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MicroLoan in partnership with Solar Aid, a beneficiary of The Times Christmas Charity Appeal 2009

12/10/2009 12:08:26 PM

MicroLoan in partnership with Solar Aid

The MicroLoan Foundation is currently working with Solar Aid to facilitate the sale and distribution of small-scale solar panels in Malawi.

Recently been named as a beneficiary of The Times Christmas Charity Appeal, Solar Aid was established in 2006 with the twin objectives of combating climate change and poverty. It is dedicated to bringing clean, renewable power to some of the poorest people in the world.

In Malawi, where only 4% of the population have access to electricity, poverty alleviation and climate change go hand in hand. The MicroLoan Foundation (which was one of the charity’s to benefit from the Daily Telegraph’s Christmas Charity Appeal in 2006) has joined forces with Solar Aid in providing individuals with a loan to buy solar panels that charge up quickly and last for five hours. They will fuel a light bulb in the evening, power a radio or charge a mobile phone.

The clients then either use these solar panels to power their homes, thereby assisting them with the productivity of their own business, or alternatively they will set up their own enterprise selling the panels to businesses and families in the local community.

MicroLoan’s cooperation with Solar Aid has three specific objectives:

1. To help women and their communities, particularly those in rural area, to gain access to affordable renewable power for household use.  [In particular, this alleviates the need for kerosene laps to power homes in the evenings. Many families currently rely on these which are not only costly to run but also have toxic fumes that break down the body’s defences and cause respiratory disease.]

2. To help women who run small-scale businesses to expand and diversify by selling solar products.

3. To help increase self-employment by training women in the production and selling of solar products.

Read more about this in The Times article: Download page 1 and page 2 of the article here.