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When darkness came, smoke also came.
Hamna Silima Nyange, like half of the 2 million people of Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago zanzibarThere were no houses connected to the electricity grid. After sunset, she would turn to the smoky oil lamp that provided the only light for her eight children to read.
“The light was very weak,” Nyange said, “and the smoke from the lamp hurt my eyes.”
Then one day a neighbor, Tatu Omari Hamad, installed solar panels and bulbs, allowing the bright sunlight to light up his house. Indian Ocean coast.
“We have enough light today,” Nyange said.
Training women to become solar technicians
Hamad is one of dozens of “Solar Mamas” who have been trained in Zanzibar by Barefoot College International, a global non-profit, through a program that brings light to rural communities and provides jobs for local women. So far it has illuminated 1,845 houses in Zanzibar.
The program selects middle-aged women from villages without electricity, most of whom have little or no formal education, and trains them for six months to become solar energy technicians. This is one of a very small number of programs available Africa Including solar sister.
The women return to their communities with at least 50 sets of home solar panel kits, as well as the skills and tools to install and keep them running.
Barefoot College International focuses on middle-aged women because they have the strongest connections to their communities while they are often not involved in intensive child care.
“We want to train women who will become change-makers,” said Brenda Geoffrey, director of Barefoot College International Zanzibar.
The Zanzibar campus is in its 10th year of teaching local women. Previously, it had sent women for training to India, where Barefoot College International was founded.
One was Khazija Gharib Issa, an unemployed widow. Now he is a master trainer.
“I got a job. I got a place to live. Before, I had no place,” Issa said.
importance of health
Improving health is central to the program’s mission.
As well as its flagship solar energy curriculum, Barefoot College International offers programs in sewing, beekeeping and sustainable agriculture for women. Each woman who completes the program is trained in general health knowledge which she is expected to take back to her village.
By replacing harmful light sources like kerosene, “solar mamas” are health catalysts in another way.
“Using kerosene causes many problems,” said Jacob Dianga, a health care worker at a local clinic who is familiar with the group’s work. The fuel can irritate the eyes, while inhaling its fumes can cause long-term damage to the lungs. It is also a fire hazard in cramped homes and shops, and can be poisoned by children who mistake it for a drink.
“Clean energy is very important,” Dianga said. “It helps protect our health.”
Challenges remain
Barefoot College International has expanded throughout Africa, with other campuses in Madagascar and Senegal. In recent years, women have been brought to Zanzibar from Malawi and Somaliland, and this year some are being recruited from the Central African Republic.
Funding remains a challenge as major donors, particularly the United States and Europeans, have cut foreign aid and projects face greater competition for remaining funds.
Barefoot College International is run by public and private donations and revenue generated by its social enterprises.
Another challenge is resistance in local communities, where some find it difficult to accept female technicians in a new gender role.
While the Saur training program recruits with the approval of village leadership, which vets candidates, some husbands have barred their wives from training.
“In most African communities, women are portrayed as someone who is just at home,” Geoffrey said.
But solar moms say the results often speak for themselves.
,People They used to say that this work is for men. They were surprised and laughed at me,” Issa said, “but now they see how important my work is. I have become an example.”
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