While even the urban areas that have power connection feel the pinch of the absence of electric supply when there is a power shutdown, one can imagine the plight of the villagers who do not have power connection at all. There are several tribal hill villages in Vellore district which do not have any access to electricity, resulting in the retardation of the development of the villages. Realising the difficulties of the inhabitants of these villages, Friends of India-Chennai, a Swiss organisation partnered with Seb's Projects India, a Vellore-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), had donated 70 solar powered lamps worth Rs.2,500 each to the tribal communities of Thandayankotai, Periya Thattankuttai and Karpanankollai in Jawwadhu Hills. Advitya Thapa, Operations Officer, Friends of India-Chennai distributed the lamps to the communities. While Karpanankollai does not have power connection at all, the other two villages have power connection, but they face frequent power interruptions caused by heavy winds, which results in a situation where it took a couple of weeks for the villages to get back supply, said Emma Koshy, Project Director, Seb's Projects India, Vellore. “The lack of power in these areas has a big impact upon education in these tribal hamlets”, said Geraldine Willcocks, Senior Coordinator of Seb's Projects. “If you come to these hamlets in the evenings, you will see little children struggling to do their homework in flickering candle light, and community meetings being held in the dark”. The only time adults can learn is in the evenings, after working in the fields and forest. Adult literacy and numeracy training, awareness events, homework and even livelihood endeavours such as stitching and soap-making programmes can only be accomplished when there is a source of light, such as solar lamps, she said. “It makes a big difference when we go out into the dark in the fields to the bathroom. A little boy in our village, who was bitten by a snake the other day, almost died because he could not see where he was walking and stepped on to it”, said a tribal woman in Karpanankollai. “We can now go out to our fields in the night to protect the crops from the animals without fear. It will greatly improve our income, we can even stitch bags for the livelihood programme at nights now”, said another woman. “When there is a big flood, we go without power for weeks, trying to cook and make some kind of living in the dark. No one can help us then. A solar lamp will make a huge different to us at these times”, said a man in the village. Ms. Koshy said that three health and development workers of Sed's Projects India – one in each village – have been taught to repair the solar lamps, so that the people can contact them whenever the lamps develop defects to get them rectified. The five teachers in the two schools in Thandayankottai and Periya Thattankuttai have also been trained on the use of the lamps and to undertake repairs, she said.