Volunteers share the light in rural Kenya

Rick Fatica Mark Maxam

Last December, Mark Maxam and Sarah Murdoch began their mornings riding in the back of a pickup truck packed with noisy chickens. And every day, small children playing along the road stared at them with wide eyes.

"They would drop their jaws and point at us and say 'mzungu,' which is Swahili for white person," Maxam says.

Although the pair must have seemed alien in rural Kenya, they were considered much more than a local oddity. Residents revered the two for helping them harness the sun.

Maxam and a group of Ohio University student volunteers spent four weeks late last year installing solar panels in a Kenyan boarding school, giving students stable light to study by in the evenings. The project was the second for Jua (Swahili for "sun"), a nonprofit organization headed by Maxam to bring solar power to rural African schools.

"It's rewarding to see how much of a difference it makes in their lives," says Maxam, a graduate student in the International Development Studies Program. "They were studying by kerosene lanterns, which aren't great for lighting and can be dangerous."

The solar panels charge a 12-volt battery during the day, providing enough power to light the school for several hours in the evening and early morning. After the first system was installed in a Kenyan school in 1996, student enrollment doubled, Maxam says.

"We hope these improvements encourage students to stay in school," says Murdoch, a friend of Maxam's who handles fund raising and publicity for Jua.

The budget for each project ranges from $7,000 to $8,000, and participating schools raise about $1,000 - a lot of money considering the average Kenyan family earns $365 a year. Maxam, who is taking volunteers to Africa in August and December to complete two more solar power projects, has collected some grant money. However, he still is seeking additional funding for upcoming projects.

"It's such a good feeling working on a project like this," says Maxam, who spent a few years in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer. "It makes you appreciate what you have."