Water bottle sun lights

Right now I'm kicking back and relaxing with my ear buds in at Hotel Agape in Sonsonante, El Salvador. Imagine me rocking out to soul music on Pandora with my feet up in the air processing my day. Today we didn't do much since almost half of the group was sick with, as we like to call it, "travelers tummy" but I think today was the most impactful day I've had so far. We started out doing arts and crafts with kids at Las Trincheras early childhood development center then moved onto installing solar lights. I use the term "installing" in the loosest possible manner since all we were able to do was watch. There are some serious liability issues with allowing 12 college students to climb around on tin roofs in a developing county.

A finished bottle light on the right and the cut metal on the left

The water bottle lights are made out of 2.5 liter bottles and a 8" by 8" piece of metal with a hole cut into it. The bottle is caulked into place and left to dry for 24 hours. When the lights are dried they are filled with water and bleach. A quarter cup of bleach can keep the water dry up to 5 years. Once the lights are made someone has to go around into the community and find somebody who has a sturdy enough roof is willing to have a hole cut into it.

We split ourselves into two different groups so that when we went into people's houses we wouldn't overwhelm their homes. The first group that went talked to a lady who's son had just gone missing a few days before. All she wanted was to have her son's body returned to her so she could give him a proper burial. Her house was a tiny shack and the roof wasn't stable enough to install a light. Despite the fact that the group wasn't able to install a light in her home she still took the time to go pick plumbs and walk with the assistance of her cane a quarter of a mile to thank us for coming to her home.

Before bottle light

In my group, the second group, we were able to watch the installation of 3 different lights. In the first house we installed a light in the main living room/bedroom. There was a single bare bulb in the room already but now they will only have to use is in the evening. We installed a second light in a side room that had 5 different beds packed into a 9' by 20' space. This room had no electricity at all and the family had to use candles in the evening or even to find anything during the day.

The lights were absolutely incredible. They lit up the whole rooms even though it was cloudy outside. When the children came back into the house after the lights were installed the look on their face was priceless. They would look at the lights sort of scrunch up their face in confusion, look at us then look back at the room and smile. They were in utter disbelief that they could see the rooms.

After bottle light

The lights only take about 30 minutes each to install. The bottles are found on the side of the road or recycled from people homes. The total cost is only a few dollars per light minus installation costs. The water in the lights will stay clear for 5 years and will save a family with electricity tons of money or light a home that has no electricity.

One of the girls at the first house we installed a light in