Zimbabwe: In Zimbabwe, School Children Are Turning Waste Into Renewable Energy-Powered Lanterns

Seke, Zimbabwe — When going home after school, Monica Ben not only takes with her a pen and exercise books but also a lantern to light the dark room and completes her daily homework in Mashonaland East province.

Known as the Chigubhu lantern, a Shona name for a bottle, this portable light was made using recycled materials by a 12-year-old learner, Ben, at Manyoshwa Primary School in Seke, a rural area 54 kilometers from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.

“Candles are expensive,” Ben tells IPS on a warm…