Read Our Selection of Blogs
Interesting perspectives, unique experiences and keen observations - from our CEO, staff, partners and friendsShining a Light on Rose
Rose sits down to study on a worn out sofa in the corner of a tin shack at 7:00 pm each school night. After she’s helped with washing up and ensuring that the other 20 orphaned children she lives...
The Importance of Lighting and Communication
On her last day as as an intern, Rhea Ranjan explains how interning at Lifeline Energy helped her understand how access to information and clean lighting is an important aspect of international development.
The Little Girl who Could
By Uzma Sulaiman It’s one of the cardinal rules when you’re interviewing – detach yourself from the interviewee. Ask questions, take notes, but never get emotionally involved in the story. To put it...
Much More than Mentor to Zambian children
Tall, well-spoken and smartly dressed in a grey blazer, Christopher Banda, 21, proudly tells me that he’s studying at a technical institute to become a procurement specialist. He credits his...
Welcome to Zambia
By Uzma Balkiss Sulaiman en route to Lusaka | “Where does Balkiss come from?”, asks the man at the check-in counter for Ethiopian Airlines at Heathrow. He is, of course, referring to my middle name.
Video Didn’t Kill the Radio Star: Thoughts from an Irishman in Rwanda
Written by Frank Reidy, a radio journalist and former Irish Army Major, in honour of World Radio Day. Video certainly did not kill the radio star and the much vaunted demise of radio has just not...
From Writing To A Hands-On Approach
By Stephanie Schmitt, intern at Lifeline Energy. My background is in journalism, mainly old-fashioned print and magazines, and for the last two years I’ve been working online. In my journalism...
Energy Poverty, Kerosene and Lifeline Energy
By Yannick Vuylsteke, intern at Lifeline Energy. I started interning at Lifeline Energy in May, after completing my Masters at SOAS. Having grown up in Africa and as the son of parents working in...
The Power of Community Radio in the Internet Age
By Birgitte Jallov, founder of EMPOWERHOUSE. Cholera outbreaks were a recurring problem in Dondo, Central Mozambique, resulting in 200 painful deaths each year. Once the community radio station...
How the Lifeplayer Came About
Our Lifeplayer is a finalist in the INDEX: Design to Improve Life Awards. We’re honoured to be a finalist (in one of five categories) out of nearly 1000 global entries. INDEX: is the world’s top...
Enabling Students to Study Safely
Little Bees School is run by Mama Lucy Odipo in Starehe, a densely populated section of Nairobi’s Mathare Valley slum. Lifeline Energy has been working there for more than three years.
Keeping Stock For Disasters
Access to information, light and basic energy in a humanitarian crisis can be just as essential as food, water, medical supplies and shelter. For the past 12...
A Tribute to Victor – a Hero of the Starehe Slum
Kristine Pearson, CEO of Lifeline Energy, pays tribute to Victor Ochieng, the headmaster of Little Bees School in Kenya.
Radios for the Referendum in Southern Sudan
From late 2006 to 2008, Lifeline Energy shipped 265,000 of our solar and wind-up radios to South Sudan in support of a broad-based civic education initiative spearheaded by the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
Seeing Gladys Again after Four Years
Gladys Kadogomoses’ big blue radio works perfectly after more than four years of constant use by her and her ladies’ listening group. She told me with great affection what it had meant to her.
1,000 Radios Delivered to Haiti
Summary of our solar and wind-up radios delivered to Haiti following the earthquake.
The Lifeplayer Launches to the World!
It is such a gratifying feeling to see something that you’ve nurtured for so long come to life. Last week we successfully launched a tool that we truly believe will be a game-changer in...
Ten Years with Lifeline Energy
Written by Michelle Riley. This weeks marks my 10th anniversary with Lifeline Energy, and what an exhilarating ride it has been! Back in 2000, we were using big, black radios with a spring crank. ...
Liberia – a First Visit
I’ve been to nearly half of the countries in Africa, but this is my first visit to Liberia – the first African country to elect a female president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Sitting in the window seat of an old Ethiopian Airways plane, I noticed a fleet of UN helicopters…
The Freeplay Foundation is now known as Lifeline Energy
We are delighted to announce that from today our new name is Lifeline Energy. Operating as Freeplay Foundation has served us well for the past 11 years, however, we feel that our new name better...