A solar powered kit that helps light up clinics and power medical equipment is helping doctors save the lives of mothers and children in Nigeria. Designed by Dr. Laura Stachel, the Solar Suitcase is part of a bigger mission to improve maternal health care and lower mortality rates in developing countries.
Dr. Stachel, an obstetrician-gynecologist, had the idea for the solar kit after a research trip to Nigeria in 2008. She witnessed firsthand how the country’s frequent blackouts forced doctors to turn to makeshift lighting while performing an emergency cesarean section. She also noted how the lives of mothers and babies were put at risk because their treatment had to be delayed until daylight since the hospital had no adequate light. Midwives in the country use kerosene lamps, candles, and even cell phones when they deliver babies.
With the help of her husband who is a solar energy educator, she designed a solar electric system to provide a free source of power to the state hospital in Nigeria where she conducted her research. She took a small demonstration kit with her which had a couple of solar panels, some lights, and walkie-talkies.
Surgeons asked Stachel to leave the kit with them as it could help them save lives and she did. That kit served as the first version of today’s solar kits, which include 40 or 80 watts of solar cells, a battery, LED lights that can run for 20 hours, headlamps, a fetal Doppler for monitoring a baby’s heart rate, and a cell phone charging unit.
Dr. Stachel founded the We Care Solar foundation that distributes the Solar Suitcases to clinics around the world. The foundation has been recognized with several awards including a CNN Hero for 2013 award for Dr. Stachel, a UN Association Global Citizen Award for 2012, and the Elle Magazine Green Award for 2011.
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