Safety, stress relief, democratic participation… These are just some of the impacts of solar televisions purchased across East Africa in 2018. This storytelling project captures some unique and surprising stories about the role of solar appliances in households across East Africa.

Funded by USAID and UKAID, this multimedia package captures personal impact stories to amplify the success of the GLOBAL-LEAP off-grid appliances award program. The package includes the production of 8 videos, 15 feature articles and over 1000 photos that comprise a dynamic photo library to be utilised by CLASP and its international partner organisations.

The production included 5 field trips within East Africa, and the coordination of 15 in-depth interviews with end users. The overall objective of the communications project was to tell the story of how important energy efficient appliances are crucial in increasing energy access in developing contexts.

Civil war. Blood diamonds. Ebola. For the last 25 years, these words have dominated Sierra Leone’s narrative, leaving the West African nation to remain one of the poorest countries in the world.

Three entrepreneurs, however, want to change that narrative. Alexandre Tourre, Nthabiseng Mosia and Eric Silverman founded Easy Solar with a vision to transform the face of energy in a country that’s been in the dark for too long. Today, only 11 percent of Sierra Leone’s 7 million people have access to electricity. Easy Solar’s mission is to bring new hope and opportunity to the country by making high-quality solar energy available and affordable for all.

In Acumen’s first-ever docuseries, we take you to Sierra Leone to get a firsthand look at Easy Solar’s impact and experience the power of solar from three different perspectives.