us: "I saved money from my scholarship - it was about $50".  He named his whole project "Use Solar, Save Lives" as the goal is to improve lives in the poor rural communities. The lamps are adjusted and designed based on needs of a particular rural community.

Sauder Africa team usually faces a big challenge when trying to get our students to understand what is the uniqueness of their buisness and what problem they are trying to solve in their community. Evans nailed his explanation. "I was growing up in the village but I did not see any change. People were developing problems with their eye-sight as they were using kerosene lamps and the long exposure to the smoke caused many problems. There is so much going on in the world and you (westerners) can all read about it in the newspapers or on the internet but I did not see change. I did not see any change happen."
There are many Kenyan communities who live on less than a dollar a day. With that dollar, they have to secure food for their family but also buy kerosene for their lamps. For many of them kerosene is expensive. By using solar lamps, they can save money and avoid health problem. Evans' goals is to distribute 100,000 lamps by 2015.


I presume that the biggest reward for him is the change that he sees with his project. But the international community did not overlook his achievements. Evans was voted one of the CNN top ten heroes of 2010. In 2011, he was named one of the three recipients of the inaugural Mikhail Gorbachev Award for "people who changed the world" and also announced as one of the Social Entrepreneurs of the year by Schwab Foundation. 

Having him attend Sauder Africa Initiative team meeting was a lucky break. He was visiting Vancouver for another purpose but made time in his busy schedule to come and speak to the team. Thank you for inspiration Evans and we will see you in Nairobi!