The man who with a bicycle and an old refrigerator lights up a village

Dusk falls over the hills of Malawi. In the village of It will be the Lord, located more than 300 km from the capital, Lilongwe, small light bulbs are flashing in the school, where until now children they studied with candles, when there was money to buy them.

“Now with electricity, we have no more excuses not to take the exams», Rejoices Gift Mfune, a high school student in primary school.

Malawi, a small landlocked country nestled in southern Africa, is considered one of the poorest on the planet.

Only 11% of its population is connected to the electricity grid and only 4% in rural areas, according to NGOs. And in some places after sunset all the activities They stopped.

The man of achievement

Back in his village several years ago, after studying, Lord Colrerd, Currently 38, he could not return to his daily life without electricity.

Very soon he found out that the Kasangazi river, which flows in front of his house, was doing this with enough force to make turn the pedals of your bike. Without any training as an electrician, playing with a dynamo managed to bring current to his house.

Villagers started coming to her home to charge their cell phones and she decided that she needed to expand her project.

By diverting the water from the river, managed to create a small waterfall. “I made a hydroelectric turbine with the compressor of a refrigerator, provide electricity to six houses“, he said wearing blue overalls.

And now the city has light

Currently, the village of Yobe Nkosi is supplied with electricity thanks to its artisan standard, installed on the outskirts, powered by the motor of a maize huller. Your school is the special one among the 17 in the region that have lighting.

Energy is transported over 2 km through rudimentary steel cables, suspended from tree trunks which act as electric poles.

Its users pay a little more than a dollar a month: “Electricity is practically free,” explains Colrerd Nkosi.

However, these contributions do not even cover maintenance and he does it out of his pocket, but even if it is not profitable, this self-taught engineer wants to connect to other cities and schools in the region.

His improvised invention caught the attention of local authorities, with the idea of ​​providing electricity to 18,000 people from that part of the country.

The Department of Energy pledged to help “by laying safe and reliable power lines.”

Across the valley, a clamor is heard from the house of his cousin, Satiel Nkosi. Inside, the family is sitting in front a small television White. Older people like to make bold remarks while watching a Zambian ‘soap opera’, much to the chagrin of young people.

“We are very grateful to Colrerd for bringing us electricity. My words are not enough to explain how much my life has changed, now I can do a lot,” says Satiel Nkosi.

AFP Agency.

GML