Bring Solar Power to villages in Ecuador, Kenya and Uganda

My younger brother, Blaise, and I recently co-founded a new Colorado 501c3 non-profit organization named Solmass Foundation. Our mission is to provide reliable, clean, low-cost solar energy to underserved communities in need in Latin America and Africa.

We believe that the most impactful way to improve world poverty, health, education and employment is to increase access to clean, affordable and reliable electricity. There are 700 million people in the world who do not have any access to electricity, and there are over 3 billion people who do not have enough access to electricity. Major advances in solar panels, batteries and other technologies have made it much easier and cheaper to provide clean and reliable electricity to everyone in the world in the coming decades. Doing so would not only help all of these individuals, it would also help improve climate change and help make the world safer and more secure.

We want to make a difference with this mission by delivering portable solar power banks and solar lanterns to families in need in Latin America and Africa, starting with 3 villages that we have personally visited in Ecuador, Kenya, and Uganda. I lived with an indigenous host family for 6 weeks in a rural village of less than 100 people in the Chimborazo region of the Andes mountains in Ecuador. My brother and I also spent time visiting a small Masai village in Kenya, and a remote Bwindi village in Uganda. In all of these villages, the local families had extremely unreliable or non-existent electricity. At the same time, all of these families relied heavily upon their cell phones for access to employment, education, and communication - but frequently did not have electricity to charge their phones. And these families also had little or no access to light in their homes after the sun went down.

We have identified 2 small, affordable solar products that will dramatically improve the lives of the families in these and similar communities. A portable solar power bank (https://keutek.com/collections/fast-charging-portable-power/products/26w-fast-charging-portable-solar-power-bank) that can re-charge their cell phones for free, and a solar lantern (https://www.bioliteenergy.com/products/luci-charge-360) that can provide light in their homes at night.

All donations to Solmass Foundation will go towards the purchase and delivery of 1 portable solar power bank and 1 solar lantern per family in these villages in Ecuador, Kenya and Uganda (and surrounding villages as our funds allow), with the support and coordination of local non-profits in these locations to help us with the delivery of these products on the ground. We plan to purchase and deliver all of these solar products during the summer of 2025.

Anything you are willing to donate to Solmass Foundation for this project would be greatly appreciated! Your tax deductible donations to our registered 501c3 Colorado non-profit will go directly to the people in need, and will make a huge difference in their lives!

Thank you so much for your support!

Carter Garcia (12th grade) and Blaise Garcia (10th grade), Kent Denver School

Co-Founders, Solmass Foundation