The Saha Global Advisory Board consists of some of our top Field Rep alumni. After participating in the Global Leadership Program and implementing a Saha business from the ground up, these people really know what we are all about! We truly value their input and feedback. We know that they have the skills, experience and passion that we need to continue to drive our growth and expansion!
The main focus of our board over this next year will be fundraising and Field Rep alumni engagement. We are excited to have their input and ideas!
Our 2016 Advisory Board Members:
Brianan Kiernan
DeLaine Mayer
Kayleah Griffen
Sean Dikdan
Signe Lindquist
Bryant Foreman
Jeremy Lakin
Lilly Prince
Stacey Cussen
Over the next few weeks we will be posting bios about each of the members so you can get to know them a little better, stay posted!
Week 4:
Jarayili, chongashe, libi, gbung, kushini, kpalbusi, gidanturu, chanaayili, original and indigenous kabache, kideng, tunga, laligu, kpalyn, yepalsi, jangbarigiyili, zanzugu, zanzugu yapala, changyili, balamposo, tijo, tindan I, kpalguni I, chandanyili, jagberin, sagbragu, gondaa, namdu I, namdu II, warvi, kpalga, chihigu, galinkpegu, naha, cheshagu, futa, kpalguni II, wovugumani, wovugu, manguli II, janakpen, gbruma, takpili, chani, cheko, kpanshegu, komlanyili, yepala, bamvim, Kpenchila, kulaa, komonaayili, moya, kudula, voghyili, djelo, manguli I, kuldanali, bogu, tindan II, nekpegu, kalinka, tohinayili, gurumanchayili, gbandu.
The new water villages implemented during the Winter Global Leadership Program were shared among the staff to monitor. Wahab monitors Naha, Galinkpegu and Chihigu. Amin monitors Futa and Kpalguni. Eric monitors Komonaayili and Shak took over monitoring Kagbal.
Success Stories
February marks the second month in a row with over 80% usage in our water villages! Given that our average usage rate over the past 7 years has been closer to 70-75%, it’s exciting to see this upward trend. The monitoring team and our field reps have done a great job focusing on water and health education, not just business logistics, which really helps with long-term behavior change. We are proud of this progress! The following villages had 6/6 household visits at a point in the month (meaning that all of the households that we stopped into see that day had clean water in their safe storage containers): kushini, kpalyn, warvi, galinkpegu, chihigu, naha, yepala ,futa,k.kpalguni, djelo, nekpegu, and komonaayili. And, since they always say a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some pictures from monitoring our water villages this month!
On the solar front, we’ve had a couple of great successes this month. The entrepreneurs in Kpenchila were able to open a savings account with Bonzali rural bank! We are so proud of these ladies! The lighting wasn’t great, but we were able to capture a few photos from this day.
During February, the Sakpalua entrepreneurs bought 40 AA size rechargeable batteries to replace worn-out batteries. After months of talking about this with them, we were thrilled that the ladies committed to re-investing in their business. Also, the entrepreneurs from Namdu I, Namdu II and Voghyili told us that they plan to open savings accounts soon.
Challenges
It’s that time of year when we start to see dugout drying out in some of our communities. In February, the dugouts in bamvim, manguli II, futa, chihigu, futa, zanzugu, zanzugu yepala, galinzegu, gbruma, voghyili, buhijaa, balomposo, kpaliga, chesagu, yakura, kpachiyili and jangbarigiyili all dried up and water sales have stalled until it rains and there is water treat. Bamvim and voghyili both had very high sales before their dugouts ran out. The women in Dundo have also temporarily paused water sales because people have started to go down the road to the University of Development Studies where they can get tap water for free. We are unsure if this water will continue to be available to for free in the long-term, so they entrepreneurs in Dundo are being patient and will start up sales again if the USD pipe is no longer an option. In Jabayili, the women are still experiencing problems related to their stolen blue drum. Although they still have two of their blue drums, the women complain it’s now difficult to treat water. We are working with the village leadership to find a solution to this problem. In Kasulyili the project that pumps water from the dugout to the community is still running and many people still have the misconception that the water from this pump is treated (it’s not). Our team is planning an education campaign to address this problem. Finally, sales at the water business in Nymaliga were slow one week because the chief passed away and everyone is busy arranging for the funeral. Other smaller problems included a leaky polytank in Moya that was easily fixed.
Villages with problems at their solar centres are wambong, yapalasi, chani and Nekpegu. In Wambong, the main battery at the solar center seems to have a problem. The women can manage the issue by having small repairs done, but eventually will need to replace it. In Yepalsi, the inverter has broken down. However, as we mentioned a few months ago, this village now has electricity from the city and the solar center is just used during “lights out.” So it has not been a huge problem. Finally, both Chani and Nekpegu complain of their lamp batteries not lasting long after charge. This is expected as both centers have been open for over two years. Like Sakpalua, the entrepreneurs will have to replace the AA batteries soon.
Today we are going to hear from Shak, Saha’s Director of Ghana Operations. Shak has worked for Saha since 2009, is our resident solar expert, and manages our team in Tamale. He is an huge asset to the Saha team and one of the most popular guys in Tamale! This is his first-ever blog post. I’ll let Shak take it from here:
Every Monday, I meet everyone at the office by 6:30am to check in about how the week is to start and where each person is heading out to monitor. After checking in with everyone, I give them each a day of fuel money so they can head out to the field. At the end of each day, everyone checks in with me at 2:30pm about how the day went and challenges encountered in the communities that day. Some examples of challenges would be if there was a broken polytank. If this happens, then they can take the supplies needed for the women to repair it the next day.
After my morning check ins, I leave to monitor communities myself. The first thing I do when I am out to monitor is visit the business centers to see the status of the center. Then, I go talk to the entrepreneurs. The first thing I ask them (after sending my greetings to them) is “how is the water business center doing?” I make sure to ask how many blue drums were treated this week and how many aquatabs they used. I then ask about the challenges or successes of the week, before heading out to my first compound visit.
The same thing applies to the solar centers. I make sure that I ask how many cell phones the entrepreneurs charged in the past week and count the number of cell phones and batteries plugged in when I arrive. I also ask how often the panels have been cleaned and how sales are going for the the week. Finally, I ask how much money they made in the past week.
On Fridays we have our general staff meeting day. During this meeting we discuss all problems encountered for the week and how to solve them.
My responsibilities as the Director of Ghana Operations are:
-To provide advice and support for teammates
-Support teammates, answer basic questions, and act as a funnel for communications with the US staff
-Create clean and organized expense reports
-Write blog posts for Saha Global
-Oversee all monitoring and operations
-Make sure all activities are are getting accomplished in a timely manner
-Order supplies in preparation for the Global Leadership Program
My favorite part of my job is providing cleaning water and solar power to people in need. The difficult part of my job is if there is bad communication in the team. That is stressful!
December was a great month for both our water and solar businesses. Despite some challenges (see below), our usage rate for the water business was higher than our usual average, with 85% of people drinking clean water! Our team really focused on education this month as the rains have totally stopped and people have no other option, other than the water treatment centers, for safe drinking water. Their hard work paid off!
The solar businesses were also thriving with high sales and exciting purchases made by many of our entrepreneurs. Read on for photos and more info!
This is the first monitoring post written by Saha Manager Eric Angkosaala and Senior Manager Wahab Lawal. I’ll let them take it from here:
Kids in Tunga! Tunga was the first community that we worked in when we expanded to Salaga in December 2012. These kiddos have had access to clean water for 3 years now!
Success Stories
The Kpanshegu water business made a lot of they had made a lot of sales this month. The ladies made a total of 70cedis and are planning to buy crops to store and later sell.The following villages had high sales and had 6/6 household visits at some point during the month (meaning every house visited had clean water in their safe storage container at the time of the visit): komlanyili, yepela, tunga, kideng, indigenous kabache, nekpegu, tohinayili, kagbal, warvi, sagbragu, namdu I, yakura, balomposo, jangbarigiyili, and changyili.The overall percent usage rate for the month was 83%, which is above our typical average of 75% Go water villages!
We also had some successes with our solar businesses this month. The Voghyili solar center had high sales because people were coming from Djelo to charge their phones and batteries. This is a success for Voghyili but a challenge for Djelo (see below). The ladies in Voghyili also bought phone chargers for the center. The entrepreneurs in sakpalua bought some crops so they sell later when prices increase.
The solar center in Kpenchila during one of our December monitoring visits.
Challenges
The water businesses that had challenges during that month were jarigu, kpalbusi, kudula, jagberin, jarayili. All had very low or sometimes no sales. To address this issues, our team emphasized that the entreprenuers shoulld try to make announcements when their business is open and to go round households anytime they treat water. Nyamalga, kasulyili and jabayili have closed centres at the moment, but we are working with the entrepreneurs to get them back up and running. In nyamalga, the stream that they use for their source of water in the rainy season has run dry and they need to move the center back to the dugout to resume business. Moving seems to be taking a long time, but we are hopeful that they ladies will get it set up by the dugout soon. The reason for the delay is that the Chief of nyamalga recently passed away dead so the village is busy arranging for the funeral. As we mentioned in previous posts, kasulyili now has a project that pumps dugout water to the village. Although this water is not treated, the community thinks that the water is safe because it is coming from a pipe. Wahab held a village meeting with chief and elders and women but there is still no change in behavior yet. We plan to do continued education in kasulyili over the next couple of months to help people realize that the water is not treated and unsafe for drinking. As we mentioned last month, J two blue drums stolen were stolen from Jabayili, which has stalled sales. The community is working on buying new blue drums. Additionally, yapie yepela now has running taps and so the women have not been treating water. We don;t really view this as a challenge because all of the water test came out clean from this tap! Go Yapie. We are keeping the water center in this village for now until the community can be sure there there will be consistent water access at the tap.
Villages that had solar challenges were yepalsi and djelo. Both had broken inverters and our technician from Burro had a major delay in helping the women fix them. In Sakpalua, chani and nekpegu people have noticed that their lamp batteries don’t last long after charge. This is something that we anticipated since the batteries only last 500 charges before needing to be replaced. The entreprenuers at these villages are working on buying new batteries to replace the older ones. Addtionally, voghyili had four broken battery chargers. These were still under warranty, so Burro replaced them.
Click here for more detailed, week by week monitoring reports for December.
Mariama was born in Yogh, where she later got married. She and her husband moved and have since settled in Kadula. She has given birth to five kids, two girls three boys– including a set of twins. She cooks and sells food aside working as a water entrepreneur. She also farms rice and groundnuts.
The water treatment center in Kadula was implemented back in June of 2011 by Summer Field Reps Nadiah, Christina, Matt and Karina and, five years later, still provides the community of about 960 people a source of clean drinking water. Mariama says, “I was happy when the elders of the community chose me among the women to run the water business. Since the water treatment center was implemented we have seen improvements in our health and the kids no longer complain of stomach aches. I am grateful to Saha Global.”
Over the next couple of months, the Saha Team is going to be speaking all over the US. Check out our schedule below and come to an info session near you to learn about how you can join us in Ghana this summer as a Saha Field Rep. Be sure to check back – we are constantly updating this list!
Feb. 8th University of Maine @ 3:00pm, Soderberg Lecture Hall in Jenness Hall
Feb. 8th Colby College @ 7:30pm, Lovejoy 205
Feb. 9th Harvard @ 5:30pm, Harvard Hall 201
Feb. 16th Skidmore College @ 5:15pm, Palamountain 202
Feb. 17th Clark University @ 3:00 pm, Location TBD (rescheduled. date and location TBD)
Feb. 17th Worcester Polytechnic Institute @ 7:00pm, Engineers Without Borders Meeting, Goddard Hall 227
Feb. 18th Boston College, Stokes Hall North Rm 428
Feb. 18th Rutgers @ 8:15pm, Engineers Without Borders Meeting
Feb. 22nd GWU @ 4:00pm, Marvin Center 506
Feb. 22nd Georgetown @ 6:00pm, ICC 302P
Feb. 22nd University of Virginia @ 5:00pm, Engineering Students Without Borders Meeting
Feb. 23rd University of Virginia, time and location TBD
Feb. 24th Virginia Tech @ 5:30pm, Seitz 105
Feb. 24th Lehigh University @ 12:10pm & 4:10pm, Williams Hall 080
Feb.25th St. Joe’s Philly @ 11:00am, Merion Hall Room 160
Feb.25th University of Pennsylvania @ 6:00pm, Wharton School, Huntsman Hall – Room G-90
March 1st MIT D-Lab WASH & Environmental Innovations Class @ 9:30am – 11:00am, D-Lab Water and Climate Change Class @ 1:00pm – 2:30 pm
March 2nd @ 6:00pm Connecticut College, Blaustein 201
March 2nd @ 6:00 pm Whitman College, room TBD
March 8th @ 6:00pm Fordham University, McGinley Center, Room 235
March 14th @ 6:30 pm University of California Berkeley, EWB Meeting, 310 Jacobs Hall
March 30th @ 6:00 pm USC, Globe Med Meeting
April 2nd 11-5, “Lessons From Abroad” Conference, Skyline University Building 6
Saha Global is thrilled to announced our newest corporate partner: Phoenix Revolution!
Phoenix Revolution’s mission is to overcome the most challenging problems that face our world today, through engineering economic and environmental solutions. Their Ocean Pure Water System (OPWS) uses modern and proven water desalination processes in an innovative way to reduce power consumption and upfront costs, while maximizing water production. Using desalination and purification techniques based on reverse osmosis (RO), the OPWS does not innovate on the removal of dissolved solids, but on the ability to supply water to the system.
“What was once a multi year, multi billion dollar operation, can now be done in weeks with startup costs starting well under the $100,000 price mark.” Says Casey Glynn, Phoenix Revolution’s Founder and CEO. “Our system is easy, adaptable to being deployed under the sea or on land depending on your specific needs, and can get you started creating fresh, clean, potable drinking water right away. The OPWS is the beginning of ensuring that all people on this planet have quick and easy access to water.”
Saha was first introduced to Casey, last year through Next Step Living. We were immediately impressed with his passion for worldwide water access and his innovative technology. Casey and his team attend the Saha Benefit in the fall, were excited by our plans to expand to Nicaragua and immediately wanted to know how they help.
“[Saha and Phoenix] share the same belief. We are trying to solve the same problems and we feel that together we can make a large difference,” says Casey. “Companies coming together and working together is the only way we can all move forward on this most critical of problems”
Over the next year, Phoenix will be donating funds to help support our expansion and eventually will be contributing their water treatment products for us to test in-country during our Nicaragua pilots. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!
Is your company interested in expanding your impact by supporting Saha’s work? Contact Kate, kate@sahaglobal.org, to learn more!
It’s been just over a week since we said farewell to the 2016 winter Field Reps. Thanks to this group of amazing individuals, Saha was able to launch 11 new businesses, which provide jobs to 16 women (and 1 man). 2,330 people now have permanent access to safe drinking water and 1,728 people have access to reliable, solar electricity. Additionally, 14 of our water entrepreneurs have now been trained to run solar businesses, increasing their earning potential.
We can’t believe that it’s been 10 days since we packed up the bus in Tamale with our fingers crossed for a quick ride down to Accra. We are so grateful that you all choose to donate your time, energy and talents to Saha to help us bring water and electricity to new communities. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, thousands of people’s lives have been changed forever. It has been such a joy to work with each and every one of you. There are hundreds of moments from this winter’s trip that we will never forget: the dance parties on the side of the road in Kumasi, Damba festival, and the insightful conversations we had during debrief and office hours. We are so lucky to have you as members of the Saha Team!
On Wednesday night, our team had our opening night for our solar business. We were so excited to finally get our village’s business up and running after two weeks of building and preparing. When we arrived a couple hours before sunset, we had a few glitches to work out and quickly dealt with the issues with our entrepreneurs Mazara and Adam. Once all 69 batteries were charged we were ready to officially begin. So many people from the village came out and gathered around to receive their batteries and charge their phones.
It was during opening night that we truly realized the impact of our work. The loud cheering of the children as their mom switched one setting of brightness after another brought only more excitement. Walking around the village, we saw how much the new lanterns we provided really improved their lives. Those using their old lanterns and flashlights did not shine as bright as the ones we have provided. It was also less convenient to use as it usually required another person to hold the light.
As more people came to rent batteries, one by one, each compound became lit and vibrant. Sounds from afar in the serene village night were the women pounding fufu and the cracking sound from the fires in the lighted compound. Even though we had a rough start, the overall opening night was very successful. Our team was able to work with our entrepreneurs and quickly fix the problem. As a result, 18 people came out of 23 compounds and 5 people got their phones charged. Our team is so happy to have been able to bring this important resource to the village.
They may have left Ghana, but we’ve got one last update from a Saha team written on their (first) last day in their community. Take it away Team Sita:
As we were sitting on the thin wooden bench in the middle of our village, we began to reflect. We had sat on that thin, wooden bench two weeks earlier when we were asking permission from the chief elders, and community to implement a water treatment center. However, this time we were sitting on that bench to say goodbye to Kombonaayili and thank them for all of their help. There was no doubt in our minds that the past three weeks have been an adventure and some of the best we’ve ever had and with those three weeks came a lot of firsts for each of us.
Sean
This trip was my first experience in Africa. I have never ever been across the Atlantic before- a useful fact for those Never Have I Evers. I was not sure what to expect in the “city” I would be staying in or the village I would be working in- I didn’t even know if they used bathrooms, for example, and if so, what kind. Through my weeks, the thing that struck me most were not the differences between what I felt would be a strange planet and the U.S., but the similarities. The city doesn’t have the sky scrapers I’m more familiar with, but it bustles all the same. The people I encountered loved to tell jokes and laugh with me about them. It was a way of welcoming me that surpassed any greeting. The children love to play with us, completely ignoring the fact that we are bizarre-looking strangers. After three weeks here the differences are hardly noticeable. I’ve been welcomed by so many people, both directly and indirectly, that this place has started to feel like a home away from home. I am sad to see it go- Komonaayili, Tamale, Ghana, and Africa in general.
Haley
This trip was my first time using a bathroom that essentially was a separated “room” and a cement floor with a small hole in this wall to drain everything to the outside. At first it was somewhat scary, but after 2 weeks of using the restroom around 10 am every day, it became part of my daily routine. You only really get to know a village if you use their bathroom.
Bri
I can honestly say that this trip was the first time I have ever made a baby cry just by looking at it. .I wish I was exaggerating. Some of the children in our village have never seen “salameenses” (It means white people, but is used to describe all light-skinned foreigners) before or even heard of one for that matter so we must seem like aliens to them. I remember walking into one household and seeing a bay about two years old screaming and running away from me. Unfortunately, he ran into the house I was about to go into so the screaming continued. While I was in the house one of the women picked up the small boy and shoved him in my face as to say “see they aren’t that scary” but it just made him scream louder and squirm until the woman let him go. For the remainder of the time he sat on another woman’s lap with a shawl over his face to keep him from seeing us and to silence his screams. This is of course just one instance out of many, but it is definitely one I’ll never forget and one that I can hopefully look back and laugh at.
Valerie
I never ever in my 22 years of life imagined that I would be betrothed so early. I was one of the fortunate ones that had been chosen by one of the village chiefs to be a second or even third wife (polygamy is a normal practice in Northern Ghana). This was obviously just said in jest, and no rings were ever exchanged. No, mom, there is no reason to alert the U.S. Embassy. I am indeed coming back home, promise! But it was not uncommon to hear a man ask Sean, my teammate, if he could have one of “his” women. Sean would very graciously decline and try to explain that we belonged only to ourselves. But after two days, he was practically giving us away for free.
Now, this may make the villagers seem as if they treat the women as a commodity, however that was not the case. All of the women we met were powerful and outspoken. It was almost surprising to me at first. They could carry babies on their backs and a bucket of water on their heads, as they carried other items in their hand. They did not seem to hold back on their thoughts, even when there were men around. And even today, as we sat on that wooden bench, when we were trying to make sure to reiterate the importance of the women in the village and their role in the treatment center, we were received with only reassuring agreement. It was one of the top moments in that village, probably next to getting “engaged” numerous times.
Overall, no matter what our firsts have been, they have only served to open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts. So if you ever decide to apply as a field rep, be prepared to have many interesting firsts!
