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Imagine if, when the sun went down in your town tonight, you had no light bulbs in your house, and no candles either.  What do you think would happen once the lights went out. Now imagine if the entire town was that way.  Every night the entire town was lit by nothing but the moon (if it was out) and otherwise there would be no light whatsoever. To say things would be dark would be a bit of an understatement, yes? If you can imagine that for a moment you can start to understand how many people in Africa and other 3^rd world countries still live today. Without electricity and the light bulbs that we take for granted many people in these countries can do practically nothing once the sun goes down.  They don’t fraternize, communicate, work or anything else we all take for granted as we take advantage of the blessed light that we have at night. Philips realized years ago that the power of light could change the world we live in. Recently they announced an initiative to bring 100 ‘light centers’ to 100 football field size areas across rural Africa. Their plan sees the installation of these centers being finished by 2015, ready to bring super-cheap, easy to maintain solar-powered LED lights to people who desperately need it. Using some of the world most technologically advanced solar-powered LED lights will create light that can be used to socialize, work, go to the doctor and other impotent activities that, up until now, could only be performed during the day when the sun was shining. They will in effect allow the people of these rural areas to extend their day and all the activities that go with it. They’ve committed over a million Euros to the cause and hope that the lights, once installed, will have their maintenance supported by selling advertising space. It seems that even areas of the world that don’t have street lights at night still need their advertising. Even as many parts of the world are looking to change their light bulb system to cut down on energy consumption there are still some areas that don’t have lights at all.  Today the technology to bring them that light is here and is changing their lives.  That’s the power of technology and Philips is making it count where it counts most.