Wilson Tshitande has lived in Gwakwani for as long as he can remember. He boasts that he knows every stick, every rock and every plant in the village with less than 100 people. He believes that electricity,which he knows little, will change people's life greatly. But the 70-year-old never thought he would see that electricity has finally come to his village.
The local officials say they don't have enough money to bring the lines from the power station to Gwakwani. Fortunately, the University of Johannesburg led an electricity project. A team from the university recently travelled 800 kilometers to the village to install (安装) solar panels donated by a local factory. There were a number of villages that were needy. Engineering lecturer M. Hove helped the university choose Gwakwani. As he said, he called it the forgotten village.
The small amount of power will first start a waterpump (水泵) that until now has run on dieselfuel (柴油). Godfrey Nefuluphudwe has operated the aging pump for four years. He travels once a month to the nearest town to buy the diesel fuel. He said he was grateful for the small amount of electricity. With electricity, they can live easily. They don't have to move from their village to the town to charge phones or laptops. They will not always buy batteries for the radios. Now that electricity is finally coming, maybe its residents, young and old, will get a better connection to the modern world.