The past few days in the village of Balamposo have been hectic, to say the least. We are almost ready to open up the CWS clean water center! Our two entrepreneurs, Bellamina and Damu, have been so wonderful to work with, and we are confident in their ability to keep the center up and running.
Haley and Julia helpng Bellamina and Damu fill the 200-L Blue drums with dugout water. This is the water that the people in Balamposo are currently drinking.
Over the course of two days, we trained Bellamina and Damu in both water treatment and money management. We went into training thinking we would have to answer many questions and provide a lot of direction, but the women have proven to be tremendously intelligent and resourceful. We first demonstrated how to use the drums and polytank of the water center. The women of the village are much more skilled then us when it comes to fetching the water and balancing those buckets on their heads! We worked with alum to rid the water of its turbidity and then explained how to use the chlorine tablets to kill all the bacteria in the water. Although working with a translator during training can be difficult, it is obvious that Bellamina and Damu understand everything and are committed to providing a valuable service to their community.
Haley and Caroline teach Bellamina and Damu how to use alum to remove the turbidity from the water.
The most incredible part of training these women is experiencing their own innovative ideas and eternal gratitude. Whenever an issue or question would arise, they would debate with the surrounding women and come to a quick solution. The efficiency of problem solving in Balamposo trumps any training we can provide. Additionally, they continue to thank Community Water Solutions despite knowing their own hard work is the key to success. During money management training, we stressed the importance of savings to ensure that all supplies are paid for and that they can adapt the center during changing seasons. Bellamina replied, ‘If we do not commit to this business and we let it fail, it means we do not love ourselves.’ They take their responsibilities very seriously and consistently express appreciation to us for giving them their start.
We know that the future of Balamposo’s water center will not be completely smooth—there are bound to be bumps along the road to clean water for this wonderful village. We know that the success of the center will depend on Bellamina and Damu, but we hope that the training has provided them with all of the knowledge they will need. We can’t wait for opening day, when our wonderful entrepreneurs can put their skills to the test!
-Haley, Caroline, Julia and Hannah
Our awesome translators, Khadijah and Sita, help Haley teach the ladies how to scoop water into the polytank where it will be treated with chlorine
Hi Everyone! It’s the Solar Fellows here again with an update from Yapalsi!
With the help of the community, we finished building and painting the solar charging center in Yapalsi. It was really inspirational to see everyone excited about the center and working with us. Each time we left the village for the day, we would return the next day to find that the community had completed yet another section of the center. Their enthusiasm became our source of motivation.
The community helps us add the last cement bricks to the foundation.Lucas and the masons plaster the solar center.Nick paints those hard to reach spots on the solar centerLucas and Linda paint the door of the solar center
Over the past few days, we have been working with Sana, Shetu, and Rahina, the three entrepreneurs who are have been running the water center and now the solar charging center. After we taught them how to connect the solar panels to the microcontroller, battery, and inverter, the women connected the components of the system together and the solar center works!
Rahina connects the wiring of the solar panels.Sana learns to connect the solar panels wires to the microcontroller.
We then explained how to calculate the maximum wattage that they could connect to the center. Prior to teaching them that each cell phone uses 5 Watts while a full battery charger uses 14 Watts, we worried that the women would have trouble with the math, as they had never gone to school before. However, Sana, Shetu, and Rahina completely surpassed our expectations with their exceptional mental math ability.
Linda explains to the women how to connect the batteries and chargers.
During training, many people from Yapalsi were curious about how to connect the system and how the solar center would work. A large crowd gathered outside during training, but after the Friday rain, most Yapalsians began farming, and the final day of training proved to be much quieter and more efficient.
After the solar center construction and training, we went to each and every household to distribute Burro lanterns and explain how to use them. We also explained how they would be able to buy fully charged batteries at the solar center to light their lantern and drop them off when they were out of charge. They were also extremely excited to be able to charge their cell phones for the first time in their village. Previously, they had been travelling to Savelugu a few kilometers away to pay someone to charge their phone. Picking them up usually meant returning to a swapped battery, missing SIM card, or worse a stolen phone. We really hope that the solar center will prove to be a major convenience and improvement for their lives. We finished our last day of distribution today with Linda and Sarah painting CWS’ logo onto the solar center! Tomorrow night is the grand opening of the solar center and we cannot wait! We shall update you soon!
-Linda, Lucas, Nick, and Sarah
Nick demonstrates how to open and close the Burro lanternLucas visits a household to explain the rechargeable lantern program.
After meeting with the Chief and Elders of Kagbal last Wednesday, we decided upon a community meeting for the following Friday. From practice and words of advice, we were expecting a relaxed version of our Chief’s meeting; we planned for a larger audience that included the women of the village. However, as we sat outside in an open space shaded by trees, more and more people gathered around us. First, 10 kids surrounded our bench, then 15, 20, 25, and more. Each one stared at us with wide eyes that almost looked scared until you cracked a smile. Only then did they realize: Oh! They’re not monsters! Once the kids had gathered, women started bringing chairs, benches, and more kids to the circle. At this point, the chief and elders we had met with prior, had taken their spot as well. As we prepared to begin the presentation, the scene around us was truly inspiring.
Not even all of the women and children of Kagbal!
To see that many people in one space, ready to listen to your idea, and ready for a change in their lifestyle is incredible. The numerous colors of scarves, smocks, and smiles made us realize just how big of an impact this project would have. What made the setting even more exciting was the level of acceptance the people of Kagbal had for us from the start; from backing babies to snapping selfies, we could not have felt more at home in such a foreign place. Of course, once the meeting began, the chaos of side conversations, goats bleating, and crying babies ensued, but that only made our connection with the community more real. Elders, men, and women asked logical and important questions throughout the conversation that made it easy to see their concern for making the right choice when partnering with CWS. It may seem like a no-brainier when deciding whether or not you should drink clean water, so it came as a surprise to us to have the village take their time when thinking through this opportunity. From their questions, concerns, and ideas, though, it is clear that the people of Kagbal work together in everything they do… And what is Community Water Solutions without that sense of community? At the end of it all, Kagbal agreed to work with CWS and we can’t wait to get started!!
Although we have only been into our village, Wuvogumani, three times, being with Community Water Solutions has already been an incredible experience. We all agree that the most immediate surprise was how welcoming Ghanaians have been to us. We discovered this about the Ghana on our first day as a team during a competition. While shopping around the cultural center and getting orientated with the area, a man selling something on the street jokingly yelled at us. We then struck up a playful conversation about the main differences between America and Ghana. Already we made a friend and continue to meet more friendly faces everyday.
Elijah and Amin on the 2nd day in Wuvogumani
Along similar lines, another small, yet significant, part of our experience has been the ease of connecting with people who do not speak English. Since we must describe how dugout water gets contaminated through fecal contamination, the word poop is translated often. Our translator, Amin, taught us the word in Dagbnai, bindy. While in our initial meeting with the chief, a formal and important occasion, the elders of the community were making jokes about bindy. Humor has been the easiest way to connect with the members of the village we are working in. We decided that you don’t have to share a language to share a laugh.
Abby with some of her new Ghanian friends
An addition thought we want to share is about the failed past water projects we have seen since visiting different villages. It’s almost eerie seeing the past attempts to bring clean water to various communities. Yet by seeing these failed projects, it has motivated our team’s desire to do everything in our power to get the community excited about their Community Water Solutions clean water treatment business. We now more fully understand all the factors that allow Community Water Solutions to be so sustainable.
One of the keys to CWS’ success is involving the entire community in every step of the implementation process. Here are the women in Wovuhumani after our community meeting!
After a day of flying and another day on the bus, we were all very excited for the Fellows to arrive up north on Friday night!
The first big group of Fellows to arrive in Accra on Thursday
After getting settled at the lovely GILLBT guest house we started the day bright and early on Saturday morning with orientation. We spent the morning getting to know each other through some silly icebreakers and learning about Ghana, Tamale and the global water crisis.
The 2014 Summer Fellows at GiLLBT Guest House!
After a quick lunch break the Fellows headed into town for a CWS-favorite: the Scavenger Hunt! Everyone loved exploring the market and getting to know their teammates better!
Robert bartering in the market during the scavenger hunt
This afternoon, the Fellows are heading into the field for the first time to see some CWS water and solar businesses in action. We can’t wait for them to get out to the communities to really see what CWS is all about!
Hey! It’s Linda, Lucas, Nick, and Sarah, the CWS Solar Fellows. After arriving to Tamale, we were surprised with a scavenger hunt around the city to get to know the locals, places, and culture on a more intimate level. During the 2 hour time frame, we ran around the market looking for things like dried hibiscus flowers, one calabash, and one piece of fabric with the U.S. flag on it. We then went around the Cultural Center trying to convince locals to dance with us to Pharell’s “Happy” while being recorded on video. Next, we needed to take a picture on the Tamale Football Stadium field. We discovered upon arrival that the Ghana vs. Sierra Leone game was in session and wondered how to cross that off the checklist. After sweet-talking the guard, he allowed us to watch the game from the field.
Team Solar!: Linda, Lucas, Nick, and Linda at the Tamale Soccer Stadium
Yesterday, we headed out to the field for this first time this trip! We visited Sakpalua, where we monitored both the water and solar businesses, which are run by four women, including the two water entrepreneurs Lydia and Damu. Unfortunately, Damu was unable to meet with us because she was in another village attending a funeral. In particular, it was great for Nick to be back in the village that he implemented on his first Fellowship. He played mancala with the children and hung out with his friends Simeon, Zizu, and the Pastor. He also got to take a picture in front of the CWS sign with the children of Sakpalua.
It was the first time that any of us were able to see an implemented solar charging center and it was great to see that everything has been running smoothly. The women seemed to be in good spirits and had been doing a great job of keeping track of sales at the business. When we asked if there had been any problems at the center, they did mention a suspicious “whirring” noise coming from the Genset. After thinking about it for a few seconds, we realized that what they were talking about was the fan that keeps all of the components cool. When we explained this to the women, they were very relieved and let us know that there weren’t any other issues with the center.
After monitoring households in Sakpalua, we made the short drive to Wambong – another CWS solar village. The entrepreneurs in Wambong had been experiencing good sales as well, and the households we monitored said they enjoyed having easing and affordable access to cell phone charging. As in Sakpalua we monitored the households for water as well and were encouraged to hear so many stories of improved health for families and their children.
After a successful first day in the field, we had the chance to learn how the components of the solar center worked and how everything should be connected. This made us all really excited for tomorrow, as it will be our first day in Yepalsi, where will be spending the next few weeks implementing a new solar charging business.
Back by popular demand— a TWO WEEK FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM!
Recently, we have received many requests from people asking about a two week fellowship program in Ghana. Some of these people have told us that they have gotten a two-week trip pre-approved by their company, others are in the midst of a career change and looking for an adventure before getting back to the 9 to 5. Some even have enough vacation time built up and are looking to spend it making a lasting difference in a community!
CWS is pumped about the enthusiasm for another program and with that being said having an exciting announcement…
This November 5th to 19th 2014 we will be hosting a two week fellowship program in Ghana!
How are we able to cut the program down to two weeks?
▪We cut out the bus travel. Everyone will fly into Accra, and then fly up to Tamale! The flights are much more expensive than the bus which is why the cost ($2,950) of the program will not differ from the longer Fellowships.
▪We will do orientation here in the States! We will host webinars to go over the Orientation portion of the program. We will work around your schedules to set up three, one hour meeting where we will meet over a webinar to get you the training needed!
▪You will be put in to your teams prior to arrival in Ghana. So, once you arrive, you will hit the ground running! After only 1 day of field orientation and some additional training, you will be started your project in a new community!
The program will take place from November 5th to 19th and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Apply today, hear back from us by the end of the week, coordinate your plans and start fundraising! The earlier you apply the more time you will have to fundraise!
Want to learn more about this special two-week program and how you can make it work with your work schedule? Join us for a virtual info session on May 14th at 7pm EST. Register online here!
My apologizes for the lack of blog updates recently! If you follow Community Water Solutions on Facebook and Instragram, you probably understand why the blog has been radio-silent: we have been busy, busy, busy, bringing solar power to another community! That’s right, in 3 weeks Sam, Shak, Wahab and I implemented not one, but TWO solar businesses which provide electricity to over 1,000 people. It’s been a crazy-fun learning experience! First let’s pick up where we left off in Sakpalua…
Success in Sakpalua
I think the photos in our last blog post really tell it all – opening night in Sakpalua was a big success! Lydia, Damu, Fuseina, and Saramatu were awesome. Two ladies posted-up by the sales door to collect payments and record sales while the other two ladies took batteries out of the chargers and immediately replaced them with a new set to get charging. The business completely sold out of charged batteries within the first 30 minutes! The Burro batteries must be rented out directly from their chargers because as soon as they are removed, they start to loose little bit of their charge. Since,the Genset can only charge 60 batteries at a time, the ladies could only sell those 60 batteries (20 lanterns worth) at once before waiting for another batch to charge up.
Fuesina in re-chargable battery heaven!
We were hopeful that another round of 60 batteries could charge quickly, so we decided to play some videos that we had taken in the community to distract customers while they were waiting. We plugged our projector into the Genset and projected the videos on the side of the solar center. It was a big hit!
Unfortunately, after 45 minutes of waiting, the next round of batteries still weren’t charged. So, the ladies closed up shop and told the remaining customers to come back in the morning. This often happens on our water business opening days as well. Since it’s the very first day of sales, it’s the only time that every single family in the community will need water or batteries all at the same time. After opening night, demand starts to spread out as different families use their lanterns more/less (or drink more/less water). The remaining customers in Sakpalua totally understood and came back the next day to rent their batteries!
After opening night, things continued to go well in Sakpalua. By the end of the first week, the ladies had charged over 60 cell phones and rented out over 140 batteries! They also started buying lanterns from us at cost (16 GHC) and selling them for 18 GHC to families both in Sakpalua and in neighboring villages. In that first week, the women had made a profit of over 50 GHC (~ 25 USD). Considering that most families in Sakpalua live on less than 2 USD/day, that’s a pretty great first week of business!
Saramatu, Damu, Lydia and Fuseina posing by the solar business after their first week of salesDamu by the water business in Sakpalua. Water sales are staying strong! Damu and Lydia were planning their first water-training for Fuseina and Saramatu that night!
New Solar Business in Chani
After an exciting night in Sakpalua, we were up bright and early the next day to head to our next solar village, Chani for our chief meeting! Longtime CWS supporters will remember Chani from our Indiegogo video last spring – it’s a rural village about an hour outside of Tamale in the East Gonja District. Our movie-star water entrepreneur, Salamatu, and her partner Munera, have done an amazing job of running their water business, which opened in January 2011. Chani has always been a model CWS partner-community, with consistent water sales throughout the year. We knew they would be a perfect candidate for our next solar pilot![vimeo 61806019 w=500 h=281]
We arrived in Chani to learn that the chief had recently died, and so instead of a small meeting with the elders, the community wanted to have a big community-wide meeting. It was great! Sam, Wahab, and I explained the concept of the solar business and everyone was on board and excited. The village decided right away that they wanted Salamatu and Munera to run the solar business as well since they are the “most hardworking women in the community and know how to count well.” Done and done! So far all 4 of our solar communities have chosen the water women to run the solar businesses too. It’s been very interesting to see that decision made!
Building the solar charging center in Chani went very smoothly. Both men and women from the community were very helpful. Not to toot our own horns, but Sam and I both agree that this is the nicest-looking solar center that CWS has built so far!
Preparing the gravel to build the solar centerMixing the clayWorking hard or hardly working?Laying the first row of bricksAfter the first day of building – see if you can spot some of these kids Lucy’s photo in the next paragraph!Even small children helped to plaster the building!The finished solar charging center in Chani! What a beauty!
Training the women and distributing lanterns also went off without any hiccups. After 3 years of running the water business, Salamatu and Munera are very comfortable working together. They have a very funny dynamic! Sam and I had so much fun with the children in Chani. It was really cool to see the kids that Lucy had photographed 1.5 years ago. We have been using these pictures for all of our PR materials, so those little faces have been ingrained in our memories. It was amazing to see how everyone had grown up so much!
Lucy’s photo from Chani in January 2013 – Can you spot some familiar faces from the photo above with Sam and I? Kudus, Sadik, Wasila, Wahanna were just a few of the kiddos that we recognized right away!Lantern distributionSo excited to receive their lantern!Ready for opening night!
Salamatu hooking the Genset up to the solar panels
After a very smooth implementation, we were very excited for opening night, which was scheduled for Saturday, April 19th. Unfortunately, when we rolled into the village that night, we hit our first major implementation roadblock: nothing was working! When we left Chani 4 hours earlier, the Genset was on, the sun was shining down on the solar panels, and all of the battery chargers were plugged in. When we returned, the Genset was off, the chargers were off, and the batteries were not charged. Shak, the electrician by nature and the most experienced with our solar charging stations, immediately got to work taking apart the system and investigating the problem. While he was doing that, I called up our partners at Burro, who we bought the Genset from. After about 30 minutes, we all realized that the problem was something major that would not be able to be fixed that night.
The problem with the Genset was very disappointing for a couple reasons. First and foremost, the entire village was out waiting for rent their batteries and charge their phones. Chani had been wanting access to electricity for so long and it was so hard to tell them that they would have to wait, even though it would only be a few days. People in these communities are VERY used to foreign NGOs making big promises and never following through. Even though we have worked with Chani for over 3 years, and they trust our partnership, it was still heartbreaking to pull away that night, with all of our equipment in-hand when we had promised electricity that night. The other reason this was particularly disappointing was that it was a holiday weekend, which meant that there was no way the Genet could get fixed before Sam and I had to leave for the States. In the grand scheme of things, opening night isn’t about us at all – it’s about Salamatu, Munera and the families in Chani. But, after 3 weeks of 4:45 am wakeup calls, without one day off, we were bummed to miss opening night.
The reality is, things like this happen ALL of the time when you are working in development. The fact that our other 3 previous pilot implementations had all gone smoothly is the exception, not the rule. This problem in Chani gave our team some great experience in learning how to to deal with Genset issues. If this happens during a Fellowship Program, we will be prepared! Burro, was also great to work with and proved to be very committed to getting us a working Genset. They were available to our team any time of day, despite their holiday weekend and one of their re-sellers in Tamale ended up being the guy to fix the problem. The issue ended up being a faulty inverter, which Burro replaced for us. There was nothing that our team, or the ladies in Chani had done wrong in setting up the system – it was simply a bad part.
Shak and Wahab did a great job working with Burro and communicating with Chani. The following Wednesday, opening night part 2 went off without a hitch! Every household in Chani rented batteries for their lanterns and some brought their cell phones as well. Salamatu and Munera were really excited and no one seemed upset that opening night was delayed. Brianan’s family was in town to visit her and they all got to come out for the opening – it was great to have such a big crowd there to celebrate! A BIG THANKS, again, to Next Step Living for funding the start-up cost of the solar businesses in Kurugu Vohoyili, Sakpalua, and Chani!
Opening night part two! Brianan, Munera, Salamatu, and ShakEric showing a new customer how to put her rented batteries into the lantern.Munera and Salamatu after an awesome opening! These ladies are the best!
In 3 short weeks, Sam and I will be returning to Ghana with 46 water Fellows and our first-ever team of solar Fellows. We can’t wait to get back to Tamale and run our biggest-ever Summer Fellowship!
Sam and I have been having a blast in Sakpalua this week! I hope that you all enjoyed the video of building the solar center. Since then, the village has helped us plaster the building and install the solar panels. It looks great! Solar panels really are the energy of the future, being able to use them all around the world is fantastic for people who want to help the earth. If you don’t know much about solar energy, Click Here to learn more. We all know that fossil fuels are killing our planet and it’s great that we were able to install these panels for the villagers. We all need to do our bit to save the planet and keep our energy useable renewable. There is more info here on solar installation in certain areas, if you don’t find yours, then researching local companies can show you if they are available.
Connecting the solar panels to poles.
Once the solar center was all set up, we started training the women entrepreneurs. The village nominated 4 women to work at the center: Lydia & Damu – the two water entrepreneurs; and Fuseina & Saramatu – two new ladies! We were so thrilled that the elders nominated 4 women because it means that this great income-generating opportunity could be shared. Lydia and Damu are also planning to show Fuseina and Saramatu how to run the water business, so all four of them can manage both businesses together. Sam and I think that its going to work out really well!
Saramatu, Lydia, Damu, Sam, Fuseina, and me
On Wednesday, Sam, Shak and I showed the ladies how to hook up the battery to the inverter, and then the solar panels to the battery (through the Burro Genset which also has a charge controller). They caught on very quickly and were pros before we knew it!
Lydia connecting the two solar panels to each other while Damu and Fuseina watch and learn.Damu connects the battery to Genset which houses a inverter and charge controller.
When we returned to Sakpalua this morning, we had the ladies de-wire the whole system and put it back together again without our instruction. They nailed it!
Fuseina connects the solar panels to the Burro Genset while her granddaughter sleeps on her back. She is the ultimate working mom!
After finishing up our training with the women, Sam, Shak and I distributed the Burro lanterns to the families in Sakpalua. These lanterns usually retail for 20 GHC (about 9 USD) but each family had the chance to “opt in” to the solar program by buying a lantern for 1 GHC. If they decided to pay 1 GHC, each family received 1 lantern to share. They can buy more at retail price from the women entrepreneurs at any time. Every family that we visited opted into the program and they were all so excited to receive a lantern!
Sam getting ready to distribute some lanterns! It was a long day in the sun, but we had a a great time!We spoke to each family, showed them how to use the lanterns and explained how the solar business would work.Sam and Shak distributing more lanterns!
Each lantern uses 3 rechargeable batteries that people in Sakpalua can rent from the ladies at the solar business for 10 pewas (about 5 cents) each. The batteries should last about a week, depending on how often each family uses their lantern. When the batteries lose their charge, people can return them to the solar center and get “fresh” ones for 10 peswas each. Just like Kurugu Vohoyilli and Wambong, people can also charge their cell phones at the solar center for 50 peswas each (about 23 cents). The ladies in Sakpalua decided that they wanted to charge the same price to charge a cell phone as the people in their village pay in Tamale. Fuseina noted that if people are willing to travel for over an hour to charge their phone for 50 peswas in Tamale, they should be happy to avoid the travel and same the same price in the village! We will see how sales go, but so far everyone seemed satisfied with the price when we explained it during distribution. Gotta love Fuseina’s supply-and-demand theory!
Sam shows the chief of Sakpalua how to use his new Burro lantern!The Sakpaluanayilli family poses for a picture with their new lantern! Their family name is the same name as the village because their father/grandfather was a former chief!
The only hiccup that we ran into today was that the roof of the solar center was leaking. Shak and I will be bringing a carpenter tomorrow morning to fix it so that we will be all ready for opening night tomorrow night! While we are fixing the roof, Sam will be going to Chani with Wahab to hold a meeting with the chief about bringing a solar business to their community. If all goes well, two new villages and over 1,000 people will gain access to solar electricity this month! A HUGE thank you to Next Step Living for supporting CWS’ expansion into solar. We could not do any of this work without you!
Me and Sam with our Burro Lanterns! We have both been LOVING getting back in the field!
