Ryan: Hey! Who turned out the lights?... Wait a minute...There's a candle or something.

Morgan: Maybe somebody's got a seal-oil lamp going in an igloo. My grandmother has one she fires up now and then.

Inukshuk: Look closer. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness. This is no igloo.

Morgan: No igloo is right! That's some kind of mud or grass hut.

Ryan: And look how those people are dressed. Where have you brought us this time?

Inukshuk: We've come all the way to northern India.

Ryan: Is this some kind of special ceremony? Everybody's gathered around that little lamp.

Inukshuk: This is no ceremony. Their homes are lit like this every evening.

Morgan: Are they out on the land or something?

Inukshuk: These people are fortunate to have any light at all. They live in one of almost 100,000 villages in India that have no access to electricity. Like many people where you come from, they are very dependent on the sun and water and land for their livelihoods.

Morgan: Not much sun during our arctic winters. We sure burn a lot of electricity that time of year

Inukshuk: You're fortunate. Besides wood for cooking, these people have nothing to burn for light or heat but kerosene which is usually very expensive and hard to get. For many mountain villagers it's a two-day walk to the nearest kerosene salesman.

Morgan: Same with us. Our fuel is barged in once a year from way down south. And my dad is always complaining how pricey it is.

Inukshuk: On top of that, kerosene burns inefficiently and gives off a lot of carbon that contributes to climate change.

Ryan: But how could dinky lamps like those put out enough carbon to change the climate?

Inukshuk: Excellent question. Compared to energy-guzzling western countries, it's true that villagers like these release far less carbon into the atmosphere. Over a year for instance, one lantern releases less than half a kilogram of carbon a year. But multiply that by the millions of Indians without electricity and it all adds up. And, like people in the Arctic, though they may contribute little to global climate change, they are very vulnerable to it since they live so close to the land. Stormier weather, rising sea levels, collapsing coastlines all hit hardest in tropical and arctic regions. In this sense, northerners have much in common with these people.

Ryan: So what are they doing to kick the kerosene habit?

Inukshuk: I'm glad you asked. Look at this. Hundreds of villages across India are taking control of their own lighting needs by replacing kerosene with community-based solar energy systems.

Ryan: Plugging in to the sun! What a great idea!

Inukshuk: A small army of local people are being trained to install and look after solar energy systems. They call themselves the "Barefoot Solar Engineers."

Morgan: Where do I sign up? I like fiddling with wires and things.

Inukshuk: No special qualifications are needed. You could join the Barefoot Engineers and help spread the light to more villages. This allows people to do things at night that they couldn' t do without solar energy. For instance, many kids in India must work during daylight hours to help their families grow food, gather firewood, and do household chores.

Ryan: What about school?

Inukshuk: There's often no time for school during the day and no light for school at night. Solar lighting means these kids can now do school work after dark. It also means that villagers can meet and hold cultural events in the evening, which builds stronger communities.

Inukshuk: But there's more. Besides local benefits, these villagers are reducing their carbon output which, over the long term, is a good thing for the global climate. For instance, replace just one kerosene lantern with, let's say, (pauses to think) .... a 70-watt solar-charged lamp, which might last around.... (another pause) 25 years, and you'd be keeping just over 1 ton of carbon out of the earth's atmosphere.

Ryan: That's a big pile of carbon!

Inukshuk: About the weight of a young Indian elephant.

Morgan: Or a good-sized polar bear!

Inukshuk: Good example. It's no stretch to say that the Barefoot Solar Engineers are also helping them too.

Morgan: Are you saying that every time someone in India kicks the kerosene habit, our polar bears will be less bothered by climate change?!

Inukshuk: Every little bit helps. And it works both ways, you know. Anything you can do to cut your own carbon crop could help these people in India.

Ryan: Do you mean like not doing school work at night to save energy?

Inukshuk: That's not exactly what I meant!

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