On 31st March, 2023 the Founder and Administrator of Patmos Cottage School, Mr. Richard Wanjala Manya, received a donation of 17 solar lanterns from Japanese NGO First Access.  First Access is a Non-governmental non-profit making organisation of Tokyo University students. They support children in Africa and are committed to provide continuous support to off-grid children with donations of solar lanterns.  Patmos Cottage School were donated 10 solar lanterns with the remaining 7 lanterns designated for families in the rural Mount Elgon region.  Richard will be responsible for overseeing the distribution of the lanterns and the selection of the recipient children and families. 

 

On Thursday 7th April, 2023 Richard transported 7 solar lanterns to the Mount Elgon region where he identified those families who would most benefit from the lanterns. He reported that the recipient families in this remote region region were very happy with this initiative from First Access.  Their children are now benefiting from the donation of solar lanterns which will enable them to do their home-work at night.

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A distribution of the 10 remaining lanterns to children and families who live in Mathare, took place at Patmos School on Monday 17th April, 2023 at the start of the new school term. 

 

Over the last few years First Access have been supporting Patmos Cottage School with donations of solar lanterns and in March of 2018 they facilitated a visit to the school by international camerawoman Amelia Lee together with members of First Access.

 

In  March 2019 Yoshihisa Ohno,  Chairman of First Access, Japan, facilitated the donation of 44 solar lanterns to Patmos School.  Twenty of these lanterns were for distribution to children at the school and the remaining 24 were donated to families in the Founder's home region of  Mount Elgon in Kenya.  
 

For the children of Kenya, the role of energy determines whether they have the same opportunities in life as their fellow pupils. Without access to electricity, opportunities in life are not equal to children who live in a house that is connected to the national grid or other electricity sources. A child who can study under a proper light that does not pollute their lungs or damage their eyesight and even has electricity to power a computer, has a far better starting point for their education than children who are off-grid.

 

The solar lanterns donated by First Access will assist pupils in primary schools with proper reading light when doing their homework, instead of using kerosene lamps. It is hoped that this initiative will assist the pupils improve their performance and help get more pupils to secondary schools now they can study longer in a clean, smoke free environment.

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We are extremely grateful to Mr. Yoshihisa Ohno of First Access for facilitating this donation of solar lanterns. Our thanks also to Japan NRG and Green Hearts for their contribution to this donation. 

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