LILONGWE, Malawi — When a nonprofit organization invited 49-year-old Edina Levitico to travel from her remote village in Malawi to rural India for a six-month course in solar technology engineering, she viewed it as a gift from God.
In Malawi, 74% of the population lives on less than $1.90 per day. Levitico was forced out of school and married off young. She had nine children, but five died from HIV/AIDS and malaria. Left to care for her two orphaned grandchildren and an alcoholic husband, she was working as a farm laborer when she was contacted about the solar project.
“Food shortage is our usual problem, it’s like we are friends with it,” said the energetic grandmother, dressed in a brightly colored skirt wrap. “I have only harvested one bag of ground nuts. So, my worry is about how to take care of these orphans.”