Post 10: Litro de Luz

Today we attended a Litro de Luz workshop in Sao Paulo. When we arrived, about 20 different volunteers gave us an incredibly warm welcome. We sat down and watched a presentation on the history of the company, the science behind how solar panels work, and the different implementations that they use.

Litro de Luz is a company that creates both street lights and handlights out of recycled material and liter bottles. They donate these lights to communities in Brazil that lack electricity, anywhere from secluded amazon villages to communities right here in Sao Paulo. Volunteers visit these communities and implement the technology as well as teach certain residents how to maintain it. These selected residents are called "ambassadors," and they have an extremely important role to their communities because they understand how to keep the technology up and running. 

We had the chance to meet with and work with three ambassadors from communities all over Brazil. They introduced themselves and explained what the program means to them and what their responsibilities are. It was really cool because we could all tell that they love the company and what they do to help with it. They were all incredibly passionate about it and excited to tell us about it. 

After the presentation, we started building our own handlights. We were given all of the materials we needed, a soldering iron, and an instruction booklet to follow. The ambassadors helped us through the process as well. 

After we built our lights, we tested the them by connecting them to solar panels. When the solar panel was placed in the sun, the light turned off to save electricity. When it was placed in the dark, the light would turn off, just as it would at night. It is such a clever idea, and it was really cool to know that our light would be used by a family somewhere in the Amazon. It was also really cool to just look at a solar panel up close, because I had never done that before. I was totally geeking out. 

We were given an amazing lunch while we were there as well. We had a bunch of traditional fried foods to choose from (all of which are filled with meat and/or cheese and are frankly to die for), a juice bar, and Brigadeiros (fudge balls covered in chocolate sprinkles). 

The view from the roof of the building was amazing as well, so we took the opportunity to get some nice photos of the Sao Paulo skyline. 

 

After the workshop we headed back to our hostels for a relaxing afternoon. Sarah, Maria, Justin and I headed over to Beco de Batman for our second time. There was live music today, as well as a bunch of other artists selling their artwork. We got a bunch of cool photos and talked to some of the artists. It was a great day.