Lighting the way to Mozambique and Madagascar

Alongside Hope’s 2025 Wild Ride aims to raise funds to equip eight off-the-grid rural health clinics with life-saving renewable energy. And thanks to a generous donor, all gifts received by Oct. 31, 2025, will be matched, doubling the impact!

At Muripotana Health Centre in Nampula, midwife Ancha Amido Abdala used to begin every night shift in darkness, with no lights, no power, and no possibility of admitting patients after dark. That changed in 2022, when Alongside Hope and partner EHALE installed a Solar Suitcase – a bright yellow, wall‑mounted box powered by solar panels. Inside, it holds LED lights, a fetal Doppler, headlamps, phone chargers and a thermometer.

Abdala says it made an immediate difference. “There was no way to handle medical materials in the dark,” she recalls. After lighting went live, women began coming to the clinic at night; births increased, and transparency improved because the patients’ companions could follow procedures clearly.

“I gave birth at night,” said one new mother. “I felt very happy because I could see what the nurse was doing.” In districts with installations, night‑time births rose by about 17 percent, and more than 80,000 babies have been safely delivered since 2016, thanks to the installation of 80 Solar Suitcases across the province. The suitcases are made by We Care Solar.

Goal is eight more solar suitcases

Now in 2025, the Wild Ride aims to raise $52,000 – enough for eight more solar suitcases. Thanks to a generous donor, all funds will be matched until Oct. 31, 2025. So, for every solar suitcase that is funded, another will be added.

The Wild Ride is part of a larger initiative to provide 35 Solar Suitcases in Mozambique and 14 Solar Suitcases in Madagascar. The Coming Alongside Hope with Light project has a total budget of $320,000. All donations will be matched, up to $150,000, so $170,000 needs to be raised to ensure all 49 suitcases will be installed.

The Wild Ride has attracted fundraisers of all kinds from coast to coast. A veteran cyclist of the Wild Ride, Bishop Lynne McNaughton of the Diocese of Kootenay is ditching her bike this year in favour of walking 200 km. “I walk a fast 2 km up into the orchards near my house, a steep climb up onto the ‘bench’ where I can see a stunning view of Okanagan Lake. One Saturday at the end of the summer I’m inviting people to join me for a 5 or 10 km walk in a forest park in Kelowna.” She was inspired to get involved when seeing the Solar Suitcase demonstration at General Synod. “The suitcases are a brilliant design, portable and practical. They meet such a crucial need. I love walking and walk anyway so why not make that walk count for joining God in God’s work of mending the world.”

Jasmine Sandham, a parish rep at St. Paul’s, Thunder Bay, also has a personal motivation. “My mom’s pregnancy with my younger sister was highly complicated. And if they had to deliver her in darkness, both probably would have died.”

Also a veteran Wild Ride participant, this year Sandham is organizing a six-hour art bee. “I join every year because I feel that it’s a good way to get my church involved in an amazing project along with the rest of the Anglican Church of Canada,” she says. St. Paul’s is one of nine parishes in the Thunder Bay North Shore Deanery walking for the Wild Ride, and in honour of Archbishop Anne Germond’s ministry.

These efforts will make a big difference for midwives like Abdala. The Solar Suitcase is a tool that transforms the quality of care. She explains that even during suturing, the room is bright enough to explain and demonstrate each step to women and their companions. In one emergency, the light made it possible to resuscitate a preterm baby that wasn’t crying and begin immediate skin‑to‑skin contact with the mother.

That visibility builds trust. “At first, community members didn’t always respect me,” Abdala says. “But when they saw what I could do with the Solar Suitcase, attitudes changed. Now almost everyone respects my work.”

Even clinics that already have inconsistent grid power benefit from the solar backup. Abdala adds, “I ask that this be provided to other centres – even those connected to the grid – because electricity alone isn’t always enough.”

How to Help

It’s not too late to join the Wild Ride and help provide clinics with renewable energy in Mozambique and Madagascar! The Wild Ride continues until the end of October and anyone can take part – a group or an individual. Walk, cycle, knit, bake, paddle, pray, sing – choose any activity you enjoy. Register as an individual or as a team and help us raise funds for eight solar suitcases – which will become 16 with a matching gift!

Register today at AlongsideHope.com/Wild-Ride. And if you have any questions or need help, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Kim Umbach at [email protected]

Can’t join the Wild Ride this year? You can still help provide solar energy in Mozambique and Madagascar. Give at alongsidehope.org/wild-ride.

With files from Lucinda Congolo, Mozambique Country Director for We Care Solar