In April last year, we launched Project Switch in the village of Mandevu in central Malawi. Mandevu is a village full of life, located just at the foot of a green mountain, with a main road that is always bustling with activity. But Mandevu had a problem. The village was unelectrified and the majority of people […]
Mirriam Phaninga is 19 years old and lives with her family of six in a house with a green backyard in the small town Madisi in Malawi. Mirriam and her family used to use candles for lighting in the evening, but four years ago they bought a solar light. This is what opened Mirriam’s eyes […]
Sister Yvonne Lubunda works at a small rural health clinic in Eastern Zambia. She dreamt of becoming a nurse when she was a child, and with a passion of taking care of the sick, Sister Yvonne has now been a nurse for 8 years. Five years ago, the unelectrified clinic got solar lights to light […]
Almost 80 million people are currently forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide – and the number is growing. Among refugees living in rural settlements, 90% have very limited access to electricity, which is due largely to the fact that 85% of refugees are hosted in developing countries. These countries are already experiencing major challenges, such as a lack […]
SunnyMoney’s Project Switch is a year-long pilot program that aims to provide entry-level solar products to 200 households in Mandevu Village, Kasungu, Malawi. This report by Imani captures impacts and lessons learned. There are noticeable changes in both quantitative and qualitative indicators of income and household expenditure, sources and use of lighting, mobile phones […]
Mr. Nsolo glances at two solar lights sitting, gathering dust and taking up precious shelf space in his cramped repair shop in Choma town, in Zambia’s Southern Province. The lights sit, untouched, among shelves covered with mobile phones, televisions and radios, many open with wires and cables jutting out in carefully ordered chaos. “These […]
Ella Collins ran the entire length of the Thames Path – covering a distance of almost 300km! I didn’t want to run all that flipping way for a cause that I didn’t 1000% believe was legit. […] There are a lot of charities that do a lot of good out there but some, like SolarAid, […]
There are many ways to support SolarAid, just like fundraisers UpIsNotJump and Ella Collins. This July, YouTuber UpIsNotJump chose to take on the challenge of completing a gaming livestream for 13 hours straight, to help people gain access to clean sources of lighting. This managed to raise £27,359 for SolarAid, a donation that will help us […]
International solar developer Solarcentury gives 5% of net profit every year to SolarAid, a UK based international charity which exists to bring solar light and power to communities in Africa without access to electricity. This year, the donation has broken all previous records, and almost reached a million pounds. This news comes as SolarAid’s […]
As schools and pubs are cautiously starting to open and the lockdown is easing across parts of Europe, many organisations are now expressing concerns over the rapid spread of the virus across Africa. With 600 million people living without access to electricity in their homes and an astonishing 3 out of every 4 health facilities […]