FAQs
Solar Animations, FAQs and Energy Poverty Resources.
Watch our original FAQs animations about how solar lights change lives and find answers to your questions below.
Let There Be Light International 101
Resources & FAQs
Changing Lives 1:00
Solar lights replace dangerous and polluting kerosene, enabling off-grid families to live healthier, safer lives.
Meet Tereza 1:00
Solar lights replace dangerous and polluting kerosene, enabling off-grid families to live healthier, safer lives.
Solar Health Care 1:20
Hear from nurse Grace in Uganda as she explains how Solar has improved healthcare access and delivery in her rural clinic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is Let There Be Light International a tax-exempt charitable organization?
Where is Let There Be Light International located?
Let There Be Light International is headquartered in Buffalo, NY. Our mailing address is: LTBLI at dig, 640 Ellicott St., #12B, Buffalo, NY 14203. Our email is: [email protected]
Where does Let There Be Light International work?
Our direct service solar programming is conducted in partnership with vetted local NGOs in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Rwanda.
LTBLI’s primary Implementation and Programming Partner is Solar Health Uganda. Our solar projects in Rwanda are supported by an initiative of LTBLI called Shine On Rwanda.
Our advocacy and outreach is global, as we work to raise awareness about energy poverty and appropriate social safety-net interventions. Our team serves on international working groups and participates in global networks devoted to Climate Action and eliminating Energy Poverty. Read LTBLI’s Executive Director’s statement given on behalf of the United Nations NGO Major Group delivered at the UN High Level Political Forum on July 8th, 2021 here.
Check out an interactive map created by Annie Lee here.
Whom does Let There Be Light International serve?
Let There Be Light International serves vulnerable off-grid communities and individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. We actively seek to promote equity and inclusion in all of our solar programming.
In order to ensure access and equity, all Distribution Partner Organizations submit in writing a statement that the Distribution Partner NGO does not discriminate against employees, volunteers, and/or solar light recipients based on race, sex, gender, religion, age, disability status, pregnancy, marital status, parental status, veteran status, military status, domestic violence victim status, national origin, political affiliation, predisposing genetic characteristics, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.
Let There Be Light International will not partner with any organization where discriminatory practices exist or when the requested information is not provided.
Who are Let There Be Light International's partners in Africa?
Let There Be Light International has 12 grassroots implementation partners in 4 countries.
Our primary partner in the region is Solar Health Uganda, a subsidiary of KACCAD. Together we have solar-electrified 90 rural off-grid health clinics and donated more than 46,000 solar lights to at-risk families.
Other Ugandan partners are: CESA-Uganda; Sisters of Mary; the Kisoro Elders Project and the Center for Aging in Uganda; Defeating Darkness Community Initiative; ElSeed Art Foundation, a Palliative Care pilot project in Uganda, and the Ugandan Spelling Bee.
In Kenya we partner with IMPACT-Kenya on individual solar light projects for indigenous people in the Samburu region. We also work with PACEMaker International on educational solar programming.
Our active partner in Malawi is Compassionate Missions Center.
And, our newest partner is NPO-TER in Rwanda.
Who are Let There Be Light International's global partners?
Let There Be Light International is proud to partner with Solar Health Uganda, Doctors for Global Health and the Kisoro Elders Project, Wharton Global Impact Consultants, Every Woman Every Child, the UN NGO Major Group and Women’s Major Group, and others.
Why solar?
Solar lights are a viable and affordable safety-net intervention in low-resource, off-grid communities in Africa. 860 million people live without access to electricity, and the majority of them (80%) live in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of electricity impacts the health, safety and economic stability of entire communities. Visit our Why Light page here.
How can I volunteer?
Thanks for asking! Let There Be Light International (LTBLI) is impacting thousands of lives thanks to volunteers all around the world. In fact, LTBLI has only 1 half-time staff member in the US. And, almost all of our solar projects are implemented with volunteer support in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and Malawi.
In the US, we need volunteers to raise awareness about Energy Poverty through outreach and educational events and to raise funds to brighten lives. ($15 donates a solar light to a vulnerable family).
Contact us here to receive a solar Party-in-a-Box to create your own small event. (Please note that we require a minimum raise of $500 for each Party-in-a-Box). For more information about volunteering, visit us here.
How can I donate?
Let There Be Light International relies on your generous donations and grants to provide solar programming to vulnerable communities in Africa. Join us in lighting lives by donating here.
Donations are accepted by credit card, check, PayPal, or a gift of stocks through StockDonator.
Interested in impacting an entire community? Check out our sponsorship opportunities here.
How Solar is Lighting a Path out of Poverty at the 2024 NGO CSW
LTBLI Executive Director, Sarah Baird, joins Solar Health Uganda and Solar Cookstoves International at the UN NGO Committee on the Status of Women parallel event to explore how solar can light a path out of poverty. With a focus on the health, safety and economic empowerment of women and girls in resource-constrained settings, this session offers solutions and demonstrates the impact of solar programming on vulnerable communities. Thank you to the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist Women for hosting this informative session.
Safe Births + Healthy Homes at the 2021 NGO Committee on the Status of Women Forum 60:43
Energy Poverty Consultant, Caroline Mwebaza, from Solar Health Uganda joins LTBLI Executive Director Sarah Baird, and Board Members Shreya Nathan and Ben Kerman at the 65th NGO Committee on the Status of Women Forum to discuss Safe Births + Healthy Homes, an innovative maternal and child health intervention in off-grid communities in Uganda.
Help us keep the light shining.
Your donation provides light to communities in need and furthers the global Sustainable Development Goals.