Eco Hero - Empowering women in rural Uganda - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

Jamlia Mayanja is an award-winning social entrepreneur committed to empowering women in Uganda. She's developed a solar-powered bag designed to make it easier for girls to go to school each day and still do their studies when the sun goes down.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 The young women are eagerly awaited.

00:10 But it's no visit by neighbors or relatives.

00:13 Shalom Kayinza and Lilian Amojin have an order with a customer.

00:16 The two solar technicians installed a solar module here

00:25 a little while ago.

00:26 Now the light bulbs are flickering, probably

00:29 due to the intimate flow of electricity.

00:31 They have to find out where the problem lies.

00:34 The job gives them new prospects.

00:37 I've got some money from the systems, like to install them.

00:42 Then what has enabled us that we have really, really eliminated

00:49 this process of polluting the environment,

00:53 the fossil fuels into the environment.

00:55 So that's what has benefited us all.

01:00 Susan Natumbwa also benefits from solar energy,

01:04 but in a different way.

01:06 The 15-year-old schoolgirl owns a backpack

01:08 with an integrated mini solar panel.

01:11 It can charge a lamp that helps her study at night.

01:14 In turn, the lamp can load her father's cell phone.

01:17 This solar bag, it helps me to read my books at night.

01:24 You don't have electricity at home, as you see.

01:28 It also helps me to change my performance.

01:32 I'm going to pass my exams.

01:35 The three young women we've introduced

01:37 can thank Jamila Mayanja, a social entrepreneur

01:40 from the Ugandan capital Kampala,

01:42 for their experiences with solar energy.

01:45 Mayanja herself gets involved when her employees

01:48 look for plastic bags on the side of the road,

01:51 as the solar backpacks are made of recycled plastic.

01:54 Garbage is a big problem in Kampala.

01:57 So we try and make a difference in using these,

02:00 recycling these plastic waste,

02:02 and showing the community we are coming from

02:04 that it's easier to recycle waste

02:06 than dump them within the water system.

02:09 After the plastic bags have been cleaned,

02:11 they are turned into solar backpacks

02:13 with cute waterproof material on the outside.

02:16 About 20 women are employed by Jamila Mayanja's foundation.

02:20 They receive about $5 per backpack.

02:23 Some of the backpacks are sold for more than $20,

02:27 but poorer women and girls can get them for free.

02:30 More than a thousand backpacks have already been sold or donated.

02:35 The backpacks allow the young women to be able

02:39 to discreetly bring feminine hygiene supplies to school.

02:43 Many teenage girls would otherwise stay home during their periods,

02:46 causing them to suffer academically.

02:49 We needed to show that it's OK for you to stay in school

02:58 when you're in your menstruation periods.

03:00 And the bag has created that comfort,

03:02 hence increasing their performance in school.

03:05 So the bag has absolutely kept a girl in school

03:09 and increased their performance.

03:12 Back to Susan.

03:14 She often has to do work around the house after school,

03:17 and she's only allowed to study once it's dark out,

03:21 which would be impossible without the solar lamp.

03:24 The next morning on her way to school,

03:30 the solar lamp in her backpack is recharged.

03:34 Susan has shown improvement, according to her teacher,

03:37 who also covers scientific and environmental subjects.

03:41 She is pleased that the solar backpack

03:44 is a convincing practical example of plastic recycling.

03:48 The bags are from waste materials,

03:54 so it has made our lessons to become a reality,

03:58 a practical and real great one.

04:01 But what use are good grades

04:03 if all there is to look forward to is unemployment,

04:06 as is so often the case for young women in Uganda?

04:10 But there is another way.

04:14 Girls with Tools offers a solution,

04:16 a program set up by social entrepreneur Jamila Manyanja.

04:20 Young women can receive vocational training certificates

04:26 for supposedly typical male occupations.

04:30 Shalom Kayinza has also received solar module training here.

04:34 Now the 22-year-old solar technician

04:37 has started up her own business.

04:40 And she has now solved the problem with a flickering light bulb.

04:46 After cleaning up the solar module,

04:48 enough electricity is now flowing through.

04:51 Then after a minor difficulty,

04:53 she can now use the solar module to power her house.

04:57 Then after a minor difficulty,

04:59 the light reliably stays on.

05:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Eco Hero - Empowering women in rural Uganda

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