Imagine a mother lifting lit firewood for her child to do homework, children staying in total darkness for hours at night till they develop eye conditions, families earning 5 dollars a week through casual labor who end up spending almost half of it buying kerosene which they put inside a glass bottle with a piece of clothing which is then lit at the end to produce light. This method is not only unsustainable but dangerous. This was the situation in my community where families were forced to go through this due to the inability to access electricity and not having the financial muscle to install solar panels. 

However, an organization Watts of Love decided to help. They partnered with CorpsAfrica and provided my community with solar lights with a savings scheme enabling them to raise their living standards. It was a joyous occasion in Lairang’i as the community received their lights with many of them testifying of how this was an answered prayer- one which is going to change their lives.

I could not help but marvel at the power of human beings coming together and being selfless for the sake of other human beings. The aspect of being your brothers’ keeper, a value that has been instilled in us from childhood. I could not help but marvel even more at the fact that my community gets to be transformed because someone in the world who has no affiliations with us whatsoever decided to sacrifice and give to a just cause that is now causing a whole community to smile. The power of love for humanity not only within but beyond our borders. 

I must thank anyone out there who has given themselves and their resources to various causes to make this world beautiful for others. It is because of you that my community and other parts of the world get uplifted.

Allow me to use this opportunity as a call to action to everyone out there to stand with CorpsAfrica. A child in my community today is less anxious going home from school because they have light, a mother is assured of the safety of her child at night because they have light and children get to study in hopes of securing a better future. After all, they have light. Let this be a sign for you to give whatever you have, however little, to light up the hearts, quality of lives, and the future of more communities through the various community-led projects that CorpsAfrica seeks to establish. Together let us make the world heaven on earth for all of us.