Unite to Light was founded to accomplish a very simple goal: Give people across the developing world — where more than one billion live without electricity — small solar-powered lamps so that they can easily read and study at night. Since 2011, the Santa Barbara–based organization has distributed more than 115,000 lights and chargers, which are now also used by midwives to deliver babies at night and in disaster relief efforts across the globe.
The bright 20-Lumen LED is designed for reading up to eight hours a night, which is equivalent to 2,920 hours of homework per year! In South Africa, that’s increased graduation rates by 20 to 30 percent each year.
Flexible gooseneck is easy for shipping, stuffing into a bag, or hanging from whatever. This is particularly handy for midwives, who deliver 150 to 200 babies annually, based on projects in Bangladesh and Somaliland. “One of these little $10 lights is helping 200 women and their children and their families each year,” said the organization’s president Megan Birney.