SEKE, Zimbabwe, Dec 5 (IPS) – When Monica Ben goes home after school, she takes not only a pen and notebooks, but also a lantern to light the dark room as she does her daily homework in Mashonaland East province.
Known as the Chigubhu lantern, a Shona name for a bottle, this portable lamp was made from recycled materials by a 12-year-old student, Ben, at Manyoshwa Primary School in Seke, a rural area 54 kilometers from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.
“Candles are expensive,” says Ben on a warm day at her school.
“Before this Chigubhu lantern, I either came too early to do homework or I didn’t submit anything to the teacher.”
The lantern is charged at school during the day using renewable energy and Ben takes it home after school every day, giving her about four hours of portable lighting.
Making lanterns from electrical waste
The air on the school grounds was filled with palpable excitement from the students who had just returned from a holiday.
Ben lives with her farmers in a remote agricultural area that is difficult to reach even with an all-terrain vehicle.
Most houses, including Ben’s, are not connected to the electricity grid, making it difficult for schoolchildren to read and do their homework in the evenings.
A local innovator, Aluwaine Tanaka Manyonga from the capital Harare, invented the Chigubhu lantern, a portable circular lighting product made from light-emitting diode (LED) that illuminates electronic waste.
It comes in plastic waste bottles and cans and the lantern is rechargeable with solar energy.
Ben is one of more than 100 schoolchildren at Manyoshwa Primary School who have learned how to make these lanterns using readily available electrical waste.
“I take an empty bottle and cut it in half. Then I take a piece of cardboard and mark it with a pencil before cutting it. I install switching cables and cap the lamp with a bottle cap,” she says, smiling.
“I put a handle on it. Then I test the voltage in the battery before I put it in.”
Godwin Kadiramwando, headteacher of Manyoshwa Primary School since 2021, says it all started four years ago with a solar system installation in the learning facility.
“Manyonga did it for free. The solar system provides power to one of the classrooms for lighting and charging smartphones and laptops,” he says.
The following year, Manyonga gave a class of about thirty Grade 7 students some Chigubhu lanterns so they could read and do their homework in the evenings.”
Kadiramwando says that in 2023, instead of giving them lanterns already made, Manyonga decided to teach them how to make the lanterns and solve any technical problems.
“The situation of students without light at home is dire in this community. There was a need for an intervention,” he said.
“The invention helps them to improve their studies.”
Inspired by poor access to electricity and the increase in plastic and electronic waste contributing to climate change, Manyonga is working with schools across the country to help students understand the secret behind making the lanterns.
“What is innovative is the way we have chosen to tackle this problem through our sustainable skills transfer, where students learn how to make lanterns, including waste management, circular economy, renewable energy and how to make and repair the lanterns,” he says.
Manyonga says they reuse LED lights and batteries wherever possible.
“The lantern can be easily maintained and repaired, giving it a long lifespan. That’s why we equip students with practical skills, such as how to carry out basic repairs on the lanterns,” he says.
Working with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Australian Embassy in Harare and local businesses such as Securico and Manyonga, they have so far distributed 1,500 lanterns across the country.
Hundreds of students have been trained in lantern making.
Nickson Zhuwayo, a Grade 7 student at Manyoshwa Primary School, says it took him a few lessons to make the lantern himself.
“It’s easy to make. I started making these lanterns when I was in sixth grade,” said Zhuwayo, who attended the classes because of his interest in science and engineering.
Zhuwayo, who stays with his paternal grandmother, says the lantern gives him plenty of time to read and do his homework.
“Four hours is a lot. I would be done by then,” he says, before adding that he wants to become a science teacher when he grows up.
Technology at a young age
Only 44 percent of Zimbabwe’s 15 million residents have access to electricity.
In rural areas, where more than 60 percent of the population lives, access to electricity is only 20 percent, leaving most communities, such as those of Ben and Zhuwayo, disconnected from the national electricity grid.
They have to walk long distances from home to access electricity generated by home solar energy systems.
But those with access to electricity face discharge schedules of more than 12 hours a day due to low water levels at Lake Kariba, the country’s largest power station, and the Hwange Thermal Power Station’s outdated equipment.
Access to electricity is not the only challenge, but so is plastic waste.
According to the state’s Environmental Management Agency, Zimbabwe produces about 1.9 million tonnes of waste annually.
Of this waste, plastic waste alone amounts to approximately 342,000 tonnes per year, which is approximately 18% of Zimbabwe’s total waste.
Sharon Hook, an environmental and sustainability expert at Miracle Missions Trust, says recycling is a must for Zimbabwe.
“Recycling reduces the amount of plastic and other waste in our environment,” she says.
“Scale-up of all recycling projects will benefit our economy and strengthen communities.”
Kadiramwando says there is a need for a common charger to improve the portability of the lanterns.
“The chargers are unique. A regular charger like USB Type-C is easier to replace. Some students will also charge the lanterns at home,” he said.
Kadiramwando says the initiative motivates students to study engineering.
“This is more productive. They are an inspiration to students at other schools. Our students mentor all their peers from other schools,” he says.
Ben wants to make more lanterns and reduce waste.
“I’m happy that by using materials from landfills and landfills, I can reduce the amount of waste,” she says.
IPS UN office report
© Inter Press Service (20251205065437) — All rights reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
#Zimbabwe #schoolchildren #turn #waste #renewable #energy #lanterns