Cell phones, solar power and the deserts of Pakistan

Columban Fr. Tomas King is living and working in Pakistan. He provided the following information about cell phone use in the desert:


I was recently out in a place called Nagar Parkar, an area that comes under Columban commitment. It's near the desert. The town of Nagar itself is developing, but there are still many isolated villages. However, they do have mobile phone and wireless phone access. I asked a guy who has both a mobile phone and wireless phone acces and whose village is many miles from electricity how he recharged his batteries. So he pointed to the roof of his mud house, where he had a solar panel which generated 12 volts, enough to charge the batteries.

Mobile masts are everywhere while there's a great shortage of clinics and schools. That said, I think mobile phones are about the most genuinely democratic thing to happen to this country.