Trash To Treasure: Manufacturing Light on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Dr. Laura Sullivan, a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan is the faculty advisor for an on-campus student organization called Engineers Without Borders. Their mission is to come up with engineering solutions to real problems that face communities that may not have engineering resources at hand, similar to how the better-known organization, Doctors Without Borders, provides medical care in areas where certain types of medical expertise are not available. As one of the most persistent problems facing the developing world surrounds the cleanliness of drinking water, many of their projects at Kettering University are focused on solutions for groundwater filtration and rainwater collection and are implemented in Africa.
Dr. Laura Sullivan prepares for a light box workshop at Rosie's Trading Post on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Dr. Sullivan is also on the board of a non-religious non-profit organization called Re-Member that serves the Oglala Lakota Nation (more commonly known to us as the Sioux), whose mission is to "feed, clothe, shelter, and heal those who have been marginalized by society". As she has spent time on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, she has learned about many problems that their people face. From a practical perspective, the long and extremely harsh winter conditions can make electricity unreliable in many communities on the reservation and render unnavigable the remote rural roads which connect the vast distances between them. As a result, simple tasks like traveling to work (for those who have jobs) and traveling to school are a real challenge for many locals for a considerable part of the year. From a social perspective, rates of unemployment, alcoholism, drug use, physical and sexual abuse, depression, diabetes, and other conditions that often accompany poverty are very much higher than our national average. Suicide is rampant among teenagers, young adults, and even children.
After spending only one week on the Reservation, I can not do justice to the description and gravity of their social situation, which has stemmed from many generations of abhorrent, unspeakably terrible treatment of the Oglala Lakota people by our government and society. The problem is systemic and complex; I've just scratched the surface, and I don't understand it well enough except to profess that there isn't an "easy" solution.
However, one problem that the Oglala Lakota Nation does not face is access to clean drinking water. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is located above one of the largest and most pristine aquifers in the world. As a member of the Re-Member Board, Dr. Sullivan believed that Engineering Without Borders would be a good match for sorting out infrastructure issues in the local community, yet her expertise in water filtration and rainwater collection was not particularly useful to this community. As such, with the help of undergraduate Vanessa Robinson, the president of Kettering's Engineers Without Borders (A Section), the two came up with an alternate project that would contribute their engineering skills in a more appropriate way: They created a rechargeable solar light box kit, designed to teach middle and high school students the basics of electronic circuitry - both in theory and practical application. The light box can also double as an extra light by which they can do their homework during the winter, when electricity can be unreliable.
In Dr. Sullivan's workshops, children living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation eagerly learn how to solder and assemble circuitry for rechargeable solar-powered light boxes.
One critical aspect of Robinson's work was to optimize the efficiency of the overall system while balancing the cost and availability of local parts and materials. Broken solar cells were an obvious choice for this kit because they are still efficient yet cannot be sold by manufacturers. As broken solar cells would normally be discarded after the manufacturing process, this application extends their useful life and is much less expensive then buying the material in pristine condition. It's a win-win scenario for economics and the environment.
A young workshop attendee has cleverly discovered that it is easier to hang the switch on the side of the box for greater stability during the soldering process.
In April, Sullivan and Robinson traveled to the reservation with a few prototypes to give workshops on how to construct the light boxes. One of the attendees was Jacob, then a sophomore at the Red Cloud Indian School, who not only completed the difficult project but provided feedback on how such a product could be useful in improving the quality of life on the reservation. His idea was to use these light boxes in residential outhouses, which do not have electricity.
Outhouses? Here in the United States?
I was shocked to learn that there are people in this country that are still using outhouses in their daily life, and in the past I have volunteered in what I had previously considered to be the most challenged living conditions in the United States.
Jacob, now a Junior, working on the second version of solar powered rechargeable light boxes. The design has been altered in order for it to be used in residential outhouses, which do not have electricity.
Outhouses are used because many homes on the reservation are mobile homes situated on supports, allowing the cold winter air and snow to blow beneath, which can cause the pipes to freeze. In addition, although some homes on the reservation have traditional electricity, the outhouses do not. Staff and Volunteers at Re-Member construct new outhouses for families in need, and Jacob will be working with the non-profit to incorporate the revamped solar light box designed with the help of Robinson.
In the near future, Dr. Sullivan will be setting up a GoFundMe account for Jacob in order for him to continue his work on the light boxes for outhouses on the reservation. If you are interested in contributing to this worthy project, please check back here over the next few weeks for more information.