WINDHOEK- A 150 learners in the Zambezi region will receive solar lights to increase learning capacity as part of the Legal Assistance Centre advocacy programme on environmental and wildlife protection.
The solar lights were donated to the LAC by the NamPower Foundation on Monday.

In a media statement yesterday, LAC said since August this year, the law firm has been providing three-day-trainings (each) on climate change and adaptation measures, the ecosystem, biodiversity, wildlife crime and resource management to 10 selected schools in the Zambezi.

The programme will continue in 2020, deepening and extending the scope of the project by continuing to work with selected schools while adding more schools to the programme. 

LAC said the programme received a new impulse in October, when the movie Baxu and the Giants, commissioned by the LAC, was incorporated in the training sessions. 

Part of the educational topics include the sustainable usage of electricity.
In Zambezi, the region with the poorest population and weakest infrastructure, 86 percent of households rely on wood for cooking, according to 2015 statistics.

In addition, only 14 percent in the Zambezi region have access to electricity for cooking, while 32 percent have access to electricity for lightning. 

As a result, 62 percent of the people in the region use candles for lighting, resulting in the purchase of expensive candles, which are ecological unsustainable and risky. 

Solar lanterns provide a cost-effective and ecological alternative to the current situation. The solar lights donated by the NamPower Foundation will increase the learning capacity of the learners in the Zambezi region.

At the handing over, Hans-Christian Mahnke from the LAC highlighted: “We want to give the pupils (and their parents) not abstract solutions to issues arising from climate change and wildlife crime, but rather pragmatic teaching and learning tools, which are relevant to them, and also, with the ability to actually change their behavior in various areas.” 

“The children will benefit directly by having one solar lantern per household, enabling them to study at home at night, and also enabling them and others to believe and invest in climate change adaptation measures,” he added.