Pengembara

The extraordinary sea nomads of Southeast Asia

The sea nomads of Southeast Asia have an extraordinary lifestyle, typically living in stilt houses at sea. They roam along the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines by boat, and set up stilt houses to live in for months or years at a time. An estimate of around 500,000 Bajau are living this way today. The Bajau make their living primarily off of fishing, typically using goggles and a spear gun. They have a lot of spiritual beliefs and folklore, involving supernatural elements. They have few material possessions, and much of the things that they actually do own they have made themselves. Examples of such things are the goggles and spear gun used to catch fish, which they traditionally make out of wood.

Current lighting situation

At the moment, kerosene lamps are often used for light during dark hours by this people. These lamps are a health hazard, have negative environmental impact and are light inefficient. A solar lighting solution solves many of the issues which come with kerosene lamps. Furthermore, Southeast Asia is located near the equator, and therefore experiences relatively constant sunlight and little solstice variation, further reinforcing the argument for a solar lighting solution.

A versatile solar lighting system

This versatile solar lighting system allows for the lamp to be hung or suspended in different ways inside of the stilt house, using the straps, buckles and clips. The battery, along with the solar battery charger, can be hung in the same fashion as the lamp, with customized pouches. The solar panel can be attached to the roof of the stilt house using line or rope. Use cases for the lamp include cooking, eating, socializing, making tools, repairing and fishing.