A solar lighting initiative by PhoScope
September 10, 2021
Our collaboration with Temporary Art Platform that was up Aug. 27 – Sept.5 was a great illustration of the synthesis of creativity and sustainability for building resilience and community. We illuminated the Beirut RiverLESS Forest urban afforestation project to create a magical setting for 10 days of artistic installations, film screenings and live performances on a stage built from repurposed billboards.
August 13, 2021
We illuminated the Participlay mobile playground in the Bourj Hammoud area of Beirut. This project was conceived and constructed by Nusaned, an NGO doing great work reconstructing Beirut, and Reality Studio. Just one parking spot was needed to construct this creative safe space for children. Lebanon faces multiple ongoing crises and challenges, but we must not let child development suffer, because the future of the country depends on the kids. Projects like this give us hope!
July 26, 2021
We installed the first streetlights for our Light for Lebanon program in Beirut, on Salah Labaki road from Akkawi road to the orthodox hospital. This project was a collaboration with Live Love Beirut, an NGO doing much great work in rebuilding the country.
Firefighters also helped us to remove the old, broken lights and replace them with these beautiful solar-powered ones. Lebanon may be in an economic, political, and now a fuel crisis, but that doesn’t mean the streets have to be dark. Solar-powered lights will keep the streets safe and navigable!
Sept. 3, 2020
We are very pleased to introduce Manal Kahale as our partner for our newest program Light for Lebanon.
Raised in Lebanon, Manal studied Landscape Architecture at the American University of Beirut and holds a master’s degree in Lighting Design from Parsons in NYC. She worked in the USA for four years before returning to Lebanon to try and bridge both worlds through lighting. However, her return to her home country was more difficult than anticipated with the unfolding economic crisis as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally on the 4th of August 2020, the biggest non-nuclear explosion ever recorded. This catastrophe unlocked feelings of communal support triggered by the complete absence of any relief efforts on the part of the Lebanese government. As a result, Manal decided to use her knowledge and experience to partake in relief efforts both as an active citizen and a lighting designer.
We are thrilled by this partnership and by the opportunity to quickly and sustainably re-illuminate Beirut.
July 6, 2019
We continue working with the communities of La Vuelta del Dos and Los Guaretos in Comerío, and we donate portable lights and floodlights for the workshop. the community will install the pole lights in the coming weeks!
May 18, 2019
Our team holds a first workshop with La Maraña and the communities of La Vuelta del Dos and Los Guaretos in Comerío. Residents learn about light and experiment with our equipment.
April 12, 2019
Marién and her team meet again with the community of Mariana, this time to decide where the five light poles will be installed next month on the fantastic playground designed by La Maraña.
March 1, 2019
We meet again with our partner Gustavo from Impec to refine the selection of all solar stationary lights…
and we head out to our second workshop where twenty residents of the barrio Mariana de Humacao await us… After another successful workshop, we test our new solar floodlights to help the community create landscape lighting on the playground.
The next day we join our new partner, La Maraña, on a visit to Comerío where we will soon launch our third pilot project.
January 11, 2019
Finally, we can install the first pole light … but we had to choose another location for the prototype, due to illegal dumping on the site they originally selected: Enlace and the community are working on this– to be continued.
Our team also goes to Humacao to meet with the community leaders of Barrio Mariana, and visits the playground which they are working on with La Maraña and where they would like to do a Recreo de Noche project (RDN2).
November 16, 2018
Marién is back in San Juan for the pilot project of Recreo de Noche to do a workshop on light with children at the Mini Oratorio Los Hijos de Don Bosco. We also welcome Stephanie and Lorna who have joined the RDN team, as well as Llaima, who has volunteered to film the workshop.
Despite torrential rains, the first workshop was a success: mission accomplished, and everyone asked for the next one! The installation of the pole light prototype that was scheduled with the community was cancelled, but our volunteers were able to test some landscape lighting effects with the four sample solar utility flood lights we purchased.
