Due to power blackouts and high electricity bills at Mikolongwe Vocational Training School in Malawi, it is very vital that little by little they change from power dependency to solar energy which is more sustainable compared to the national grid and other pollutant alternatives.
DAPP Malawi: creating job opportunities to vulnerable rural youth through installation of clean and sustainable Solar energy.
Malawi, Mikolongwe, Chiradzulu District
Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) Malawi will construct a solar energy system at Mikolongwe Vocational Training School that will help to address power shortages at school and will provide a quality and safe training and learning environment for the school’s 500 boarding students and the school surrounding community. This will not only provide invaluable learning and training opportunities, but will also increase the number of training hours, improve training capacities, energize student’s talent, and develop IT skills, and access to internet. The community will also be able to use the school as a learning center about Solar energy which can be scaled up to the surrounding communities in a near future.
Once the school achieves the improved access to sustainable solar energy, it will become the leading provider of vocational skills training in Malawi, capacitating and empowering young Malawians to create employment, generate income, and reduce poverty. In addition, Solar power will help in mitigating the effects of climate change and global warming.
Expected outputs:
- Enhanced training and education
- Access to reliable clean safe drinking water at school and access to irrigation water for school gardens
- Self-sufficiency on electricity supply
- Awareness of local communities of the potential of solar PV energy for electrification and productive use in Agriculture
Status December 2022:
- Survey conducted at DAPP Mikolongwe Vocational School and designing of the solar PV system
- Solar system installed and the irrigation pump connected to the solar system to pump water for the expanded school garden
- Students followed the solar power electrical installation and set-up to observe and learn.
- Stakeholders invited for the presentation of the solar system, the irrigation agriculture being practiced, and learn about clean energy
- TEVETA institutions will use DAPP Mikolongwe as a center of learning for clean energy innovation.
- Execution rate: 100%
