Light For Learning

Light For Learning bettered education conditions for "SHARE in Africa" girls in Tanzania

SHARE launched the LIGHT FOR LEARNING campaign to bring electricity to our SHARE rooms.  Click here to watch our short video.

Today SHARE libraries that were dark and gloomy are now bright and useful in the evenings and through the long rainy season thanks to the successful Light for Learning fundraising campaign. Hundreds of SHARE girls, as well as thousands of other students and local villagers, have all benefited. SHARE is proud to have installed electricity into two schools and solar power into a third school.  Tanzania has one of the lowest rates of electrification in the world. According to a 2007 report, only 10% of the population have access to the electricity grid, and in rural areas only 2% have access, leaving people dependent on increasingly expensive kerosene for lighting.  

What was the problem?

No power in the Kangabusharo Primary School, Kiteyagwa Primary School and Kagemy Secondary School SHARE rooms. Like most schools in rural Tanzania, the SHARE schools had no electricity. Children cannot learn after school hours, and during the day on the long rainy season because of darkness. The lake littoral zone in which the SHARE programs are located has about 8 months of heavy rain. When it rains, the entire place gets dark, even at midday. The SHARE girls were often being taught in darkness. In addition, it is difficult to recruit quality teachers to a school without electricity.

What was the solution?

Providing electricity. Once electricity was installed:

  • Girls were able to make the most effective use of the SHARE library and SHARE program, consequently improving the chances of furthering their education.
  • Educational activities and innovations (computers and other types of audio-visual materials) to facilitate learning are now able to be utilized.
  • The SHARE room has become a community center and contributes to social cohesion.