News and views

Every Light Has a Story…

  … and you helped us create 17,419! Behind every single solar light that gets distributed in Malawi or Zambia by our teams, there is a person whose life is about to change. We hear these stories all the time. Students who can now study for exams that go on to attend university, parents who […]

The voices that matter most

  At SolarAid, we have customers rather than beneficiaries. By adopting a trade-not-aid model, we are ensuring families in rural areas have the choice to buy a solar product. We need to listen to these families. Understanding and acting on feedback allows us to improve our service rather than assuming we know best. In 2019, […]

Moving beyond CSR

  In my 8 years in corporate fundraising, I have seen a million different ways companies work with charities. This has been anything from supporting research projects to hiking 200 miles through rainforests. There are so many wonderful examples of how a company can support a charity in its mission and SolarAid have been fortunate […]

A prison in darkness

A small room of 32m2 at Kamwala Remand Prison in Lusaka, Zambia is the home to 56 boys aged between 10-16 years. Some boys spend up to two years here, at the juvenile detention section. When the sun sets at 6pm, this confined space becomes pitch black, and the boys are locked up in the […]

Tune in to our Radio 4 Appeal!

  We are excited to let you know that SolarAid has been chosen by BBC Radio 4 to run an Appeal. The renowned author and columnist Matthew Syed, a long-time friend of SolarAid, will be presenting the appeal. Ten years ago, Matthew travelled with us to a village in rural Tanzania. He visited Idodi School, […]

The Zambia drought

The different faces of climate change, part 3   3/3 The future generation Winter Makala is a teacher at Simuawa Primary School in Southern Zambia. He is also a SunnyMoney agent, working to get solar lights out to rural communities. He is passionate about his job, but his dream is to own his own farm […]

The Zambia drought

The different faces of climate change, part 2   2/3 The vicious cycle of climate change Climate change is hitting Zambia hard and parts of the country are experiencing the worst drought since 1981. Not only is it having a severe impact on local farmers and food prices, it is also leading to electricity black […]

The Zambia drought

The different faces of climate change, part 1   1/3 The Hunger ‘When there is no water, we go to bed and we sleep. And hope there is going to be water tomorrow’, the group of women sitting around the dried out well hum in agreement. Philip Mwenga is one of our agents distributing solar […]