Thank you for supporting our "Buy One Give One" project, which delivers the same number of CARRY THE SUN solar lanterns that you purchase to people in need of light!
Before the pandemic, we were directly delivering Carry the Sun lanterns to regions overseas without electricity and suffering from inconvenience, as well as to disaster-stricken areas in Japan.
With the inability to travel freely due to the pandemic, shipping overseas became extremely difficult. The chaotic global logistics situation and the increase in crime due to poverty caused by the pandemic, especially in developing countries and regions without adequate electrical infrastructure, led to a nearly catastrophic situation for logistics.
Amidst this, a local Vietnamese company we had connections with offered to cooperate, making it possible to donate Carry the Sun lanterns to mountainous areas in Vietnam.
A total of 200 CARRY THE SUN lanterns were delivered to 8 schools, including ethnic minority boarding schools and elementary and junior high schools, in the mountainous regions of Ha Giang Province in northern Vietnam and Thanh Hoa Province in central Vietnam.
【Recipient Schools】
● 6 schools in Ha Giang Province (Northern Vietnam): Total 134 units
1. Tung San Ethnic Minority Boarding School and Junior High School: 22 units
2. Dan Van Elementary and Junior High School: 23 units
3. Nam Khoa Ethnic Minority Boarding School: 45 units
4. Ban Peo Elementary and Junior High School: 2 units
5. Tan Tien Elementary School: 28 units
6. Nam Ty Elementary School: 14 units
● 2 schools in Thanh Hoa Province (Central Vietnam): Total 66 units
1. Giao Thien Elementary School: 38 units
2. Dong Luong Kindergarten and Elementary School: 28 units
This time, as a joint research project with Toyo University, we also conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate how solar lanterns delivered to areas without electricity are being used. (Survey conducted at 5 schools, with a total of 131 respondents)
・Most children continue to use the lanterns primarily for studying.
・The habit of studying at home is emerging.
・A new relationship and habit of cooperating with family and teachers to charge outdoors is emerging.
・Some children lend them not only for themselves but also to family, relatives, and friends (especially in Ha Giang Province).
Kashiwazaki (2022)
It became clear that Carry the Sun has brought about very meaningful changes in the lives of children in mountainous areas without electricity. Some students, who previously studied by hanging flashlights upside down from the ceiling at night, said that Carry the Sun made studying much easier.
Children living far from school often leave home early in the morning when it's still dark and the roads are not visible (around 5 or 6 AM, mountain paths are still dark), or return home after sunset when mountain paths are already dark (after 5:30 PM). Thanks to Carry the Sun, they can now go to school more safely and securely.
Among the students, some share the Carry the Sun with their families; parents use it for farm work or pig farming, children lend it to friends visiting grandparents' houses, and grandmothers use it to thread needles when sewing clothes. It's not just bright, but also beautiful and convenient, making the children very happy.
There are still many disadvantaged children who have not yet received lanterns.
There are many orphans, children living with elderly grandparents, and children living in other difficult circumstances.
The school teachers also expressed their wish for lanterns to be donated to other children.
Bringing light to poor children living in mountainous areas without electricity is a very meaningful activity, and we intend to continue delivering Carry the Sun lanterns so that they can live a little more safely and securely.
We appreciate your continued cooperation!
*A more detailed report is available on our website.
200 items donated to 8 schools in the mountainous regions of Vietnam
(Distributed on 2022.7.19)
