The other world of the kerosene lamp

 

Having electric service in our homes always seems to be the logical and normal thing, as well as having public lighting and maintaining the business sector with this service as well. It is definitely almost unthinkable to conceive of life without electricity. However, for more than a fifth of the world's population, life is different, they suffer from so-called energy poverty even though more than 150 years have passed since the invention of electric light. According to the numbers, super conservative by the way, from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and the World Bank, currently, 3,000 million people (40% of the world population) live in a situation of energy poverty in the world, of which 1.1 billion (equivalent to 14% of the world's population) do not have access to electricity. Of these, 87% live in rural areas, especially the poor populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Likewise, there are millions of people, outside the range of the very poor, who still lack electricity or modern fuels for cooking. In Latin America and the Caribbean, around 40 million people are estimated to be without access to electricity.

Rural communities in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Central America are among the most affected regions. The same applies to the indigenous population, where at least 50% is excluded from this service. What can we do? The answer is only one: It is urgent to act, as a great "Without Borders" volunteer group, together with companies, charitable foundations or individuals, and to go and make our contribution, either in terms of knowledge and dedication, initially reusing the millions of old solar panels and other components that are already being disincorporated by the new generation and going out to install them in those ignored and forgotten communities of oil lamps and candles. Lubio Lenin Cardozo