Just north of Lake Manyara in Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley lies the home of Solar Sister Entrepreneur Naatemuta Zacharia in her Maasai community of Mungere. The Great Rift Valley is a lowland area with numerous lakes, although four seasons of drought have made the last few years challenging.
Aged 30, with a spirit as strong as the baobab tree and eyes that tell stories of resilience and hope, Naatemuta is more than a woman; she’s a beacon of light for her community. It all began in the fall of 2021 when she joined Solar Sister.
Before Solar Sister, Naatemuta and her family had a challenging life due to a lack of resources. Naatemuta was often worried about the kerosene lamp that lit their home, and she was constantly concerned about their house catching fire due to the kerosene lamp, a tragedy she had seen happen to others.
In addition to the risk of fire, kerosene-based lighting poses serious health risks. Using kerosene is associated with exposure to various pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds, including benzene and other recognized carcinogens. Most people using polluting fuels for household energy live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2018, sixty-eight percent of the region’s energy needs were met by biomass or kerosene.
Because of her increase in income after joining Solar Sister, Naatemuta and her family, consisting of her husband Zacharia Mollel, a farmer and cattleman, and their two children Maria, 8, and Hosiana, 5, enjoy three square meals a day, something they couldn’t afford in the past. They no longer have to worry about the risk of kerosene lamps.
In order to reach out to more people, Naatemuta’s daily activities include visiting homes, taking part in community market events, and attending village activities to present the benefits of solar lighting and the difference it makes. She uses the module for planning ahead as a guiding compass at each step.
Naatemuta says her proudest accomplishment as an entrepreneur is her community’s recognition of her quality products and the warranty she offers through Solar Sister. But Naatemuta doesn’t plan to stop there. Her dreams are bigger. She aspires to expand her business and build a comfortable house for her children, using the profits from her solar business and the knowledge gained from her training.
For Naatemuta, being a Solar Sister Entrepreneur isn’t just a means to an end but a chance to inspire and empower other women. She knows first-hand how having a steady income can transform lives, especially for women, enabling them to better support their families.
Naatemuta has dreams for her family and, particularly, her children. But, more than that, she has a plan. Through the profits from her Solar Sister venture and the invaluable lessons she’d learned, she is confident she will create a secure, prosperous future for them.
Naatemuta is transforming lives by bringing clean energy and better health to the last-mile communities in her corner of Tanzania.