Empower Playgrounds
{{More citations needed|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox organization
|name = Empower Playgrounds Inc.
|logo = Empower Playgrounds logo.png
|image =
|image_border =
|size =
|formation = March 2007
|type = Nonprofit Organization
|headquarters = Provo, Utah
|location = United States, Ghana
|language = English
|leader_title =
|leader_name =
|key_people = Ben Markham (founder, president)
|num_staff =
|budget =
|website = {{url|http://empowerplaygrounds.org}}
}}
Empower Playgrounds, Inc. is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charity that has developed electricity-generating playground equipment for use in rural third-world communities with low rates of rural electrification.{{cite web|url=http://www.ruralelec.org/9.0.html |title=Alliance for Rural Electrification: Why Renewables? |author=Alliance for Rural Electrification |website=Ruralelec.org |access-date=2016-01-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121153115/http://ruralelec.org/9.0.html |archive-date=2016-01-21 }} The charity works in predominantly subsistence agriculture communities, where children often work on family farms until sundown, and schools and homes are not equipped with electricity, making it difficult for children to do homework or develop study habits.
History
EPI was founded in 2007 by retired chemical engineer and vice-president of engineering at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering, Ben Markham.{{cite web|url=https://news.byu.edu/news/byu-and-empower-playgrounds-install-electricity-generating-merry-go-round-ghana|title=BYU and Empower Playgrounds install electricity-generating merry-go-round in Ghana}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcodesign.com/3017524/a-merry-go-round-that-turns-the-power-of-play-into-electricity#1|title=A Merry-Go-Round That Turns The Power Of Play Into Electricity|date=25 September 2013|work=Co.Design}} While living in Ghana, Markham had observed the darkness of rural homes and school classrooms, and a scarcity of play equipment in schoolyards.
With help from Brigham Young University, playground equipment that generates electricity from children's play was created.{{cite web|url=http://newnewsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/67331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003184115/http://newnewsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/67331|archive-date=2011-10-03|title=Merry-go-round Gives Light to Ghana|author=Diana Douglas |date= 6 Feb 2008|work=Universe|publisher=Brigham Young University }} The concept was field-tested and improved in Ghana in 2008. Kweku Anno converted the design to use locally available materials. After school selection involving EPI social scientists and the Ghanaian Ministry of Education, Anno Engineering manufactured and installed the systems.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
Initially, EPI hand-modified LED camping lanterns so they could be recharged by the EPI system. In 2009, Energizer became a sponsor for EPI, donating development of LED lanterns specifically designed for the EPI service.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815161655/http://empowerplaygrounds.org/main/index.php?option=com_acajoom&act=mailing&task=view&listid=1&mailingid=2&Itemid=99|archive-date=2011-08-15|title=Energizer and Empower Playgrounds Light Africa Together |date=12 March 2010|url=http://empowerplaygrounds.org/main/index.php?option=com_acajoom&act=mailing&task=view&listid=1&mailingid=2&Itemid=99|work=Empower Playgrounds Newsletter}} The lantern has a computer chip that manages the charging of the custom battery pack and the operation of the LED lights, which provides lighting equivalent to a 25-watt incandescent light bulb for over 40 hours per charge. The lights have an expected service life greater than five years. In 2009–2010, EPI began including science kits with its playground equipment.{{Cite web|title=History – empowerplaygrounds.org|url=https://empowerplaygrounds.org/history/|access-date=2022-01-14|language=en-US}}
{{As of|June 2015}}, EPI power-generating play equipment was installed at 42 rural schools.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/06/25/impact-journalism-day-electricity-by-merry-go-round/29286985/|title=Electricity thanks to a merry-go-round|date=25 June 2015|work=USA TODAY}}{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/swings-roundabouts-powering-rural-ghana-play-161438604.html|title=Swings and roundabouts: powering rural Ghana through play|date=11 March 2015|work=Yahoo News}}
Products and services
The EPI system currently includes a power generating merry-go-round attached to a generation train with a hub bearing. A drive shaft from the hub connects to a helical gearbox, which turns a shaft, which then turns a magnet windmill generator.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} The electricity generated by the merry-go-round and all other play equipment in the EPI system is converted to direct current and used to charge a battery. A thirty-watt solar panel is also connect to the power enclosure to prevent battery discharging during school breaks. The panel provides about 20% of the total system energy when school is in session.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
=Education=
Without much access to government-provided electricity or school supplies, the teaching of science within rural villages is often abstract or theoretical. This makes it difficult for children to learn basic concepts as foundations of further learning.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
In 2009, an EPI intern traveled to Ghana for three months to meet with the Ghanaian Ministry of Education, elementary education developers, and the students and teachers of rural villages to assess which needs were not being met. It was decided that EPI playground equipment could work for teaching general mechanics, physics, energy transfer, and other basic principles of science for instance demonstrating the conversion of power to electricity.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212113509/http://thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=7&newsid=7083|archive-date=2010-02-12|title=Non-profit uses merry-go-round to light schools|author=Samantha Strong |date= 15 August 2008|work=The Statesman|url=http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=7083§ion=7}}
In the spring of 2010, two more interns from EPI traveled to Ghana to test the science kits and train teachers to use them.{{cite web|url=http://universe.byu.edu/2014/11/13/three-provo-charities-with-a-worldwide-focus/|title=Three Provo charities with a worldwide focus|date=13 November 2014|work=The Daily Universe}} The average cost of an EPI system, which includes school selection, manufacturing costs, shipping fees, science lab, teacher training, and installation, is $10,000.
In mid-2010, EPI began a scholarship program for promising young children who attend EPI-sponsored rural schools, and who have benefited from the EPI equipment. With the help of this scholarship, one student from rural Ghana is now attending high school, an opportunity not available otherwise.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}
References
{{reflist}}
Additional sources
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721235834/http://news.byu.edu/releases/archive08/Jun/video-Ghana_Long-H.264LANStreaming.mov.html BYU Full Video documentary]
- [http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_d44cea66-998f-5366-8152-424a66694cfe.html Daily Herald article 7 January 2010]
- [https://www.deseret.com/video/1,5563,416,00.html Deseret News video/article, 19 June 2008]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080723174603/http://capstone.byu.edu/pastprojects.php BYU Mechanical Engineering Capstone Project Page]
External links
- [http://www.empowerplaygrounds.org Empower Playgrounds official website]
{{Provo, Utah}}
Category:Companies based in Provo, Utah
Category:American companies established in 2007
Category:2007 establishments in Utah
Category:Charities based in Utah