Energy Poverty and "Akon Lighting Africa"

Do you know how much of your daily routine is dependent on having simple electricity? Can you imagine your education, working environment or home chores with out reliable supply of energy? Simple use of ATM machines, iPhones, Macs, Laundromats, Printers and even as simple as use of a toaster in morning are all dependent on electricity. People in developed countries simply don’t realize what a blessing it is to be provided with constant energy. Having electricity and being able to use it is so normal to us that we forget its true value.

An ugly reality is that not the entire world is gifted with reliable sources of energy. Even further, lives of so many people around the world are at stake because hospitals can’t keep vaccines refrigerated. People can’t store their food under required temperature. Very often huts get caught on fire because people use other unsafe sources of energy like ceresin lamps instead of electricity.  Many children can’t acquire basic education and drop out of schools and poverty of these countries just grows bigger and bigger. Just to see the severity of this problem, try to imagine that 7 out of 10 people in Sub-Saharan Africa lack basic electricity. That is a heart-breaking and horrifying fact.

Growing up in Uzbekistan, that is a former USSR country and is located in Central Asia south of Kazakhstan and north of Afghanistan and Iran, I was unlucky enough to experience lack of stable energy flow first hand. Ironically “Uzbekistan was the third largest natural gas producer in Eurasia, behind Russia and Turkmenistan in 2011.” On the contrary about 3 to 4 out of 7 days a week my family would spend with out any sign of electricity. I remember how my grandmother would get so devastated and upset when just as she’d buy groceries and put them in the fridge, the power would go off for days and the entire fridge of food would get thrown away because we can’t eat it all before it went bad.

During one of the coldest winters in Uzbekistan when temperature dropped below zero degrees Fahrenheit we were out of electricity as well as hot water for a week. In order to sleep and not get sick my mom made me wear all my warm clothes, including boots, gloves, puff jacket, hat, and scarf before I got under several layers of blankets. Now living in LA and enjoying this blessed beautiful weather sometimes I still get horrified by memories of those days and nights that all you do is just hope that electricity will come back on and I’d be able to have a cup of warm tea or water.

A person that also was unlucky enough as myself and had to experience hardships of life without electricity is Akon. Akon is an international Philanthropist, business mogul, hip-hop and R&B recording artist, songwriter and record producer. He was born in Saint Luis, Missouri and ended up growing up in Senegal. He is known for his chart-dominating singles “Smack That” and “I Wanna Love You.” In February 2014, Akon began and initiative that would bring electricity to more than one million homes in Africa by the end of 2014. “Akon Lighting Africa” is an effort that will address immediate needs of people in Africa. “This initiative will address the concern that more than two-thirds of the population of sub-Saharan Africa is without electricity, and that more than 85 percent of those living in rural areas lack access.”

Akon is being assisted by One a “campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 3.5 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Cofounded by Bono and nonpartisan, they raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programs. ONE also works closely with African activists and policymakers as they fight corruption, promote poverty-fighting priorities, monitor the use of aid, and help build civil society and economic development.”

This past Monday Akon and One with help of Michael Drachkovitch, who is USC Dornsife alumnus, manager of marketing and external relations at ONE brought the entire campaign to USC. As a former International Relations student Michael saw an opportunity to seek help of young, innovative and passionate International Relations student. Students were presented with a challenge of how to efficiently use social media and draw attention to the Energy Poverty problem and stimulate young people to send online letters to Congress. “These letters will urge Senators to support legislation that will bring modern energy to more than 50 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa for the very first time - all at zero cost to the US taxpayer. Letters are one of the most effective ways to influence the way Congress votes. The goal of the #PowerProject is to generate 50,000 letters to Congress.”

This campaign made me very proud and happy that there are people in this world that don’t forget their roots and where they came from, like Akon. Others like Michael Drachkovitch and One Campaign team are able to see beyond their own community and country and reach out to people in need in other parts of the world with the attempt to positively change their lives.