Energy creates
more than
light
Many local and Indigenous communities around the world have been and continue to be affected by the extraction of fossil fuels and energy production.
This is the case for the Indigenous peoples we work with in the Amazon rainforest. After the oil industry invaded/entered their lands in the 1960s, nothing was like before. The waterways along which life traditionally took place were poisoned, the soil contaminated. Access roads cut into their homelands, destroying pristine ecosystems and the rich animal and plant life.
This is also the case with many large-scale renewable energy projects developed by public and private actors without the respect for the rights, land and culture of Indigenous peoples. For example, some of the Emera communities we work with in Panama were evicted from their lands and rivers in the 1970s to make way for a hydroelectric dam.
These developments have exacerbated and continue to exacerbate land displacement environmental, health and cultural degradation, as well as increased violence and human rights violations. And while Indigenous peoples bear the brunt of these developments and the global fossil-fueled climate and environmental crises, they themselves lack access to energy and continue to be marginalized, discriminated and criminalized.
In this context, Love For Life focuses on creating decentralized, independent and community-led access to solar energy with the most vulnerable and hardest to reach local and Indigenous rainforest communities.
Impact
In-Depth
Our solar program ensures sustainable access to reliable, off-grid and clean solar energy, covering 100% of the energy needs of the Indigenous families we work with.
Access to electricity opens many new opportunities for self-determined development and income generating activities (that are in line with their own vision), thus contributing significantly to economic empowerment.
With access to electricity, new employment opportunities as well as traditional income generating activities, such as the creation of artisanal products, are now easier to carry out. The use of electrical appliances and light increase productivity and extends available time.
The training of Indigenous solar technicians and trainers leads to sustainable job creation based on the self-formulated vision of the Indigenous peoples.
Women are more likely to benefit from access to electricity. This gendered impact is partly related to women’s traditional role – as responsible for cooking, cleaning and other domestic chores – and the greater amount of time they spend in the home.
Light and access to electricity significantly reduces these burdens by allowing women to manage their time and domestic tasks more flexibly, making the home a healthier, safer and more comfortable place. It also opens doors to new economic and social opportunities, allowing women to challenge unjust gender roles.
Clean energy replaces dangerous and harmful kerosene lamps and candles, as well as expensive and polluting diesel generators. This has significant benefits for indoor air quality, respiratory health and eyesight.
Night births can now be accompanied with light and, increasing the life expectancy of both mother and child. Saved income can be used to purchase life-saving medicines, which also can be refrigerated and made available.
Families can use kitchen appliances such as blenders and, in some cases, refrigerators.
With light and electricity, children are able to do their homework, use electronic devises and study for school after dark, leading to greater opportunities for self-empowerment. Studies show that an extra hour of light per day significantly increases educational opportunities, benefiting the entire community in the long run.
“When your child needs light to do their homework at night and the only option is a gas-powered generator, what else can you do? Here in Mañoko we had to sell bush meat that was meant to feed our families in order to buy gasoline.”
– Armando Ibañez, Secoya Nation, Amazon
Men and women can pursue their handicrafts in the evening, when the heat of the day has passed and work is more comfortable. Their cultural art is made for personal use or to sell at local markets.
“In the past, we had to use the proceeds from the sale of our artisanal handicrafts to buy gasoline to power generators. Now we can fulfill other important needs. We can buy books for our children to go to school and they can use the light to do their homework and study in the evening.”
– Felipe Enqueri, Waorani Nation, Amazon
Solar energy supports the preservation of the rainforest, which is the “life insurance” of the Indigenous peoples whose very existence depends on it. The forest is their home, their supermarket, their university, their pharmacy – it is their life.
Off-grid solar energy prevents uninformed trade-offs with extractive industries, such as access to land for drilling in exchange for fuel to power generators.
Indigenous community land patrols can recharge GPS, camera traps, drones and other equipment used to detect and stop illegal incursions into sovereign Indigenous territories by poachers, loggers, miners, oil companies and other threats.
The possibility to recharge laptops and GPS devices has enabled robust and effective community participatory mapping processes necessary for Indigenous efforts to gain legal title to ancestral lands stolen from them in past generations.
Communities can use solar power to recharge batteries for high frequency radios. HF radios are critical for maintaining communication between remote communities, calling for medical evacuations in case of emergency, and listening to regional news and educational programs.
Solar energy makes it easier to share up-to-date information and emergencies to keep communities safe.
Entdecke unser
Programm für
Herzzentriertes
Bewusstsein