Vayehi Or

As the founder of Vayehi Or (“Let There Be Light”), I launched a solar engineering initiative at The Frisch School to bring both literal and metaphorical light to underserved communities. I developed and taught a hands-on curriculum covering solar panels, resistors, inverters, transformers, AC/DC currents, and electrical theory, enabling peers to gain real-world engineering experience.  What began as a weekly club evolved into a student-led initiative to design and build fully operational, sustainable solar suitcases. After months of design and testing, we delivered reliable electricity to power a school in the Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda for the next decade. Along the way, our team visited New York City to meet with leaders at KKR and one of the world’s largest solar infrastructure companies, where we learned about the financial models behind utility-scale solar projects in the U.S., India, and beyond. Vayehi Or reflects my belief that students can create tangible impact through collaboration, innovation, and global responsibility. I plan to expand this work by raising funds to send more solar suitcases to schools and hospitals where power is scarce.