Support the Cause: Solar Powered Africa – LED Lanterns Leading the Way

Friends/Family,

Recently, two friends from UC Berkeley, Ali Ansary and Ryan Panchadsaram, and I have been working hard to submit a proposal for a competition American Express is hosting in which they are donating $2.5 million to fund global humanitarian projects. Our project proposal aims to provide solar powered, long lasting LED lanterns to rural Sierra Leone villages that do have the infrastructure to support electricity. Imagine the impact of bringing light and productivity past sundown; kids can study, men and women can more completely fill their obligations to the household, and families can finally be families by being able to spend time together in lighted households. The winners of the project are decided largely upon the number of votes and nominations from the public, so I would really appreciate your support .All three of us strongly believe in the idea and would love to use the funding in order to make our project dream come true.

Check out our brief project description, video, and pictures at http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/QLZ2W1 and then nominate us there.

You can vote with or without an AMEX card.

You can also check out and join our facebook group at http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32349190165

This project means a lot to me, as it’s one of my passions. After being lucky enough to travel around quite a bit in recent years, it’s really hit home how lucky we are here, and I would love to be able to use all the resources we have in America to make other’s lives a little better in undeserved parts of the world. I think this project is very feasible and can have an immediate, tangible impact.

However, although we would appreciate your support, this project is not about us at all. I hope the idea itself motivates everyone and you all see the benefit we are hoping to provide. If you believe in this idea and its potential impact, please forward the link/email to your friends, and get involved in this movement to make it happen as well. Join the fb group and invite your friends to it also. We need all the help we can get, and we’re hoping to create a lot of awareness about this issue. I’d appreciate any comments you have on the idea, and improvements/suggestions/drawbacks that have crossed your mind.

Due to our submission date, we’re playing a lot of catch up to projects on the site already, and I’m really counting on all you guys to help us out and VOTE. It’ll take you a few minutes to do so (you can create a guest account if you don’t have an AMEX. card)

Thanks so much for the help and, again, please take a few minutes and vote at:

http://www.membersproject.com/project/view/QLZ2W1

Thanks again