We talk a lot about water and public health-- but what about light?  How does a midwife assess blood loss, monitor labor, run a blood bank, check diagnostic instruments, suture or use color scales in the dark and without any power?

One group, called We Care Solar was started by a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist to create suitcase-sized solar systems for delivery rooms in small clinics around the world.   Another group called Solar Sister is tackling affordable light--explained to women and for women--in Uganda.  I met Solar Sister's Katherine Lucey last week and she permitted this cross-posted excerpt from her blog, written from Uganda and poignantly expressing the rage providers feel in being unable to provide care in the dark: 

"Greetings and blessings to you and your family from Kisuba Health Unit II, I report that we only have 2 rechargeable lanterns which are of poor quality.  They supply light for only one hour and then turn off.   Mr. B. purchased them in Kampala the last time he was there.  But he is now angry that they are so cheap.  Charging them is also a problem.  Bundibugyo is a bit far from the clinic and he has no transport to take them there for charging.  Mr. B. uses a gas cylinder to maintain the cold chain for the vaccines.  When he has to refill the cylinder, it takes many days leading to the wastage of the vaccines.  This also makes him angry.  Mr. B. reports that with good light we are ready to offer good care to our patients.

But we are much more qualified than our sister clinic.  There is no power or light at that health centre at all.  They have two paraffin lanterns, but when they run out of paraffin, no procedures are performed at night and the mothers who come to deliver at night do not get good care.  Monitoring a mother after delivery tends to be hard in the dark."

We will continue to follow both these groups as their work evolves.

photo credit:  at Iberotel Lido Sharm, Sharm-el-Sheik, Sinai, Egypt by Ze Eduardo.