In the valleys of Tigray, northern Ethiopia, the village of May Hanse is home to a small health center. For years, frequent power outages plunged delivery rooms into darkness, turning complicated births into life-threatening emergencies for mothers and newborns. Today, solar energy, installed by ALIMA, allows the health center to operate 24 hours, ensuring safer care at any hour of the day or night.
“I came here because my mother told me it was the only way to be safe.”
In Ethiopia, giving birth safely often means having to travel long distances to reach a health facility. For many families, the cost of the journey itself is a major barrier, sometimes forcing them to choose between seeking medical care and meeting their basic daily needs.
When a pregnant woman finally reaches a health facility to give birth, like Bisrat did, it can make all the difference. After overcoming numerous obstacles, she arrives at a place where skilled healthcare workers can care for her and her baby, giving them both a better chance of a safe delivery and a healthy start to life.
“I came here because my mother told me it was the only way to be safe. In my village, there is no one at night. Here, I have counseling, and most importantly, I have the peace of mind that whenever my baby comes, the midwives are already here.”
“The arrival of solar power has truly been a light in the dark”
In Tigray, most women give birth at home because health facilities are too far away, and services are not always available due to limited resources and staff shortages.
When complications arise, the gravest consequences often occur at home, far from the support of skilled healthcare workers. But the May Hanse health centre is helping to change this trend.
From May 2025 to May 2026, ALIMA worked alongside healthcare workers from the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to support the facility. Together, they provided comprehensive maternal and child healthcare, while targeted training sessions helped strengthen the skills of the health workers on site. To keep care running day after day, ALIMA regularly supplied essential medicines and medical equipment, including life-saving antibiotics and oxytocin used to manage delivery complications.
Then, in February 2026, a new milestone: solar panels brought reliable energy to the maternity ward of the May Hanse health center. For mothers and newborns, it marked a step toward safer, more dependable care, at every hour of the day and night.
“The solar installation has truly been a light in the dark and changed everything for us. Before, the electricity supply was irregular, but now we have the confidence and the tools to provide the quality of care our mothers deserve.”
In the past, the May Hanse Health Center recorded an average of 50 deliveries per month. Today, with the arrival of more reliable electricity, which has enhanced and enabled the new services and equipment in place, word has spread throughout the surrounding communities, and that number has doubled to more than 100 deliveries each month. In Ethiopia, the arrival of electricity means everything for women about to give birth.
This project was made possible thanks to humanitarian funding from the European Union (ECHO).
