FAQs
Solar Animations, FAQs and Energy Poverty Resources.
Watch our original FAQs animations about how solar lights change lives and find answers to your questions below.
Let There Be Light International 101
Resources & FAQs
Changing Lives 1:00
Solar lights replace dangerous and polluting kerosene, enabling off-grid families to live healthier, safer lives.
Meet Tereza 1:00
Solar lights replace dangerous and polluting kerosene, enabling off-grid families to live healthier, safer lives.
Solar Health Care 1:20
Hear from nurse Grace in Uganda as she explains how Solar has improved healthcare access and delivery in her rural clinic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is Let There Be Light International a tax-exempt charitable organization?
Let There Be Light International was incorporated as a nonprofit in July 2014 and became a 501(c)(3) in January 2015. Our EIN is 47-1543177. Read our IRS approval letter here.
Where is Let There Be Light International located?
Let There Be Light International is headquartered in Buffalo, NY. Our mailing address is: LTBLI at dig, 640 Ellicott St., #12B, Buffalo, NY 14203. Our email is: [email protected]
Where does Let There Be Light International work?
Our direct service solar programming is conducted in partnership with local NGOs in Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi.
Our advocacy and outreach is global, as we work to raise awareness about energy poverty and appropriate social safety-net interventions. Our team serves on international working groups and participates in global networks devoted to Climate Action and eliminating Energy Poverty. Read LTBLI’s Executive Director’s statement given on behalf of the United Nations NGO Major Group delivered at the UN High Level Political Forum on July 8th, 2021 here.
Check out an interactive map created by Annie Lee here.
Who are Let There Be Light International's partners in Africa?
Let There Be Light International has 12 grassroots implementation partners in 4 countries.
Our primary partner in the region is Solar Health Uganda, a subsidiary of KACCAD. Together we have solar-electrified 77 rural off-grid health clinics and donated more than 25,000 solar lights to at-risk families.
Other Ugandan partners are: CESA-Uganda; Sisters of Mary; Doctors for Global Health; Defeating Darkness Community Initiative; ElSeed Art Foundation, and Ugandan Spelling Bee.
In Kenya we partner with IMPACT-Kenya on individual solar light projects for indigenous people in the Samburu region. We also work with PACEMaker International on educational solar programming.
Our active partner in Malawi is Compassionate Missions Center.
And, our newest partner is NPO-TER in Rwanda.
Who are Let There Be Light International's global partners?
Let There Be Light International is proud to partner with Solar Health Uganda, Doctors for Global Health and the Kisoro Elders Project, Wharton Global Impact Consultants, Every Woman Every Child, the UN NGO Major Group and Women’s Major Group, and others.
Why solar?
Solar lights are a viable and affordable safety-net intervention in low-resource, off-grid communities in Africa. 860 million people live without access to electricity, and the majority of them (80%) live in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of electricity impacts the health, safety and economic stability of entire communities. Visit our Why Light page here.
How can I volunteer?
Thanks for asking! Let There Be Light International (LTBLI) is impacting thousands of lives thanks to volunteers all around the world. In fact, LTBLI has no paid staff in the US. And, almost all of our solar projects are implemented with volunteer support in Uganda, Kenya and Malawi.
In the US, we need volunteers to raise awareness about Energy Poverty and to raise funds for the solar-electrification of rural off-grid health clinics. ($3,500 electrifies a clinic). Smaller donations are also really important! ($15 donates a solar light to a vulnerable family).
Contact us here to receive a solar Party-in-a-Box to create a small event. For more information about volunteering, visit us here.
How can I donate?
Let There Be Light International relies on your generous donations and grants to provide solar programming to vulnerable communities in Africa. Join us in lighting lives by donating here.
Donations are accepted by credit card, check, PayPal, or a gift of stocks through StockDonator.
Interested in impacting an entire community? Check out our sponsorship opportunities here.
Understanding Energy Poverty: Awareness, Affordability, and Engineering 36:23
Duke University Engineering student, Rachel Stukenborg, explains how living without access to electricity impacts low-resource communities and how technology is offering viable, sustainable solutions.
Safe Births + Healthy Homes at the 2021 NGO Committee on the Status of Women Forum 60:43
Energy Poverty Consultant, Caroline Mwebaza, from Solar Health Uganda joins LTBLI Executive Director Sarah Baird, and Board Members Shreya Nathan and Ben Kerman at the 65th NGO Committee on the Status of Women Forum to discuss Safe Births + Healthy Homes, an innovative maternal and child health intervention in off-grid communities in Uganda.
Let There Be Light International on Illuminate TV with Rubina Cohen
LTBLI Board Member, Rubens Mukunzi, and LTBLI Executive Director, Sarah Baird, join Rubina Cohen of Illuminate TV to explore how solar lights are changing lives in off-grid communities. Join us as we explore the complications of living in resource-constrained settings and the promise of renewable energy to impact homes and entire communities.
Help us keep the light shining.
Your donation provides light to communities in need and furthers the global Sustainable Development Goals.