Lighting up an island - welcome to Chisi!
Today we are off to an island. We are going to visit a solar minigrid installed in 2024 by the Malawian Ministry of Energy and UNDP. The photovoltaic panels produce up to 45kw of electricity and are the only way to bring light to the 2,000 souls who live in Chisi, a lush little mountainous heap of soil, rocks and trees in the middle of Lake Chilwa, which extends over to Mozambique. We set off from Zomba, once the capital of Malawi, early in the morning. We had to hire a Jeep as Chrispin anticipated the roads to be bad. I was kind of dubious - I thought that, at this point, I had seen the worst there was to witness in terms of poor roads. I should have learnt to give credit to this man a long time ago. The tarmac ends soon after we meet the first fields of maize. Initially, the compact muddy surface of the road provides relief: it is much better than constantly zigzagging to avoid potholes. We pass through various 'townships', which are no more than some sheds and ma...
