Karin Lerche and Nanna Birk are graduate students at Denmark’s Roskilde University who recently went to India for their fieldwork. They brought a few Little Sun solar lamps to Rishikesh, an area in northern India in the Himalayan foothills, hoping to distribute them in the area, as very few people have electricity. As part two of a special two-part post, here is an account of their experience, in their own words:
The oldest man in the village is Panchamp Singh. He is 65 years old, and we met him on the top of a roof, where he was sitting with a little baby on his lap. In India it is a common part of family structures that the elderly in the family takes care of the small children, while the younger are working and supporting the family. When we gave Panchamp the lamp, he said:
“This is a relief. Now I don’t have to go down the mountain to buy batteries for my flashlight. It’s a tough trip for me, and it is very expensive to buy batteries. I will use the lamp to move around in the village in the evening. My eyesight is bad, so the lamp will make it much safe for me to move around.”
