Your giving changes lives!

68% of Laos’ population resides in rural areas, where poverty is most concentrated. Residents of the country’s rural highland regions experience a particularly devastating level of poverty, reaching rates of up to 43%, compared to 28% in low-lying areas.

Undoubtedly, this desperate situation depends on ensuring that girls and women in these rural regions receive the education they need to pull themselves and their families out of poverty. Currently, however, a significant barrier stands in the way of their schooling – nearly 30% of Laos’ rural villages don’t have access to electricity. While the presence of electricity is taken for granted by many across the world, the absence of it is preventing many girls and women in Laos from pursuing an education which would, in the long term, empower them to break the cycle of poverty.

This scenario is a tragic reality for young girls growing up in the rural, mountainous Oudomxay province of northwest Laos. They have been granted the opportunity of a life-changing education, but, tormentingly, the number of hours they can spend studying every day depends on the amount of daylight remaining.

W4’s field program is working tirelessly to provide these girls with an adequate, adapted learning environment. However, to do so, the installation of energy-generating solar panels is increasingly essential. This would not only provide reliable lighting to the girls’ classrooms, enabling them to benefit from longer school days, but it would also grant them eventual access to modern technology, a powerful and increasingly crucial educational tool in today’s digital age.

The use of solar energy is both a logical and responsible power source choice; it is not only environmentally responsible and a reliable energy source but it is also a crucially cost-efficient solution. Savings produced by the use of solar energy instead of fossil fuels would enable more funding to be allocated to the implementation of vital educational and care services, rather than merely covering the costs of fuel consumption.

By bringing light to their classrooms, you can brighten the future of Laos’ rural girls—providing them with the chance to attain the education necessary for them to reach their full potential as changemakers!