One of the most beautiful views one can find is standing at the top of the Zomba Plateau and looking down on the amazing terrain below. On a clear night the stars put on a show that could never be seen in an industrialized urban area. And while the lack of electricity makes this vision possible, it makes modernizing the villages of Malawi impossible. While standing there with Silas, he tells us that his vision is to someday stand on this plateau and see the villages below in a blaze of light.

The energy poverty of Malawi makes daily tasks that we take for granted, impossibilities for 90% of Malawians. Only 10% of the entire country has access to electricity. It costs $85,000 to bring electricity to Chuluchosema and surrounding villages. While that sounds like an enormous amount, what it can do is priceless. It will bring light to the new maternity ward, the school (both preschool and secondary), the church, the teachers' and nurses' houses, and many of the homes. It will make it possible to run a second grain mill on electric power rather than expensive diesel fuel. A maize mill can do in minutes what takes hours of back-breaking labor with a large mortar and pestle. It allows women the freedom to avoid 2-3 hours of walking into Zomba where they wait in long lines and pay more than they can really afford to feed their families. Bringing electricity to Chuluchosema will allow numerous villages surrounding it to take a huge step forward into a modern Malawi.