A local entrepreneur in Tanzania is clearing two hurdles in one leap by transforming old cement bags into backpacks that include a small solar panel to power a reading light.
By clearing municipal waste and helping rural children study after dark, the bags won the backing of the United Nations Development Program for their problem-solving potential.
Soma Bags employs 85 rural workers to satisfy a demand for 13,000 backpacks a month. They can’t meet it, but they do their best.
This backpack craze is all due to Mr. Innocent James, born in the Mwanza region of northern Tanzania, who remembers studying for school by the light of a kerosene lantern. More than 20 years later, many rural households still depend on this antiquated implement for lighting after dark.
Expensive to run and somewhat dangerous to use, many parents can’t afford or don’t trust their children with a kerosene lantern and so send them to bed without means to read books. James’ solution, CNN reports, was inspired by a university professor he met.
The man carried around a solar panel to charge his phone sewn into the fabric of his jacket, giving James the idea to sew cheap, flexible solar panels onto the outside of bags to power a reading light.
He began making bags himself in 2016, sewing together around 80 per month and selling them for between the equivalent of $4.00 and $8.00 in Tanzanian shillings. This amounted to the same cost as running a kerosene lantern for about 15 days.
James’ fledgling business was supported by the UNDP’s Funguo Innovation Programme, funded by the European Union (EU) and the UK Government which highlights collaborative efforts to promote sustainable solutions and educational opportunities in underserved communities.
