Anna: January 2009 Archives

This is Gloria Mgala. She is 19 years old and a volunteer teacher in a small remote primary school in the impoverished area of Chikangawa.

Gloria is a volunteer because the school cannot afford to pay her, so the children bring small donations of money and food from their parents. This is just enough to support herself, her widowed mother, elderly grandmother and 5 brothers and sisters.

Gloria (pictured left, with one of her pupils) recently received solar assembly training from SolarAid. She currently assembles 20 panels a month and plans to increase production to 100 in order to support her family's income and save up to pay for her education- she wants to study Mathematics and Computing.

"Most of the villages in this area do not have light because they can not afford to pay. When I show people the Kadzuwa they are excited that it is so affordable to them.

They also do not believe me when I tell them that I made it. Many people think that us girls are not supposed to take technical jobs, but now I am showing them that women are capable too!"

Please help SolarAid to reach more young women in Malawi like Gloria. We give them the opportunity to generate their own income to support their families and reach their own goals.

Thank you,
Katie

The town of Chikangawa, where Gloria is a volunteer teacher

Joseph cuts the maize sieve mesh up to make contacts for batteries

Joseph and Patrick (pictured left) are part of the local supply chain which SolarAid supports.

They cut up sheets of metal mesh traditionally used for maize sieves, which the solar entrepreneurs in Mzuzu then use to make contacts for the batteries.

Not only does this mean that the parts are available locally and thus easily replaceable, but also that money is going back into the local economy and supporting the income of local tradesmen.

...Of course, it's a great example of recycling too, not to mention entrepreneurial thinking!