IRD and SunNight Solar to Provide Light to People in Developing Countries
Through Partnership, Solar-Powered Flashlights Will be Given to People in Sudan and Chad Each Time One is Purchased in the United States

Washington, DC — July 23, 2007 — IRD announced today that it will help light the world by partnering with SunNight Solar to provide long-lasting, solar-powered flashlights to people in developing countries. The partnership will help address this need by supplying one BoGo (Buy One, Give One) Light to internally displaced persons in South Sudan and refugees in Chad for every flashlight purchased in a developed country.

“This partnership allows IRD to supply people with a much-needed resource that in turn increases self-sufficiency,” said Jim Lanning, IRD’s Director of Acquisitions and Logistics. “The solar-powered flashlights will give vulnerable people worldwide a resource that many of us take for granted, and IRD is excited to be a part of it.”

Approximately 2 billion people — a third of the world’s population — live without affordable, healthy light every night. To address this problem, Mark Bent, SunNight Solar’s CEO, developed the BoGo Light’s solar-paneled handle to recharge three AA batteries to provide 6-8 hours of illumination every night. The BoGo light only needs its batteries changed every two years using an efficient, eco-friendly technology. The gift of light can be made by visiting IRD’s site at www.ird.org or the BoGo Program’s Web site at www.BoGoLight.com.

SunNight Solar is a Houston-based firm that was founded by a former U.S. diplomat with over twenty years experience in the developing world, and supported by a team of dedicated professionals. The BoGo Light is making an impact worldwide; from Cairo to Cape Town, from the Caribbean to the Amazon, the light is improving the lives of individuals, families, and entire villages by replacing costly kerosene, candles, and disposable battery flashlights with an affordable alternative.

Founded in 1998 by Dr. Arthur B. Keys, Jr., IRD is a charitable, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to reduce the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable groups and provide tools and resources needed to increase their self-sufficiency.

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