Solar Powered Radio's for the poverty stricken country of Africa

Check out the video and the link below to learn more! Check out this video: Freeplay Radio



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Randomly today, I stumbled across this video of Tom Hanks standing in front of these crazy looking radios. I think this is a really interesting concept, free information from a device that is environmentally friendly. I looked into this and the company Freeplay really thinks outside of the box. It's genius! What better gift then a solar powered radio for people who live in poverty? These are people who don't have access to vital and educational information, and who don't have the money to buy batteries.

Four Facts from Freeplay...



Fact 1: Nearly 2 billion people in the world, approximately 35% of the global population, still do not have electricity. Sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of about 350 million people, has the lowest levels of electrification in the world, where 9 out of 10 people do not have electricity.

Fact 2: Energy and poverty are linked. The areas in the world with the high levels of poverty also have the lowest levels of modern energy consumption. For example, per capita consumption of modern energy in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half of the population lives below the poverty line, is a staggering 20 times lower than the global average.

Fact 3: Batteries are one solution, but batteries are costly. People in least developed countries on average spend 6% of their income on batteries ($24/year) – if people in developed countries were to spend the same that would amount to $2331/year!

Fact 4: To break the poverty cycle, people must have unlimited and inexpensive access to information, access to education, access to light wherever and whenever they need it.



For more Freeplay info...www.freeplayenergy.com







An article from Time Magazine about these Forward Thinkers...
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1663317_1663322_1669935,00.html