Illuminating lives in Papua New Guinea

Send to a Friend
Print

When 2002 Laureate, Canadian Dave Irvine-Halliday, a University of Calgary professor and photonics specialist, came up with the concept for the Light Up The World (LUTW) 10 years ago, he never thought that his project to bring lighting to remote regions of the world would have such a global impact on the lives of impoverished people.

Thanks to solar-powered, Solid-State Lighting (SSL) LED systems, today more than 100,000 people in 51 countries in Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America have access to safe, healthy and affordable lighting. Furthermore, families that no longer need to buy kerosene for lamps are saving money, often spending it on educating their children, the Laureate says.

The research and design of the SSL lamps are the result of collaboration between academics and members of the LED (light-emitting diode) industry, as well as feedback from the community. “The new LUTW SSL system brings five times more light than in 2002,” says Irvine-Halliday. “Micro-credit initiatives have also contributed to spreading the ever more efficient technology. If we want to bring this safe lighting to the 100 million families around the world who still need it, the solution is to expand partnerships with like-minded organizations and microfinance institutions in as many countries as possible.”

In 2007, Light Up The World launched the Light Up Papua New Guinea project with Sally and Tim Goddard, in memory of their daughter, Captain Nichola Goddard, who was killed in Afghanistan in May 2006, the first female Canadian soldier to die in combat. Nichola was born in Papua New Guinea in 1980 and spent the first three years of her life there with her parents, teachers working with the local community to build new schools.

“Light Up Papua New Guinea is a fitting legacy for Nichola because she was passionate about helping people and improving the lives of others,” says Dr Goddard, a former vice provost at the University of Calgary.

By 2015, the Light Up Papua New Guinea project aims to install the cutting-edge lighting system in more than 1,100 first-aid posts, which are at the front line of health care in isolated villages. Several dozen rural health centres have now been equipped with lighting and, with the “2nd Chapter” push in 2009 to introduce the programme to more people and to raise funds, the team expects to accelerate the light installations and ultimately reach their goal.

Health worker Moses Tobwayoyu, who oversees the first-aid centre in the village of Kaibola that serves more than 2,000 people, says that with well-lit clinics, locals will no longer be afraid to come at night, the usual time of emergencies. Rather, they will feel reassured that they no longer will be treated for injuries or give birth by the light of hazardous kerosene lanterns.

Light Up Papua New Guinea is only one of dozens of international humanitarian aid projects that have been supported by Light Up The World. In February 2009, prompted by a Canadian diplomat at the United Nations in Geneva, the Rolex Laureate was invited to address a forum at the École Politique Fédérale de Lausanne about his passion for life-enhancing projects and tomorrow’s practical uses of light-emitting diodes.

Send to a Friend
Print

“

Thanks to Light Up the World, today more than 100,000 people in 51 countries have access to safe, healthy and affordable lighting.”

Illuminating lives in Papua New Guinea

Get Inspired