MyWeku

Transferring Innovation: Kenya’s Water Bulbs

A few months ago we featured how a hole in a roof, a water bottle filled with water and some bleach , can all go a long way to producing light good enough to light up homes. Today (courtesy of MyWeku fan Marianne Van der Wel) we were alerted to how this technology is now being used in Nairobi Kenya. What is also gratifying about this is that, Magalasia, the Kenyan community worker has stated that he stumbled upon this innovation on a YouTube demonstration and more importantly had the foresight to put it into use in his community. He said he started thinking “How can I get the two litre bottle, can I get water? yes I can. Can I get the bleach? yes I can.”

Now what was certainly an innovative solution in South America has been transferred to change the lives of people in one of Kenya’s poor communities. As the resident in the video below states, she is now able to light her tin shack, she now spends only half of what she used to spend on kerosene and her children can now do their home work in a lit room that produces as much light as a 60-watt conventional bulb.

The video that inspired the transfer of this innovative technique is below