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Solar Mamas Brighten Rural Malawi

Lameck Masina

   LILONGWE, MALAWI - A group of Malawi women is changing lives in
   villages that have long lived without power by installing and
   maintaining solar equipment in homes and schools.'¯ The women, known as
   the Solar Mamas, were trained in India as solar engineers, with
   sponsorship from charities.'¯ The solar power has allowed students in
   rural Malawi to study at night and for their families to earn more
   income.'¯

   The women may look like ordinary villagers, but a chat with them
   reveals they are trained solar engineers.

   The Solar Mamas are helping to bridge the power gap in rural Malawi, a
   country where only 10%'¯of the population is connected to the power
   grid.'¯

   Charity groups Barefoot and Voluntary Services Overseas, or VSO,
   sponsored the women's six-month training in India.

   Mtisunge Mngoli managed the Solar Mamas' program at VSO.

   "We trained illiterate women because we believed that education is not
   just in the classroom, Mngoli said. "And we wanted to tell people that
   even women can be solar engineers. So, we purposely selected older
   women that were about 45 years old and who did not go past standard
   (Grade) 5."

   The women have so far brought solar power to over 200 households in
   villages around Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.

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