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!
Our first visit to the village was more successful than we thought it would be! We thought that we would have the chief meeting and it wold be more business-like and they would tell us that they wold think about working with us. To our surprise, after the elders of Sagbarigu and some of the women warmed up to us, it felt more like a gathering – hanging out with old friends!
Katie gets handed off a baby! He looks a little unsure about the whole thing!
During the meeting, the elders continually told us how excited they were! They decided that they wanted to talk to their village and gather questions for the community meeting the next day.
Ana gets a baby on her back!
Following the meeting, a woman led us to their stream while a bunch of kids followed behind. This stream is where the village is currently fetching their drinking water. We quickly collected samples of water from the stream and then got to see the village’s borehole that produces salty, undrinkable water. The remainder of our time in the village was spent getting to know the villagers. Nestor, our translator, brought his drum and we had a lot of fun taking pictures and dancing with the women and children! The kids really enjoyed having their pictures taken and Ana even got to back a baby!
– Team Nestor
(Alex, Katie, Ana and Nicole)
After a the chief meeting, Nestor starts up a beat on his drum for a dance party!To no surprise, Nestor jumps in the middle to break it down
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.
TAMALE, GHANA – Last Friday May 2, 2014, Chris Anieze, a talk show host and entertainment specialist from Kesmi FM 107.1, invited West Africa Regional Director, Brianán and Assistant Project Manager, Shak of Community Water Solutions to come in for a live interview. The radio station had recently visited Kuntalaga, a community in the Sagnarigu district of the Northern Region, and was shocked to see what the community is drinking for water. Kesmi FM invited CWS to the studio to inform them of the community and to hear more about the CWS approach. Check out the live recording below to find out more!
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!
The solar center in Chani on opening night. Even the sheep were excited!
On Wednesday April 23rd, 2014, the 4th CWS solar center opened for business in Chani! As you may have read on the blog, opening night was pushed back a few days because of a faulty inverter. While the setback was a disappointment, the opening was still a big success. The CWS full time Ghana staff along with my family (who was visiting from the US and Ireland) made it to the big event. Muneera and Salamatu, the CWS solar and water entrepreneurs, were very enthusiastic about the opening. Salamatu (famous for Salamatu’s story) said she was excited for the opportunity to run another business that would improve the lives of Chani community members.
Here are more pictures from the night. Photo credit goes to my aunt Tara Canellas visiting Ghana from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida!
TJ’s taxi got a flat tire en route to Chani but the CWS team worked together and within 15 minutes, we were all back on the road!Wahab showing me around the solar center!Some Chani kiddos!Ailis Kiernan (my mom) entertaining the Chani kids before the center opened for businessCWS Field Representative Wahab helping Salamatu with battery sales inside the center. It was hot in there!CWS Field Rep Eric helps a woman put in “fresh” Burro batteries in to the lanternA woman shines her Burro lantern on her walk home.The center ceiling is so high that even CWS Field Rep Shak can stand inside!Some Chani kids checking out the solar center actionMuneera and Salamatu smile after the opening. Every household came to get batteries! They were so excited to get the business started. We are so proud of them!Me, Muneera, Salamatu, Shak, Eric and Wahab cheesing outside the solar center after the opening!My fam gets in for a pic with Muneera, Salamatu, Shak and Wahab. Success!!!
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!
