SolarBuddy project

PICTURED: Rotary Youth Exchange students assembled 50 SolarBuddy lights for students in Sri Lanka at the District 9790 Conference, in Albury, NSW.

The Rotary Club of Pascoe Vale, Vic, is lighting up lives globally while inspiring local school communities to take action on energy poverty.

Finding meaningful projects is a challenge for all Rotary clubs. When a project engages Rotarians in their local community with a positive outcome for communities abroad, then it is ticking many boxes.

One such project caught the attention of Pascoe Vale Rotarian Pat Solibakke while reading an edition of Rotary Down Under. The project involved SolarBuddy, an Australian registered charity with a vision to illuminate the future of all children by tackling energy poverty and the climate crisis.

As the Rotary Club of Pascoe Vale’s chairperson for Community, Pat introduced the project to the Board, and members were keen to get involved. This opened the door for the club to offer local schools an opportunity to enhance their STEM program through club sponsorship of $1,000 towards SolarBuddy lights. The students, with support from teachers and Rotarians, assembled the lights, which were then sent to students in countries experiencing energy poverty.

The schools have extended their contribution by fundraising to match the Rotary contribution and engage more students and the school community in the project, making a difference in the lives of children and families they will never meet.

The response from school communities has been extremely positive and students recognise the need to be part of the solution. Along with the lights, they also attach a letter for the students receiving these gifts of light and hope. There has been no shortage of schools or Rotarians willing to get behind this project.

The support of District Governor Stephen and Carol O’Connell enabled the Rotary Club of Pascoe Vale to bring the project to the District 9790 Conference, in Albury, NSW, where club members oversaw the assembly of SolarBuddy lights for Sri Lanka. Members were pleased to share their knowledge and experience with Youth Exchange students, Rotaractors and Rotarians.

Together, they assembled 50 lights and wrote inspiring letters to accompany them.

It was a great effort by the Youth Exchange students, said Deborah D’Aprano, of the Rotary Club of Pascoe Vale.

As a new Rotarian, this project has enabled me to be involved in a hands-on way within my local community.

A huge thank you to the Rotary Clubs of Corowa and Belvoir Wodonga for giving life to this project and allowing us to present SolarBuddy to clubs in our district.

It would be wonderful to see clubs that are struggling to fund this project join together and reach out to their local schools, promoting the work our Rotary clubs are doing locally and globally. Together, we can all make a difference!

For more information, visit www.solarbuddy.org