Solar Electric Light Fund

The eBay Community donates $40,000 to bring solar power and clean water to two African villages

Village by village across the poorest regions of the world, the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) is empowering people to rise out of poverty. SELF is building "whole-village" solar electrification projects, providing the electric power that makes possible water pumping and purification, drip irrigation, health clinics, schools, and everything else a village with no resources of its own requires in order to function and grow.

In Benin, West Africa, SELF has been able to purchase water pumps that will bring clean water to two remote northern villages for the first time, thanks to more than $40,000 in donations made at checkout by eBay buyers, mostly $1 at a time.

An eBay connection
Back in the USA, eBay employee Bence Oliver was about to start a two-month sabbatical, and wanted to work hands-on with a project that was changing people's lives. A colleague introduced him to SELF, and he in turn introduced SELF to eBay's Give At Checkout program.

When SELF was featured in Give At Checkout, the eBay Community responded immediately, donating more than $18,000 in just one week and a total of close to $40,000 during three separate weeks, enough to complete the solar project and purchase the water pumping and distribution systems for the two villages, Dunkassa and Bessassi.

Bence Oliver says, "The first installation of the project was already done, so the concept was proven. SELF already had a skill set that I couldn't provide on site. My role was raising the funds needed to complete the project, then going to Benin and providing any labor that I could."

A work in progress
"Thanks to the people who shop on eBay we'll have close to 10,000 people in West Africa whose health and livelihoods will be improved by having access to clean drinking water right in their home villages," says Robert Freling, SELF's executive director.

Once the water pumps are in place, the women and girls will no longer have to walk miles to obtain fresh water. The benefits will be countless, including the fact that girls will be able to stay in school, because they won't have to help their mothers carry water from distant sources.

SELF is committed to providing whole-village solar electric systems for 42 more rural farming communities in this part of Benin. It's the largest project the organization has ever undertaken since its founding in 1990. "By bringing solar energy to power their schools, homes, health clinics, street lights, and microenterprise centers, we can empower Beninese women and their families to lift themselves out of poverty, ensuring a brighter future for all," says Freling.

Solar Electric Light Fund

Want to help the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF) empower women in the developing world to lift themselves out of poverty?

Make them a Favorite Nonprofit—you can donate $1-$25 every time you checkout on eBay.

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