Home | Problem | Approach | Acclaim | Credits | Help | Founder | Gallery | Links | About

Our Approach to prevent kerosene burns

In certain African countries like Mozambique, Malawi and Rwanda, only 10-20% of homes have electricity. It is 70% in Sri Lanka, while it was 35% in Bangladesh a few years ago. In the other homes, lighting is done using kerosene.

In Sri Lanka, there are 1.3 million such homes. Some use makeshift kerosene bottle lamps made out of empty medicine bottles and fused bulbs. Being narrow, tall and light in weight, they tip easily. As the wick holders are not of the ‘screw-on’ type, the flammable kerosene then spills causing fires and extensive burn injuries on a person seated near by.

In the photograph below, you would note that even the kerosene vapour is burning, giving an indication of the high flammability of kerosene.

Unsafe lamps		A child at risk
	When an unsafe lamp tips

The solution

Sadly, due to various reasons, provision of electricity to those houses that lack this commodity is not fast enough. Initial cost of solar power is too expensive for these people, and its installation in distant villages naturally takes time. We all know that a solitary moment of inattention is enough to cause a fatal accident. So, the speed matters in this instance.  The ‘Safe Bottle Lamp Project’ was launched to solve the problem quickly, by introducing a simple safe lamp that could be mass produced at low cost using recycled glass.
 
Actually, according to a book entitled ‘Domestic Accidents’ published by the WHO in 1965, there had been a campaign to introduce a safe lamp in Sri Lanka then.

Excerpt: “The bottle lamp is a simple kerosene burner that readily ignites the saris of women working near to it. It is easily overturned …….. setting fire to the surroundings. A substantial campaign is under way in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) aimed at substituting a much safer lamp”

Sadly, it had flopped in a few months and no body knows who started it or what that lamp looked like; surprisingly, neither the government nor any NGO did anything in this regard for the next 27 years until Dr Godakumbura launched his campaign in 1992.

Safe Bottle Lamp Project

There were two options to find a lamp that would not cause burns, as an alternative to the unsafe lamp:

1. Same lamp, but a different (i.e. non flammable) oil
2. Same fuel, but a different (i.e. safe) lamp

Dr. Godakumbura tried diesel and a few vegetable oils first, but they were not satisfactory. So he designed a simple, inexpensive safe kerosene lamp called ‘Sudeepa’ (Su = good, deepa = light). It has the following features.

» Is short and heavy, so that it would not tip easily
» Has 2 flat sides, so that it would not roll if it does tip
» Has a screw-on metal lid, to prevent oil spill if it does tip
» Is simple, so that it is handy and capable of mass production at low cost
» Has a near globular shape and thick glass, so that it does not crack if it falls
» Could be used for several years, as there are no delicate or moving parts

‘Sudeepa’ safe lamp

No fire even if they do tip (from a stock made with a Canadian Embassy donation

The WHO, the International Society for Burn Injuries, two Sri Lankan Medical Associations and the Health Ministry have approved this lamp.

Video clip from a documentary made by a foreign TV company,
for the Rolex Awards Ceremony held in Geneva - 1998

Rationale for the use of our lamps: Elimination of animate and inanimate agents that cause various diseases and injuries, will in turn prevent those diseases and injuries. Many examples could be given-

1. Governments try to eradicate malaria by eliminating mosquito breeding places.
2. When cannabis and poppy vegetations are destroyed, drug usage comes down.
3. The armed forces destroy terrorists and their hideouts to eliminate terrorism.

Going by the above reasoning, if people discard their unsafe lamps and start using safe lamps, there would be no kerosene lamp burn injuries,

Our other activities:

»Collection of funds, to give out the lamps free.
»Giving out lamps in different parts of the country.
»Promotional activities in the media, at exhibitions and meetings, and through wall charts and flyers.
»Advising people not to pour kerosene to burning lamps (many do so), how to extinguish flames when clothes   catch fire (‘stop, fall and roll’) and what first aid to give (‘water therapy’).
»A study on burns involving 487 burn victims admitted to the main hospital of the country.
»Advising people how to avoid LP gas burns.
»Presentations on our work.

[ TOP ]