Hi Everyone!
I am Shanjidul Alam, Founder & Executive Director of Liter of Light Bangladesh. I have started this social enterprise back in 2015 with a vision to lit up millions of peoples’ lives. Since then we succeeded in lots of researches & innovations and also failed. We always tried to innovate technologies that are easy to make and can solve society’s problems. Liter of Light Bangladesh is working to achieve United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, precisely SDG7, SDG9, SDG11 & SDG17.
Our projects are mostly volunteer run, where volunteers make products or devices with their own hands to improve peoples’ living standard.
In our LightGiver project, our volunteers make solar lamps and streetlights out of plastic bottle, solar panel and battery and we go for a Tour for Light to lit up a whole community like refugee camp, slum, coastal area, hilltract area, island etc. We lit up at least one locality free-of-cost every month.
In our Solarpreneur project, we train underprivileged youth how to make solar lights, so that they can make lights and sell them to earn livelihood.
In our SolarEngineer project, we train underprivileged youth and produce solar lamps and streetlights by them to provide it to International NGOs and UN organizations.
In our Rohingya Response Projects, we run all the above projects for serving rohingya refugees and host communities in partnership with International NGOs and UN organizations. Rohingyas & host community people gets training for self reliance and then they make solar lamps & streetlight to sell them in camp.
In our MyPad project, we train women on how to make sanitary pads with used clothes using sewing kits at home. Also we run clothed reusable sanitary pad making training and production line with underprivileged women. Additionally we do campaigns to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene.
In our YardFishing project, we research on technology based fish farming, and run training on biofloc fish farming for underprivileged communities. We train and help them run their own biofloc fish farming where they can produce hundreds to thousand KGs of fish in a small tank. We do these projects in partnership with large NGOs and donors.
In our LightUpTogether project, we collaborate with voluntary organizations around the country to teach them the technology so that they can lit up their own locality.
In our Project Bishuddha Pani, we install and do the maintenance of water purifying filtering system in the school, madrasa, mosque and similar social community places free-of-cost.
We so far lit up more than 5000 peoples’ lives directly, prepared 1000 Solarpreneur. We have partnership with Dutch International NGO ICCO Cooperation, BISAP and we got funded by donors like German GIZ, ACT Alliance. We are in talk with UN Agencies like WFP, UN Women, IOM, UNHCR to implement large scale self reliance, livelihood & site development projects in Rohingya camp. We are running projects in Rohingya refugee context in partnership with ICCO Cooperation. INGOs like Relief International, ACTED some others are approaching us to partner up to implement projects.
For our LightGiver project, corporates like Fresh, GPH Ispat, Pran-RFL are interested to join us to lit up lives around the country.
Tamim Iqbal is with us to spread the idea, and we will involve some other celebrities for a campaign to aware people about our technology and climate action.
We were shortlisted for Young Leaders for SDGs award by United Nations. We won the Youth Co:Lab Startup Award by UNDP & Citi Foundation.
Together we can go far and change peoples’ lives. Be beside us, let’s be the change we want to see in the world.
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Tanvir Ahmed is one of the most committed members of Ecovation Bangladesh. He is a student of Jatiya kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University. In addition to his studies, he is a volunteer and a journalist.
