LET THERE BE LIGHT

In 2009, Nancy Economou was visiting the Philippines when she encountered a young girl whose face was burned and scarred from an accident with a kerosene lamp. “I was watching her mother put toothpaste on her wounds when I asked how the burn happened,” Economou says. “I learned that these types of injuries were common because families were using candles and kerosene to light their homes. Families were completely dependent on highly flammable kerosene because, without it, they had no light.”

When Economou returned to her Chicago-area home, she felt compelled to do something. Her goal was to develop a safe, sustainable lighting source for those living in extreme poverty without basic access to electricity. “As a mother [to five boys], I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to raise my children in the dark. And then to have to continually risk and/or relive the trauma of having your child burned because you need to have kerosene in your home to survive.”

With LED technology just emerging at the time, Economou’s options for light were limited. But with patience and perseverance, she was able to develop a user-friendly, solar-powered lamp that could be used in any environment. She raised money to purchase 1,000 lights and returned to the same village where she had first met the little girl with the burned face.

“The community was very rural—it’s like traveling back in time 200 years,” she recalls. “Twenty thousand people living in thatched homes with thin roofs and kerosene lamps. I wanted everyone who wanted a light to be able to have one. But all the lamps, except for the three I had brought on the plane, got held up in customs.”

This didn’t hold Economou back from what she traveled to the Philippines to do. She went to a village and tried to give a lamp to an elderly woman. The woman initially refused it, saying she didn’t feel worthy of such a gift. After Economou insisted that she take it, the woman shared that the light made her feel seen, loved, and valued.

“The next light went to a mother of seven,” Economou says. “I visited the following day to see how they did with the light. The mother said her children had a hard time going to sleep because they were so excited. Once they were settled, the mother stayed up and made 1,000 bamboo barbecue sticks that she could sell. She instinctively became an entrepreneur because of the light. And now she had both savings from not needing to buy kerosene and a new source of income from selling the sticks.”

This family’s story, as well as countless others, showed Economou the connection between having light and having hope. “We realized quickly that if we were going to make a transformational change in the lives of the poorest people, we needed to start within the home.” Eventually, the remaining lights were released from customs and distributed as Economou had hoped. The experience inspired Economou to form Watts of Love—a global nonprofit with a mission to end generational poverty by providing families and individuals with a solar light. Each gifted light is also accompanied by financial education that teaches saving, earning, and investing—no small task when most of these families were living on 90 cents a day.

“We work with local leadership to gather an entire community,” she says. “We hang a banner with a picture of our light that invites people to come and see us. Everything we do is a teaching opportunity. The box the light comes in doubles as a bank, and we show the people that if they save their kerosene money in their box, at the end of seven days, they have enough money to buy a small chicken. Then in another seven days, you repeat that process. Someday, they can take 10 chickens and buy a goat. Or a pig. And, with more light after the sun goes down, recipients can do more—study, cook, craft. This is the beginning of entrepreneurship. There are so many possibilities.”

The data proves that Watts of Love’s approach works. Even among families who may no longer have the light they were originally given, 80 percent of them are still saving.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to be welcomed into these communities,” Economou reflects. “We want them to know that we are interested in their success, and we believe that they can do it. When I see the generational impact we’re having, I can’t unsee it. I can’t unknow that we have a solution that is actually working.”

Now, Economou hopes to upscale the work of Watts of Love.

“I want to move the needle on a grand scale,” she explains. “I looked at a map of the whole world and identified areas with high kerosene consumption. I determined that we need to get to Malawi, one of the least electrified and poorest countries in the world. Education is low, and it is the youngest nation in the world with more people under the age of 25 than anywhere else. I need good partners to get this done—ones with a mind like General Patton and a heart like Mother Teresa. That’s who we need.”

Economou is tireless in her goal of bringing light to those living in darkness and encourages others to be part of the solution. She’s a firm believer that if she could take on something like this, anyone can.

“Just get involved,” she says humbly. “See a problem and find a way to help.”

To learn more or to make a donation to Watts of Love, visit wattsoflove.org.