Each day all around the world, children play together. In some communities and schools there are playgrounds and play equipment, but in rural Ghana, there is often no play equipment at the schools. Former ExxonMobil VP Ben Markham was volunteering with his wife as Mormon missionaries in Ghana, where he noticed the lack of electricity and basic playground equipment in most of the schools he visited.
He thought he could come up with a solution to help with this, and he worked to develop a merry-go-round that would generate about 150 watts of energy per hour as children played on it, that is stored in a battery pack.
Empower Playgrounds, founded by Markham is a nonprofit that has worked to develop these energy creating play equipment, and also works to get these systems to schools in Ghana. Ghana is located just above the equator, and the day is divided between 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness for most of the year. It is rated as one of the darkest places, and is great for stargazing, but maybe not so great for getting things done in the dark.
The electricity generated by Empower Playground’s merry-go-round goes to power 50 LED lanterns, that children are able to take home at night. The playground provides equipment for up to 200 students. Children are grouped into “Lantern Groups” according to neighborhoods, and usually have about 6 students who use the lanterns to study around the lantern. Each lantern can last up to 50 hours per charge.
The project is ongoing, and individuals can support the project by donating money, and sharing the word about the project. The website says that you can provide light for a child for $10 per year.
Image Source and Links:
http://emplay.squarespace.com/
History of Empower Playgrounds – YouTube Video