Electricity for Maji - NRECA International

Getting ready to go to school. There are 37 elementary schools in the Maji area. There is only one high school, and many have to walk more than an hour to get there.

Yedenek knows the smoke from her wood-burning cookstove is harmful for her lungs and eyes, but has no choice.

Yedenek in the kitchen of her home.

Yedenek's neighbor and her child.

Maji business owners, waiting for customers. Many walk for miles to charge their phones in this shop.

Proud owners of a solar home system.

Owners of solar home systems in Maji have enough power for 2 light bulbs, a radio, and a phone charger.

Nick Allen, NRECA International Ethiopia country director, using a flip chart to illustrate the benefits of an electric co-op to community members.

Germaye Korena, a member of the Maji electric co-op advisory board.

Nick Allen meeting with Germaye Korena after the community meeting

Every evening, people gather in the market square in Maji to buy spices, food, coffee, soap and other necessary household items.

Maji town.

Balt kebele, or village, hidden from the main road.

The water pump is open once a day, and women walk long distances each day, to get clean water for their families each day.

In the absence of electricity, wood and other organic material is used for cooking.

Kwesi Beti and his family outside their home in Balt kebele.

A woman standing outside her home in Balt kebele.

Nick Allen, NRECA International international projects director and Ethiopia country director talking with a community member about his avocado trees in Balt kebele, Ethiopia.

Nick Allen and Caroline Kurtz talking with the Maji district leader after a meeting about the electric co-op.

Students of varying ages in a crowded primary school classroom in Tum, a town next to Maji.

Two friends in Tum who help run the market square in Tum.