How Text Messages Are Saving Moms From Dying During Childbirth

According to Nteff, Gifted Mom is now used in all 10 regions of the country.

"The project expects to help reduce the number of Cameroonian women who die during childbirth and the number of babies who die at birth by at least 70 percent by 2020," said Nteff, talking to the press in Yaounde.

But Gifted Mom's success would be impossible if it weren't for the other projects tackling another issue that blights the lives of those living in rural Cameroon: lack of electricity.

SOLAR AND WIND STEP IN

According to the World Bank, nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa - most of them in rural areas where poverty is high - still lack access to energy, and electrification is barely keeping pace with population growth.

Limbe, a big coastal town in southwest Cameroon, runs on hydroelectricity provided by ENEO, the country's lone energy provider. But even residents connected to the grid can't rely on having electricity when they need it.

Prolonged droughts have caused a severe drop in the water levels of the Sanaga river, which feeds the area's hydropower plant, resulting in crippling power outages.

"We suffer from persistent blackouts  on a daily basis," said Motanga Andrew, the government delegate to the Limbe city council.

In Idenau and Batoke, two fishing villages about 12 kilometres from Limbe city, there are pretty beaches and vast tracts of unspoiled mangrove forests that bring in the tourists.

But, until recently, the communities couldn't access enough power to meet the most basic needs of running their businesses and health services.

The recent arrival of solar power, however, is already improving the lives, health experts say.

In 2015, a renewable-energy expert from Canada began using homemade wind turbines and solar panels to build a network of renewable energy electrical stations to supply power to homes and medical clinics in the area.

The networks are also used to charge motorcycle batteries, which residents take home to power their lights and charge their cell phones, which they can then use to conduct business and access health information.

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