Solar task lights - buy one, give one free charity program

[DesertRose]

Thanks a million to DesertDouglas for providing us with the link to this incredible business that is bringing safe, healthy, affordable light to people in the developing world.

African Conservation Fund signed up as a distribution partner. For each light you buy for yourself, we get an identical one plus $1 cash - if you choose us in the dropdown menu. We will ensure that the lights are distributed to poverty-stricken villages in East Africa, especially in areas where highly marginalized people like the Maasai are trying to also conserve wildlife, land, and their culture.

BoGo Light - Help Light the World! (www.bogolight.com)

The statistics are sobering:

- 2 billion people are without access to safe, affordable, healthy light at night

- 1.6 million die each year from bio-mass inhalation from dirty light sources (flames)

- Billions of batteries are discarded annually in the U.S. alone

- 100 kilos of carbon gas are emitted from one kerosene lamp each year, contributing to global climate change


The man who started this company is Mark Bent, an ex-Marine, 20+ year veteran of foriegn service as a diplomat, who saw a great need and is doing something about it. He's a dedicated person, and a nice guy as well!

It's amazing that something we take for granted every day is so needed throughout the world.

Help us out, help out people who have no other alternatives, and you get a cool light to boot!

 

[DesertDouglas]

I'm so glad you got ACF on the donor list--I just ordered two. Not only is it for a good cause, but also appears to be a good product: http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ninth/bogo.htm

 

[Desertdude]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in for a nice handful, they will make great gifts, as well as support concept :victory:

 

[calamaridog]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be in for a nice handful, they will make great gifts, as well as support concept :victory:

These will make excellent stocking stuffers this year

 

[DaktariEd]

Cool News! :wings:
I'm in...two lights ordered!
:sombrero:

You know...I think my sister's pretty cool!

 

[Scott Brady]

Very cool, just made your bags to Africa a little heavier

 

[Kilroy]

It's nice to be given the chance to help with someone on the other end who can monitor a programs performance.

I'll be participating.

 

[DesertRose]

It's nice to be given the chance to help with someone on the other end who can monitor a programs performance.

I'll be participating.

I think this is a very exciting business model - who says a U.S. business can't make a profit AND do good for the world?

By bringing in legitimate partners who are involved in on-the-ground work, they can guarantee the lights go to the needy. They also understand that we need a little cash to help move the lights, so there is $1 cash donation built into each purchase - that helps us with transport cost and customs fees (read: "creative use of funds to help move things through customs").

I think the founder's experience both in military and in foriegn service taught him where the holes are in aid programs . . . imagine if a big aid organization was doing this: the lights would cost $100 each, they'd stockpile them in some Geneva warehouse for five years, then someone would find them and not know what they were for, and then they'd be given to the "field teams" driving the $50,000 Land Cruisers around Africa and staying at $200/night hotels . . . Me, cynical?!

 

[calamaridog]

I couldn't wait till Christmas so I've ordered one for myself. I love the idea of providing someone with something so useful and I love flashlights. How can I go wrong here

 

[HenryJ]

I am forever a skeptic, and do not wish to offend. What a way to start a post

Has anyone tried one of these lights first? Are they sturdy? Do they actually work well? Do they last? Do these people actually want them?

Are you just sending a bunch of plastic to be disposed of in a foreign country?

I would not want to send radio shack CB radios to our troops in Iraq. The thought is good , but if it does not really meet the needs , perhaps a donation directly to a person that can use the funds for what is needed to meet specific daily needs is money better spent?

I have donated medical supplies to countries with limited means. We filled a list. Sending them what seems like good supplies here may have been a burden and useless junk to them. IV kits are great. But with out IV bags they are useless. Thousands of syringes are great, but without needles they are plastic junk.

I know it is easier to get someone to donate when there is "something in it for them". You get a light and feel better since it was a donation to someone else. The light arrives and it is a $4 piece of junk. You still feel OK, since you contributed to a good cause. Would the money have been better spent sending it directly the the people who need it to buy solar panels to provide power for a school?

Please don't think me a scrooge, or wet blanket. I think the idea is good, but I am somewhat skeptical. Enlighten me. (kind of a play on words there :wings: )

 

[Desertdude]

I think Mark Bent thought it out before sending junk... I haven't met any human who doesn't want to be in the "Light"

True nothing made lasts forever and I imagine Mark Bent could create another side buisness there replacing lights in due time.

http://www.sunnightsolar.com/Technology.php

http://www.lawcents.com/bizcents/bogolight-case-study/first-steps

http://eetd.lbl.gov/EMills/EMbody.html

In developed countries, flashlights are not a primary source of light; in fact, they are often considered nothing more than utility or emergency lights. Though the technology may exist to make a durable, solar flashlight, there is actually a strong disincentive to develop it. Consider the multi-billion dollar disposable battery industry (ie. Energizer and Duracell). They certainly would not be happy with something like a durable solar flashlight that only needed battery changes every 2-3 years.

Also, there simply isn’t a red-hot commercial market for them in the developed world. Rule #1 is that business only gets involved when there is money to be made.

Furthermore, few (if any) businesses would spend the resources to design a product whose main use is in Africa and the developing world because these areas are not primary markets for anything except weapons. The developing world is the “after market” where we dump all our used goods and goods that we cannot sell in other developed countries, often because they do not meet strict environmental and health regulations. I wish this was make-believe, but it’s all true. If you are skeptical, research it for yourself and let me know if I’m wrong. I will gladly revise this page.
What about non-profits and non-governmental organizations that operate in the developing world? Yes, there are quite a few of them, but they mainly focus on the most basic human necessities like hunger and health. These types of organizations are geared more towards services and distribution of goods rather than R&D anyway.

Ok…what about the Africans themselves; why don’t they help their own people? Most Africans do not have the time or resources to develop a solution for their own lighting problem. They are too busy eking out a living and trying to stay alive. Africans that do have the resources have little desire to help - unless you “make it worth their while,” of course. Corruption is a terrible and rampant problem in the developing world.

 

[calamaridog]

Please don't think me a scrooge, or wet blanket. I think the idea is good, but I am somewhat skeptical. Enlighten me. (kind of a play on words there :wings: )

Henry,

Based on the review here:

http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ninth/bogo.htm

I decided to try it out, as it sounds functional.

Also, I selected Roseann's group to receive the bonus light, since I trust her judgement regarding the usefullness of said item to those people her group tries to help out.

:beer:

 

[HenryJ]

Based on the review here:

http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/ninth/bogo.htm

I decided to try it out, as it sounds functional.

Also, I selected Roseann's group to receive the bonus light, since I trust her judgement regarding the usefullness of said item to those people her group tries to help out.

I will be interested to see both of your reviews. I have been watching that testing and it didn't look all that promising to me. The light does have a large storage capacity. With that it could run for a long time with a full charge. There after the available sun is not enough to recharge to capacity in a day. I doubt that each user will take the time to rotate it to receive full exposure during the days charging cycle. Once the charge is down there seems to be 50 minutes of light to 10% each night.
For someone who does not research and understand what is happening here, it would seem to be defective and perhaps discarded? All this testing is done in the last few days. Where will it be three months from now. In use, or gathering dust on a lonely windowsill?
I think the premise is good. I do not have the answer, nor do I have any good idea what that may be. I know that this addition would not reduce my use of a gas lantern as a primary light source. I wonder if it will change their normal operating procedures?
I think it is a clever marketing idea, that tugs at the heart strings. That may not be the intent and all the energies may be genuine.
I am trying to shed some light in the shadows and see if there are other things we should be examining.

As with any new toy it is shiny and fun at first. Once the rose colored glasses come off how does it really work.
I work for a non profit organization. We receive donations and appreciate every one no matter how it may or may not help someone. People are not nearly as generous as they once were. Help is needed worse now than ever before. I can see soliciting assistance from any source available.
I do not know Roseann. I hope she will be able to give us a first hand report on how fast the product is received , what it takes to put them into service and what happens to them months from now.
If they turn out to be no more than a kids toy, I guess that is not such a bad thing. There are much worse toys.
People are creatures of habit. It takes a huge effort to change our routine. Generations more often than not. Is it wishful thinking to expect this to make a difference?
Would a solar panel and pump to supply fresh water from a well be a better investment?
Is there something better that could have been done with the $20 you each donate to the charity? If five of you purchased lights, what could Roseann have done with that $100? Would she have bought five flashlights?

I can see another side here. Something is usually better than nothing.
Would any of you just sent her cause $20. Not likely. This way there was something in it for you. They benefit by drawing you in to donate. Good marketing. I can find no fault in achieving a method that provides a return.

 

[DaktariEd]

I just received my two BoGo lights yesterday, charged them up in the afternoon sun, and poof! Let there be light!

My first impression on seeing the light was that it's bigger than I thought. It is 8-1/2" long, the grip 2-1/2" wide, and it is 1-1/8" thick. A large loop designed into the body has a retractable clip that allows it to be clipped to a belt or cord and carried along, or perhaps hung on or in a hut.

The light it produces is very adequate for getting around at night. Here in the Sonoran desert, I would probably walk a little slower and keep my eyes down a bit more, mush as I do with my own Tikka headlamp...don't want to aggravate a rattlesnake!

But let me address a couple of things. Having worked via a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization in Kenya on multiple occasions I think I can speak with some authority.

When the sun goes down in Africa, it gets dark...really dark! On many occasions as we were driving back to our "base" after dark, we were startled at how many people were still out walking along the roadsides, and particularly how suddenly they came into view. We had more than a few close calls. Of course they choose the roads because they can walk there without having to see well where they are stepping. They trust that the road won't drop away or that they will step on something unpleasant.

But that is not always the case. We've had a number of people brought into our clinics with injuries sustained in nighttime falls. And we've seen a few roadside fatalities from trucks hitting pedestrians. So...could they use the lights? Absolutely.

The use of various types of lamps inside huts is common. The fuels vary depending on location and availability. The byproducts of combustion are not healthy. I can't cite figures, but untold numbers of people are made ill from these pollutants every year. It is likely that life expectancy is reduced as a result. I think reducing this kind of exposure is a good idea.

Will they get charged effectively? Yes, I think so. It has been my observation that a gift like this is not casually laid aside but will likely be carried with them. It's almost a status symbol. If hung on a belt or similar I think the charge would be good. Even if it does not point directly at the sun, the equatorial sun is brutal! If they recipient is counseled appropriately when the lights are given to them the problem should be minimized or eliminated.

If they don't charge fully, will the user still have enough light? Well it sure would be more than they had before they had the BoGo light!

Will they think them defective and discard them? Possibly, but I doubt it. Again...initial counseling. I don't see anyone giving these lights out to millions of people. I would envision very few on a per capita basis.

Help is needed worse now than ever before. I can see soliciting assistance from any source available.

:iagree:

I do not know Roseann. I hope she will be able to give us a first hand report on how fast the product is received , what it takes to put them into service and what happens to them months from now.

I'll bet she will...

Is it wishful thinking to expect this to make a difference?

Not at all! How many people does it take to make a difference? I'd say just one. That's the premise we operate under. If we can prevent a single child from losing their hearing or vision or losing a limb to an infection, if we can stave off malnutrition for even a short while...then we've made a difference. Too many of us in the "1st world" think we have to effect change for tens of thousands in order for it to count as "making a difference." We don't. All it takes is one person doing one act of kindness to affect one person. The result may be small or it may be huge. Only time will tell.

Would a solar panel and pump to supply fresh water from a well be a better investment

No, no, no! Africa is rife with well intentioned but poorly considered "acts of kindness." A case in point is a large bore hole ( = a well) and storage tank sitting unused near our service area in Webuye, Kenya. Put in by the Norwegian government (IIRC), it sits idle because there are no funds to bring in electricity, add a pump or plumbing...not to mention the cost of upkeep over the years. The project was doomed before they started.

A better bet is a manually operated pump that kids operate...they rock back and forth (or round and round...can't find my link) and bring the water to the surface. Simple. Only a couple of moving parts that anyone (maybe even me) could fix. Now THAT is a great investment...if you can find anyone putting the idea into action.

Is there something better that could have been done with the $20 you each donate to the charity? If five of you purchased lights, what could Roseann have done with that $100? Would she have bought five flashlights?

Not sure...we should ask her...

I think the bottom line here is that IMO this is a good idea, a good start. The longest journey begins with a single step....and the biggest changes start with a single individual.

Just my 2 Kenya Shillings,

:sombrero:
Ed

 

[Desertdude]

Thanks for your insight Ed

I think the bottom line here is that IMO this is a good idea, a good start. The longest journey begins with a single step....and the biggest changes start with a single individual.

Well said...