I was born in July of 1995, in the midst of the Liberian Civil War, when the only means of measuring socio-economic advancement was by calculating new recruits of the many military groups in the country. As a child I grew up to the sound of gunshots; to the sound of people crying in the neighboring houses not far away; to candles standing near the bed that we could easily blow off if we heard approaching footsteps. As a child, I grew up in the dark.

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I was twelve years old when I first saw a firefly. But at age seven if you had asked me what fireflies are, I would have said that fireflies are tiny things that fly really fast at night with fire at the butt. Bullets… bullets were the fireflies I would have described… that's how normal they were. As children, my brothers and I would pray that it never reaches nightfall. Like the other children, we were afraid of the night. This was not because of the fireflies, or the militias that sometimes came by our windows causing us to sit still, close our eyes and cover our mouths… no, we were afraid of the dark. The house in which  we sought refuge was also a refuge for many other families; we were afraid of rolling over someone's baby while we slept; we were afraid of stepping on someone's ankle on our way to take a pee; we were also afraid that someone might do those things to us. The darkness was full of terrors... we were without power, but it was war... who could you blame?

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Today, there are still millions of children across my country living in the dark, and we are no longer at war. This is due to lack of electricity in over eighty percent of the country. Filling Stations remain crowded for weeks because we struggle to get gasoline for our cars and homes, and this is due to recurring nationwide gasoline shortages. Even when there's gasoline, the price fluctuates weekly causing inconsistency in transportation fares per taxi. This is evidence enough that the pioneering forms of energy are not working for us… we need something sustainable.

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What better time will there ever be to usher in a new form of energy that is natural, sustainable and emits fewer greenhouse gasses? What better time will there ever be to introduce a new form of transportation with little or no air pollution, less noise pollution, less maintenance cost, high security advantages, and huge economic benefits? What better time will there ever be to save the environment while saving our people?

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The time is now! The phrase "two birds, one stone" has never been more practical.

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Renewable energy is a giant step towards a better Liberia… it's a giant step towards a better Africa. With solar energy, Liberia would be more sustainable than ever. Our transportation and electrical sectors would have the upgrade they have been needing for ages. I think it's a wonderful thing that we have an abundance of sunlight here. The sun is way too generous to us; she gives us too much of her energy to be used in one day. It is time we use some for our vehicles and save some for the night. It's about time we lit up the dark like fireflies… the real ones, not bullets… the real fireflies.

© Elvis T. Thomas