Remon Kumar
Sometimes, when I fix a light in someone’s home and they smile like I’ve performed magic, I remember why I chose this path. I’m an electrician in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and at 26, I consider myself lucky—lucky to have learned a skill, lucky to be able to help others, and lucky to be working in a country where electricity still feels like a luxury.
Growing up in the capital didn’t mean we had power all the time. I remember doing my homework by candlelight more often than not. Our neighborhood would lose power for days, and we just adapted. That’s how most people live here—adapting. In the rural villages, it’s worse. Many of my cousins live in areas where electricity is more myth than reality. Only 18% of people in those areas have access. I know, because I’ve checked the numbers myself—650 megawatts total for the whole country.
I finished school thanks to a teacher who told me, “Electricity is the future.” That stuck with me. But getting there wasn’t easy. Most of our books were older than me, torn and yellowing. The diagrams in our physics class were about coal power plants in Europe from the 1970s. Our computer lab had three machines. Only one worked properly, and we never had reliable internet. Sometimes I walked to the city library to use Wi-Fi, which cost half a day’s wages.
The real challenge was convincing my family that education mattered. My uncle said, “You can read and count. What more do you need?” And he meant it. That’s still the mindset for many here. Learning for the sake of learning isn’t something people understand. Survival comes first.
When I started my apprenticeship, I fell in love with the work. Wiring homes, setting up solar systems, building something useful—it felt right. I’ve helped hospitals install backup systems and connected small businesses to the grid. The kids at a school I wired once stared in silence when the lights flicked on.
Madagascar doesn’t need more charity. We need access—to power, to knowledge, to possibilities. Every socket I wire feels like resistance against a system that’s held us back too long. I’m proud to be an electrician. Proud, because I know what power really means here.