15,000 Powerless Homes Need Light on the Navajo Reservation

UTAH, UNITED STATES, April 14, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Navajo Nation is the largest Native American territory in the United States, with an estimated population of 300,000. Among the 55,000 homes located on the Navajo Reservation, about 15,000 households do not have electricity. They make up 75% of all homes without electricity in the United States. Many families still use kerosene for lighting at night. With 168 schools on the reservation, most students do their homework for 3-4 hours on the school bus where there is the only access to power and wifi available.

NavajoStrong is a nonprofit dedicated to getting essential supplies to communities on the Navajo Reservation. The 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization was created to aid the Navajo community during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis exacerbated by the long history of neglect by the government. The organization strives to honor its ancestors and empower the Din? by working hard to help citizens who are affected by disease, poverty, and other health disparities on the Navajo Reservation.

Not having access to electricity has many repercussions for Navajo families. For example, lack of running water, reliable lighting, home heating and cooling and appliances such as refrigerators and microwaves, and more. Families in the Navajo Nation drive around one-and-a-half hours once or twice a week to reach watering points where they can fill 250-gallon plastic tanks with water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking. To keep food from perishing, families often have to use portable coolers filled with ice. In addition, children often cannot complete their homework at night and are at higher risk of falling behind in school because they don't have basic resources.

A small for-purpose company, founded by an Asian-American, is stepping up to help. Solight Design, a US Patent for Humanity winner and creator of beautifully designed, rugged portable, origami-inspired solar lights, announced its partnership with NavajoStrong this week. Solight is donating its lights to the reservation via its ?Give a Light? program. Previously, Solight?s ?Give a Light? program supplied humanitarian aid for regions in need such as Haiti, Puerto Rico, The Florida Keys, Ghana, Ecuador, Miami and more after natural disasters left families powerless and in the dark.

?Here at Solight, we believe that access to reliable sources of safe lighting and basic infrastructure such as water and power should be a fundamental civil right,? says Solight Design Founder, Mother, Inventor, and Former Professor of Design at Columbia University, Alice Min Soo Chun.?Even with the anti-Asian hate occurring now, the injustice for the Navajo Nation has reigned for decades and it is unacceptable that Indigenous peoples have long been subject to a long history of inequality and continue to live in such conditions. Much like Martin Luther King Jr. said, ?Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.? We will not stop caring for others, regardless of the hate we are experiencing and continue to make lives better for families in-need. It?s one race, the human race. While the ultimate goal for the Reservation is large-scale infrastructure investment in the Navajo community, Solights are an immediate solution for Navajo families for access to sustainable lighting today.?

To give light to the Navajo tribe, follow this link: ?Give A Light.?

To donate to NavajoStrong, please follow this link https://www.navajostrong.org/get-involved.

About NavajoStrong
NavajoStrong is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization that was created to aid the Navajo community during the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis. We strive to honor our ancestors and empower the Din? by working hard to help citizens who are affected by disease, poverty, and other health disparities on the Navajo Reservation.

About Solight Design
While teaching as a Professor in Architecture and Material Technology at Columbia University, Alice Min Soo Chun created early prototypes of solar lights with a grant from the Brunner Foundation. Still not satisfied, and fuelled by her passion for helping the underserved, Alice invented the world?s only self-inflatable, portable solar light, eliminating the need for a mouth nozzle. This ensured a healthy, sanitary method to inflate. She went on to win numerous awards including the US Patent Award for Humanity and her products have been exhibited at MOMA, the Modern Museum of Art in New York City.

To learn more about Solight, please visit https://solight-design.com/.

Mady Dudley
Red Rooster PR
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