Second only to agriculture, craft-making is the second most common employment in rural areas worldwide. It tends to be seasonally-flexible, and can often be done from home, allowing women with limited child care options to nevertheless seek self-employment.
Delicate craft work, however, is often dependent on access to good tools and good light at home. Around 1.1 billion people worldwide are estimated to lack any electrical access, so safe light can undeniably boost the local economy, and expand opportunities for women to be self-employed.
Solar lanterns provide the safe and sufficient lighting that is integral for craft-makers and self-employed artisans. These craft-makers and artisans also help keep cultural traditions alive, while growing the local economy. Women, who make up a major portion of artisans in rural areas worldwide, particularly benefit from tools that support craft-making activities. (Read more about Peace Corps volunteer Ian Gorecki’s trip to distribute lights to female artisans in Madagascar here.)
By supporting the flexibility, safety, and ease with which artisans can produce crafts, solar lights empower job creation. In addition to reducing household energy costs, access to solar lighting can improve an individual’s earning potential and help alleviate poverty in low-income communities.
In short, with light come opportunities for self-employment, empowerment, and the opportunity for growth.
In addition to making their software tools free or low-cost for nonprofits, many companies are also publishing guides on how to effectively transition to remote work and collaborate while staying home. If you're leading your nonprofit through a transition like this, we wanted to put together some resources that will help you see what others have done, and understand best practices for your organization's security, productivity, and communications to stakeholders.
With many nonprofits shifting to remote work abruptly due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, we've prioritized adding new remote work options and tools to the resources we share. As you review the software below, note that there may be different levels of discounts for nonprofits impacted by COVID-19 versus nonprofits actively working on a cure or frontline healthcare for COVID-19. Do you know about a resource we should add to this list? You can submi...