Lighting the Unseen 1%: ‘Aduren Eliyata’ (From Darkness to Light) 2025 – 3
Can a 75W lightbulb truly illuminate a human life?
Official data suggests that Sri Lanka is almost fully electrified, with the national board providing electricity to 99% of households. By 2025, an estimated 23.2 million people have access to electricity.
Yet, every time we speak with a child in a village, or when un-electrified children ask us to write on their behalf, we receive thirty to thirty-five applications. This happens consistently, every three months, year after year.
Why do these rural homes still lack electricity?
Coordination Issues and the ‘Last Mile’ Cost: Often, the final expense to draw power from the nearest utility pole to their home—a sum between LKR 30,000 and LKR 60,000—is simply beyond their means. While we might sometimes point a finger and call them unmotivated, there are moments when people struggle to find even LKR 100 for a meal.
Inability to Pay Bills: Some families who managed to get connected have had their electricity disconnected due to an inability to pay the bills. Data shows that in 2023, approximately 500,000 accounts were deactivated. These households have reverted to using kerosene lamps, solar lamps, or candles.
Scattered Settlements: Especially in areas like Uva, Vanni, Moneragala, Mullaitivu, and parts of rural Anuradhapura where we work, houses are scattered sparsely across a large area. Connecting power from a pole miles away to an isolated home is often deemed impractical, causing these houses to be bypassed.
Land Ownership Issues: Many families do not own the land they live on. The utility board cannot legally provide a connection to people residing in unregistered or unclaimed locations.
Isolation and Terrain: Homes nestled deep in the jungle or those that are geographically isolated often cannot receive a permanent supply. For all these reasons, these individual homes remain without power.
This is the story of the unseen 1% that doesn’t show up in the statistics claiming 99% electrification—or perhaps, it’s the story of people who are so hidden they don’t even count in that one percent.
Through the ‘Aduroken Eliyata’ (From Darkness to Light) program, we provide solar lamps to these forgotten people.
Can one light change a human life?
Take Uncle Chandra, for example, a man who lived without electricity for twenty years. Now an Australian resident, since 2014, he has dedicated himself to finding these hidden families in Sri Lanka and providing them with power. We partnered with him in 2022. To date, we have been able to provide solar lamps to over five hundred families.
With a light, children can extend their study time after sunset.
It allows adults to safely complete their remaining chores in the evening.
Crucially, these lamps offer a safe light, protecting lives from the risk of kerosene lamps tipping over and causing devastating fires.
A solar lamp cannot bring total equity to every child on earth. On days with no sun, heavy rain, thick clouds, or during long nights, these lamps may not charge sufficiently. Furthermore, the light might not be enough for large families with many children.
This is why we firmly believe that a permanent electricity supply is necessary for every home. While solar lamps are not a permanent alternative, the personal conversations we’ve had with these five hundred families have made us realize they provide critical temporary relief.
Although it’s just a small bulb, the darkness it erases, the lives it illuminates, provide a necessary learning environment, allow for safe sleep, and increase their capacity to be productive after the sun goes down.
While the national board can boast of a 99%-plus electrification rate, for these rural children, that is just a distant, ordinary number. Giving them a light is about granting them a chance to study, ensuring they have a good evening, and ultimately brightening their future, just like their illuminated study table.
The sun cannot always provide warmth and light. When the darkness falls and the sun is hidden, a small light—be it a 75W equivalent—can illuminate your life. It’s not just illumination; it provides hope, security, and comfort.
I received a voice message around 8 PM last night from a little boy who received a lamp around noon yesterday. I’ll paraphrase our conversation here:
“Aunty, we have light now.”
“Is the light enough for you to study, son?”
“It’s more than enough light for me. I’m in grade five, and my sister will start grade one next year.”
“Then study well, pass your scholarship exam, and send me a message.”
The little boy’s voice message back to me was:
“Please forgive me, Doctor Aunty. I only got fifty-three marks for the scholarship. But I will do well and pass my O/Levels. There’s nothing to worry about now. We have a light to study with, don’t we?”
Postscript:
Chandra Marie Fernando Aunty, please read this to Uncle. He will be happy. A huge thank you to Mr. Chandra Fernando, the founder of ‘Aduren Eliyata,’ for using his personal funds to keep these children in the light.
Uncle Chandra started this work in 2014, but what has kept him going for the past 11 years is the story of a child who became a doctor after studying under a lamp he donated in 2017. He continues this work because of her.
The information about him is in the last picture.
Some people are born in the dark, but they leave this world having illuminated it to the best of their ability.
The picture shows the light spread across the last home he illuminated!
We will continue this!
“Pirunu Kusak Pirunu Hisak”
By Dr. Kiloshini Hendawitharana
