Water bottles light Kenyan slums

24 November 2011 - 12:37 By Sapa-AP
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Bottled water. File photo.
Bottled water. File photo.
Image: Steven Depolo (Flickr)

In the tin-shack maze of a Kenyan slum, business can't be conducted indoors, and school classes are often held outdoors.

Now a Kenyan group is hoping 2-litre bottles filled with water, a hole in the roof and sunlight will brighten the indoors.

The soda bottle-as-lightbulb was first discovered in Brazil. Today thousands of people who can't afford electricity have converted to the water bottle lightpoint.

When the bottle is hung through a hole in the roof and filled with water and bleach, it refracts sunlight.

In Kenya, a youth group in the Korogocho slums is struggling to meet demands for the water bulb after installing the first 100 for free in April.

The slum's tin shack houses - which rent for $10 a month - typically do not have windows.

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