When the sun sets in Malawi, families are forced to put themselves at risk, burning kerosene lamps, paraffin candles or straw fires just for a bit of light.
The areas where the solar light is on are where our supporters have already helped transform lives with the power of solar light. The areas where the solar lights are switched off are the 6 new regions where we urgently need your help to turn on the lights.
So we had to ask ourselves – how can we get more lights to more people, more efficiently? This is where we need you. Or rather, a group of incredible women need you – women like Eness.
That’s why, for our 2023 Winter Appeal, we asked you to support our Shining Mothers in Malawi. We were amazed by your support, raising £31,711, to support women like Eness so they can reach more people with solar lights.
Eness Naliwa, part of the Mayi Walas Chimwemwe group, at her home, charging her solar light by placing it on her roof.
Eness, a single mother to five children, is a member of the Mayi Walas programme which SolarAid launched to recruit, train and support women solar agents in rural Malawi. Mayi Walas means ‘Shining Mothers’ in Chichewa, Malawi’s national language. These ‘Shining Mothers’ are part of a collaborative social enterprise model that is revolutionising the way we work.
Now part of a supportive group of entrepreneurial women, Eness is bringing solar lights to remote parts of Malawi, and the money she’s making is helping put food on her table and her children through school.
With your support, these incredible women can transform their lives and their community’s with safe, clean solar lights. Their communication skills and connections mean they’re able to get life-changing solar lights into the hands of people we simply cannot reach alone.
The profits from distributing these lights will help put food on her family table. And the 20 lights she delivers will transform the lives of at least 20 more people overnight.
Your support is truly life-changing. It could be the reason a child can read after dark. It can help people say goodbye to dangerous fossil fuels. It could mean a midwife is able to deliver babies throughout the night.
In the video below, you can follow the transformational journey of a box of solar lights.
One woman’s life changes forever when she opens a box of lights. And she will change the lives of 20 more.
Your generous donations raised a huge £31,711 over the festive season. These funds will support our Mayi Walas programme, get boxes of lights to women like Eness and ensure that women like her, continue to thrive. Thank you.
