From Candlelight to Confidence: A Young Woman’s Solar Journey from Noiro Tukulor to Kartong

August 6, 2025
Woman in a blue hard hat and black shirt, smiling confidently with arms crossed.

I was born in Noiro Tukulor, a small village tucked deep in the Central River Region of The Gambia. Most people wouldn’t even find it on a map. Growing up, we didn’t have electricity. When the sun went down, so did our world. I remember studying by candlelight, walking long distances just to charge a phone, and watching food spoil because we had no fridge.

Darkness wasn’t just around us, it was part of our daily life.

As a child, I didn’t question it. I thought it was normal. But deep down, I knew there had to be another way to live. I just didn’t know I’d be the one helping to create it.

My journey into solar energy didn’t start with big dreams or a clear plan. It started with curiosity. I’d hear people talk about solar panels, about how they could bring light to places like mine. I wanted to understand how it worked. I wanted to feel in control of something as powerful as energy.

At first, I didn’t even know how to hold a screwdriver properly. But with each small training opportunity that came my way, I kept learning. I watched, I asked questions, I practiced. Slowly, I began to understand circuits, panels, batteries, how the sun could power a home.

Then came an opportunity I never expected: the UNDP Climate Promise Project was expanding in The Gambia, offering advanced training for young people who wanted to lead the clean energy transition. For the first time, I saw a door open that could lead me from being a learner to becoming a leader.

This time, I didn’t enter the classroom as a beginner. I came as a young woman with a mission: to bring power to my village and others like it. I joined a group of passionate youth from across the country. Together, we learned not just how to install solar systems, but how to build businesses around them. I saw new possibilities. I began to believe I could become more than a technician, I could be an entrepreneur.

I still remember the first time I led a solar installation in Kartong. Watching the lights come on in a home for the first time, seeing the joy on people’s faces, it moved me. It reminded me why this work matters. For people who’ve lived in darkness, light is more than a convenience. It’s hope. It’s safety. It’s dignity.

 

 

A woman in a blue hard hat works on an electrical panel, tools in hand.

Today, I’m working on something bigger: a business plan to bring clean, affordable energy to off-grid communities across the Central River Region. I want to employ other young people, especially womenw ho’ve never been told that they, too, can be electricians, solar technicians, or business leaders.

Because I’ve been there. I’ve been the girl who was told this work is too technical, too difficult, too male. But the sun shines on all of us equally. And so should opportunity.

Thanks to the Climate Promise, I now have skills, confidence, and a vision. I’ve come a long way from the girl who once studied by candlelight. And I’m not done yet.

Every time I see a light switch on in a place that’s never had power, I feel a spark inside me. This is what purpose feels like.

I know what it means to live in the dark. That’s why I’ve made it my mission to light the way for my village, for my country, and for the future.