Fiskani: August 2009 Archives

It was a very cold Monday night when we were driving from Thyolo to Zomba via Blantyre. We were to spend a night at Zomba before fulfilling a scheduled meeting with Concern Universal the following day in Balaka. Everything was very fine with us. We had left on our journey for Zomba around 9pm. As we approached Namadzi, we pulled over at a police checkpoint. When the police greeted and asked us where we were going they pointed out that the head lamp was not working and consequently refused us to proceed. They ordered us to park the vehicle on the roadside. We pleaded for mercy but they stood their ground. There was no rest house nearby where we could sleep. We had no idea what went wrong with the headlamp and did not know any auto-electrician within the vicinity who could fix it.

But typical of SolarAiders' creative minds, we had solar panels and Muuni light bulbs in the vehicle. We fixed the Muuni solar light in no time on the vehicle's faulty headlamp and there we were! It worked perfectly, much to the surprise of the police officers who now had no reason to stop us. And our journey continued.

The Muuni light bulb saved us from spending a cold night stranded on the roadside. Who could blame us for this ingenuous improvisation? After all, light is light and it served the purpose with distinction.

SolarAid Malawi's Operations Manager Dave fits the car headlamp with the Muuni light bulb. Photo: Katie Bliss

SolarAid's Muuni light bulb on the right hand headlamp provides brilliant and bright light. Photo: Fiskani Msutu