Students provide light and hope

Year Seven students constructing Solar Lights

Lumen Christi College has helped provide solar lights to children in Papua New Guinea living in energy poverty.

During a challenging year, the College heard people from PNG had given the Bega Valley community $60,000, so it wanted to strengthen that bond of friendship.

With support from the Tathra Hotel and ClubGrants, the College partnered with charity SolarBuddy.

Year 7 STEM students at the College worked together to assemble the SolarBuddy lights and hand-wrote personal letters to accompany them. Merimbula Rotary has agreed to ensure that the lights get to where they are most needed.

Vanuatu students receiving lights

With the solar lights, children in PNG will experience better education outcomes by using a reliable, clean source of light, as well as improvements to their overall health and wellbeing. The lights will also have a positive economic impact as families will reduce expenditure on fuel, batteries and electricity.

This is the third year that Lumen Christi has taken part in the Solar Buddy program. Last year Lumen Christi gifted lights to children in Vanuatu in the wake of cyclone Harold.

“Education needs to offer opportunities where students do more than talk about sustainability and caring for others,” Facilitator of Pedagogy Wendy Mockler said.

Year 7 STEM students

“Our next generation want to make a difference to people’s lives. Reeling from the losses from the bushfires and subsequent failed tourist seasons, our students are asking deep and probing questions about energy use and how to create a better world.

“We need to give our students a sense of hope and community in facing the loss and challenges of 2020, and putting yourself in the service of others does that.”