It is crazy for us, a group of American college students, to think that for years the small village called Namdu 2 has been without a source of clean drinking water. We have now traveled to Namdu 2 for four days working to implement another CWS site.
Since our first visit, the village has been excited for a future of good health due to the water treatment center. Jimmy led the chief meeting and community meeting and got a good response from all involved. However we are still not sure if the chief is more excited about the clean water or the chance that one of these days we might bring him gin. but more to come on that.
You are probably wondering how we have gotten our equipment out to the village thus far. It’s definitely an African art to fit one taxi driver, one translator, three girls, 6’4″ Jimmy, plus the equipment in the taxi for our 1.5 hour drive. But Implementation must go on, and to date we have successfully taken our blue drums and polytank stand out to Namdu 2. game on Ghana!
With the exception of a few children who have run away screaming, the community has responded well to our presence. I think that from their point of view, everyday has a little bit of comedy from us, whether it be them laughing at our “work in progress” Dagbani, trying to carry water on our heads, or trying to play American classics (duck duck goose, Simon says, etc.)
We are excited for the days to come. We will train the women, distribute safe storage containers, and prepare for opening day, improving our Dagbani and farmers tans along the way. Namdu and CWS will now forever hold a place in our hearts. Who knows maybe the four of us will come back with Namdu tattooed on our arms (they could probably do that for us.) Each day we are excited to immerse ourselves in this village and see all the faces of Nambu on opening day.
Jimmy and Miriam paint the new polytank standSerena playing duck duck goose with the kids!Caroline helps out to collect waterMiriam pumping out water (this is not a CWS pump!)
Kallie, Danielle, Brittany and MJ with the chief and elders in Guremancheyili.
Yesterday was our second day in our village, Guremancheyili. Just the day before, we went to the village and met with the chief and elders to explain what Community Water Solutions is and our vision for the village. They welcomed us with open arms so we went back today to meet with the entire community. It was a little intimidating at first, as the entire village was there surrounding us (we were in the middle and had to spin around to talk to everyone). One thing we noticed is that all of the men sat together, all of the women in a different spot and all of the kids filling in the gaps. We had broken up our speech so all of us got to explain a different part of the process and bond with the community. They especially loved the beginning when we said “Despa” (good morning) and “Ebeera” (how did you sleep) to the entire village, and that helped set the tone for the meeting. At the end, our village asked a lot of questions but sometimes other village people would answer for them which showed us they were really getting the concepts down that we’d been explaining, which made us feel great. Afterwards, the entire village wanted to get in a picture with us followed by all of the women and then by the chief himself. Upon leaving we felt very welcome in the community and are excited to work with them over the coming weeks!!
Smile!
After our visit to the village, our translator, Nestor, invited us over to his house for Pito, a homemade beer his mom makes. We were all extremely excited that Nestor was opening up to us and inviting us to meet his family. His house was a cute little area right off the road and was bustling with people while we were there (as he’d promised). We got to meet his parents, older brother, friend of his sisters, his best friend, his goat, his puppy (junior el Tigre), his many chickens, and his nieces and nephews. Everyone in our group LOVED the Pito, except Brittany, and would definitely drink it again. We drank it out of a calabash, which are bowls made out of dried plants, which made us all feel like a big part of the culture. After we were done with our Pito, there was a parade going on outside for a new chief of the village. There were people on motos, people drumming, some dancing and some walking in front of the taxi that held the new chief. It was another awesome bit of culture we were lucky enough to experience!
Pito with Nestor!
Today we’ll start building the stand for our treatment center and we couldn’t be more excited to go back to our village!!
With the women trained and the solar equipment in place, it was almost time to open our Solar Center. Before the big opening party could take place, we just needed to distribute the rechargeable lanterns to all of the households and add some finishing touches to the façade of our solar center.
When we had first arrived in the community we asked the village elders to provide us with a list of households in the village so we could have an exact count for lantern distribution. Each household is basically a small compound with about 6 or 7 separate huts all in an enclosed wall. Compounds consist of a man, his wives, and their children, and sometimes their elderly parents. We had been planning on approximately 60 households based on Ben’s water implementation in Wambong three year ago, so we decided to be prudent and order 75 lanterns for the village. When we finally received the new household list we realized that Wambong had grown to over 120 households, more than double what we had planned for. Luckily, when we went to pick up our shipment of lanterns the store had more than enough in stock. We were definitely relieved to know that we would have enough lanterns for everyone and excited and humbled by the idea that we would be providing access to electricity for over 1000 people. Providing solar power to different households is a tremendous task, especially when you need to begin from scratch. In the US, solar power is often coupled with traditional forms of energy and distributed through electricity providers. These providers create rates and plans, like 4change energy rates, making electricity more affordable for families. We often forget how fragile having electricity can be, so trying our best to provide electricity to a community is not only a tremendous feat, but also a necessary one.
Distributing lanterns was exhilarating. The town assemblyman had already gathered a large group in the town center in anticipation of our arrival and when we pulled up in our taxi they started making announcements via the Mosque loud speaker which is usually used to broadcast prayers. Before long we were surrounded by people and we felt
Sprucing up the Solar Center with the InnovaSun Logo!
confident that we had representatives from all the households present. We took the opportunity to speak to the community at large about the solar center and how it important it was that the community work together to keep it safe. We discussed prices for charging, and taught them how to take care of the lanterns. Once we were confident that the community understood the importance of the center we began listing off household names and handing out lamps. The look of excitement and gratitude on people’s faces when they received their lantern had me grinning from ear to ear and just got me all the more excited for the opening party that night. Once all the lanterns were passed out, we returned our attention to the solar center and gave it a face-lift. Ben and I used what little artistic ability we had between us to give the building a paint job that Picasso would have been proud of.
With everything set and ready to go we headed back to the CWS office to catch a breather before the opening that night. We had decided to break from the CWS tradition of having an Opening “Day” and traded it for the first ever Opening “Night” hoping that the addition of lanterns and electricity to the village would make for a lively and well-lit party. So we set off around 6:30 with no idea what to expect, fingers crossed and holding our breath in anticipation.
Mark and Ben getting support from the CWS team in front of the Solar Panels
We were anxious but quickly put at ease thanks to the support and company of the full CWS team including Brianan, Peter, Amin, Wahab, Eric, and of course Shak as they decided to come out and partake in InnovaSun’s first ever launch party.
As we pulled into the village we were mesmerized, the whole village had a soft glow to it, or as one our translators suggested, “the village is blinking!” From the center of every household a soft light was floating up into the pitch-black sky, we knew something was working. We headed toward the town center and made our way to the Solar Center, connecting several power strips to allow for mass charging, hitting the on switch, and officially declaring the center open for business! Slowly people started making their way toward the center, first in the dark, then with flashlights, and finally carrying the lanterns we had distributed that morning. What was a trickle quickly turned into a flood of people as the center was surrounded by people wanting to get a first hand look and start charging their electronics.
The solar center in action – all 48 sockets were quickly put to use.
Within minutes all 48 sockets were in use and charging a combination of cell phone and lanterns. Salima and Chang Chang were rockstars, quickly connecting all the appliances, adding up the total watts being used to make sure the system wasn’t overloaded, and most importantly keeping their cool among hoards of people – something I was struggling with.
Mark and Ben surrounded by crowds of happy Wambong villagers!
More and more people continued to materialize each face more excited than the last. Some were holding lanterns and some just basking in the glow of their neighbors. I felt elated and totally overwhelmed, trying to make sure the center was working (it was), that people were having fun (they were) and that we were getting awesome pictures (we did). The community was enthralled, asking for photos, passing around lanterns, and pushing to the front of the crowd to see the solar center in action. They even organized most of the community in the center of town for a group photo, an unheard of accomplishment that took 5 different translators to coordinate.
Group photo of the village with their new rechargeable lanterns!
As if lights and cell phones weren’t enough it wasn’t long before a pair of massive speakers appeared and started blasting some serious club music. Don’t ask me how or why this village, which previously had no electricity, has speakers taller than I am (clocking in at 6’3) but Wambong was bumping.
Wambong boy using his new rechargeable lantern.
I kept wondering if we were going to get a noise complaint from the neighbors and then quickly laughed at my own stupidity. Ben and I had been wondering this whole week how quickly people would start making the electricity their own and branching out from lanterns and phones, well once the speakers were plugged in, it wasn’t long before someone else was siphoning off electricity and had plugged in a black light above the “DJ” booth. Seriously I felt like I was in a New York nightclub.
After 3 hours of pure euphoria, we decided to start winding things down. We took a ton of photos, made sure the center was in good hands and locked up, and started to head out. The village spokesperson continued to thank us, praising God for our help. It was one of the most unbelievable nights.
Mark and Ben jumping for joy in front of the new Solar Center!
Seeing all of our planning, preparation, and hard work pay off, seeing the joy on everyone’s face, feeling accomplished and successful, and realizing what an impact we had had on this community. Indescribable. Ben and I couldn’t sleep last night, because we were too wired (pun intended) and even this morning I’m having trouble comprehending the magnitude of the moment and what it even means to me. All I know is I can’t wait to get back to Wambong and see how it’s going. I feel like a parent after their last child has grown up and gone off to college – empty nest syndrome for sure. I’ll just have to be patient and wait till tomorrow when we begin monitoring. I’m sure there is still lots of work to do, but I’ll be enjoying this day for a long long time.
After spending four long days building the physical structure, Ben and I were thrilled to get back to the bigger picture and move on to the next phase of the project. Now that the building was finished, it was time to meet the women chosen by the village elders to run the business and begin installing the system itself.
Mark, Ben, and Shak celebrating the completed solar panel installation.
First we wanted to get the actual solar panels positioned behind the center. We designed a metal frame and had a welder put together several metal poles using the perfect stick welding machine for the job! This was to elevate the panels off the ground and make sure they were secure. The panels are made of glass, so we wanted to make sure there was no risk of them falling and breaking while placing them out of reach of kids and animals. Attaching the panels felt like an SAT problem gone wrong. Oh, how I wish we had a complete solar panel guide
to help us through this process. No amount of hands-on-deck could take the place of a handy guide!
Nonetheless, this moment in time, I did secretly wish that we could put these panels on the roofs, as a solar installer would’ve been able to help make this process a lot easier to carry out. But we somehow found a way. We had holes drilled in the metal frame for the screws to fit in, but for some reason, it wasn’t lining up and we spent the better part of an hour figuring out how to attach it all. Shak suggested we work from the ground up and were able to overcome our temporary brain freeze to secure the panels and cement the metal frame into the ground. Looking back at it now, it probably would have been better to have erected the structure using metal building specifications, and considering the fact we’d actually have to make sure the screws and holes lined up to each other for easy assembly, all in all, we made it a little harder for ourselves.
Ben admiring our solar panels.
The community was in awe of the high-tech equipment and we had a constant group of about fifteen people just standing around us watching the whole time. Once we finished they started to lick the wires coming from the panels to see if they were live and feeding electricity…luckily for them that’s not quite how it works or else they might have been in for quite a shock.
Once we installed the panels, we wanted to begin training the women. Upon our initial arrival in Wambong we had asked the village chief and his council of elders to select two women who were well respected within the community and would have the time and ability to ensure the success of the new solar center. Choosing to work with women in the community is a very intentional decision. Women’s empowerment is a cornerstone of Community Water Solutions’ and InnovaSun’s missions. Providing women with economic opportunities and elevating their role in society has proven to spur development all across the world. Many believe that women are the world’s most underutilized resource.
Training Salima (left) and Chang Chang (right) on the basics of the solar panel system.
Still, we were nervous requesting to work with women because working with electronics and appliances is usually considered “man’s work” and we weren’t sure the community would be receptive to women running the business or even believing in their ability to do so. Luckily, the village did not hesitate to choose two exceptional women, assigning, Salima and Chang Chang to run the center.
If anyone had doubts about the women’s ability to run the center, they were immediately put to rest. They quickly picked up the intricacies of positive and negative currents, they understood the circuit pathway from panel to socket, and began asking about expanding their business and charging people for television. We also coached the women on financial planning, stressing the importance of saving in the event of anything happening to any of the (very expensive) equipment. Finally, we had the women start working with a few of the materials until the battery connected to the socket. We plugged in a phone to show them that it had worked and when the picture of a charging battery popped up on the screen they both lit up and started clapping excitedly. It was so satisfying to see women with no formal education pick up something so quickly and show a strong desire to learn more.
Chang Chang connecting the wires to the power socket.
The women were soon given the opportunity to show off their newfound knowledge when we began to install and wire the rest of the system in front of a crowd of curious onlookers. Shak kept joking about Ghana’s newest electricians and more than one person in the village commented on how easy the women made it look. We took a hands-off approach only giving direction and explanation while Salima and Chang Chang physically connected everything – cutting cables, striping wires, and screwing everything into place. You could tell the women were enjoying the work and I must say it felt pretty darn good to prove some of the naysayers wrong.
Salima connecting the wiring from the Solar Panels.
After wiring the panels together and feeding them it into the solar center, the women connected the charge controller, batteries, and inverter, feeding it all toward a wall socket. Once everything was connected we hit the on switch and voila! Let there be light! Immediately all the people who had been watching us assemble everything started materializing their cell phones out of nowhere asking us to try and charge it…all in good time.
With that our new Solar Center is ready for business. Tomorrow we will be distributing lanterns to all the households in the community and throwing a party to commemorate opening day of the center! Check back soon to hear all about it.
The past few days have been some of the longest that I have experienced. After a successful chief meeting we set out to build our structure – the home of the solar center. Having a solid structure is necessary because a lot of the solar equipment (batteries, inverter, sockets) need to stay dry and be in a well-ventilated area. So what was originally imagined as a small storage box to hold all of the valuable equipment has since transformed into a mini hut about 7 feet tall, five feet wide, and four feet deep. Now such a big structure may require metal reinforcement, which can be done by utilizing Stainless Steel Beams and rods. This can ensure that the solar home structure is strong enough to handle minor external pressures. In the end, it will be good to have such a big space for the solar equipment, which will allow us to keep all of the cell-phones and lanterns inside while they are charging, provide a shady place for the women to run the center and hang out, and create a central social point for the community. While I’m feeling positive about the end result and our decision to “go big or go home,” the process itself has been a case-study in patience and a friendly reminder of what it means to be working in Africa.
Saturday was our first day building the hut, and after picking up a lot of the essentials
The village mason and his team constructing the foundation.
like cinder blocks and cement, we laid the foundation. It still amazes me how resourceful and skilled the masons and carpenters here are. What they lack in formal education and resources, they more than make up for in ingenuity using sticks and string to make detailed measurements while working non-stop in the pounding African sun. We were able to choose the exact location for the center, and build a strong foundation, but from there we had to let the cement harden and head home until the next day.
Making progress on the solar center, but it’s hot!
The following day, we hoped it would be a quick process of just adding layers of cinder bricks to the foundation until it was the appropriate height, but nothing is ever as easy at it seems. I’m still not sure why, but it took us about 5 hours in the sweltering heat to add the additional layers to the building, bringing it to it’s final height. I’m laughing thinking about it, although I wasn’t laughing yesterday; how could it possibly take an hour to lay each layer of brick (12 blocks)? But to be fair, my involvement in the manual labor was limited, so I’ll try not to judge too harshly. Also, it was a million degrees and I’m either burnt to a crisp or 10 shades darker.
This morning we were back at it, picking up additional supplies in town, including zinc metal sheets and wood for the roof and door. Once again, it was slow going as we proceeded to melt like figures at a wax museum. The roof turned out to be really nice though, and we took some time to explore the village and visit the CWS water center, which was a nice treat. As it stands now the structure is 90% complete. All that’s needed is a final coat of plaster and a cement floor. The flooring needs to be done right else; it may have structural defects within a few years. If that happens, one might need to hire local repair experts or services, similar to foundation repair in OFallon who can mend the damage. Anyways, apart from that, a door needs to be attached, which the village assured us would be completed by the time we got there tomorrow…only time will tell but I’m not too optimistic. The hut has become my Waterloo, sapping my energy, not too mention my wallet. People say a buying a boat is a money pit, they clearly haven’t tried to build a house. I’ll be thrilled when it’s finished and honestly it looks awesome, just part of the process and you can tell how appreciative the community is which helps keep a good attitude.
Mark, Shak, and Ben standing in front of the Solar Center.Admiring our (almost) finished product
As we’ve been preparing to open the center, Ben and I have spent a lot of time thinking about how access to electricity will hopefully spur entrepreneurship. We’ve talked about sewing businesses and refrigeration, hoping that individuals would take initiative to turn electricity into a new sustainable business. So far most people in the community have been asking about being able to watch TV – which yes they will have enough electricity to power. Ben and I have been laughing that they finally have access to electricity and all they want to do is watch the football match but today we started to realize the power behind that idea. In countries like the USA, it’s so easy to take amenities like electricity, a functioning TV, and a dish network for granted that people don’t even give a second thought about it! The difference is astonishing, and it should definitely act to make people more grateful about everything they have that others might not. There are individuals in the village who already own a TV, despite not having access to electricity. They are eager to plug it in and stream the games, charging individuals to watch, kind of like a movie theater. We apparently knew after talking to them that they needed something like DIRECTV to access all of their favorite sports channels and shows. Also, they would most likely want to have affordable Directv packages, similar to what is available in the United States, so they don’t have to rely on odd things to entertain themselves. Hence, things don’t always happen how you expect them, but they have a way of figuring themselves out, and in this case much sooner than we could have hoped for! We can’t wait to see how things continue to grow once the center is officially open for business.
Some people own a tv in a village with no electricity.
Tomorrow is a big day for us. We will finally be finishing the solar center and even more importantly, meeting and training the women who will be operating it. It will be up to them to install all of the equipment, under our supervision of course so that they have first hand knowledge of how it all works. We can’t wait to get started and meet them; the potential profits from the solar center are sure to transform their lives for the better. Check back soon to hear how it goes and meet the women!
After having set up our Solar Panel System we needed to start looking for things to charge. With that in mind, Shak, Ben, and I took a trip to Melcom in downtown, Tamale. Melcom is a huge store with lots of furniture and appliances as well as some grocery items… imagine Target meets Ghana? We were able to find four different types of rechargeable “lamps” that we decided to test. We wanted to make sure the lanterns we ended up distributing to the community were bright, easy to charge, long lasting, and durable, and thought it would be a good idea to have options before narrowing down our selection. We came back to the CWS office and had all four lanterns and two cell phones charging at once from the electricity we’ve been collecting the past two days.
This morning it was go time, and Ben and I were up and out by 6:30 AM on our way to pick up Shak and make our way to Wambong. Wambong is approximately an hour and fifteen minutes away on a nicely paved road, so it’s actually not a bad trek at all. Ben was anxious to get back to “his” village and see some familiar faces from three years prior. The first day in the village is critical because they have no idea that we are coming or what we are planning, so it’s important that we have a plan to explain who we are and what we’d like to accomplish in order to get their buy-in and support. We also had to be prepared for the possibility of having our chief meeting. All major decisions in the community are made by the village chief – typically a very old man responsible for the well being of his community. In order to get the green light to start building our center we would need his approval and wanted to have our pitch ready to go.
Unfortunately, our arrival was temporarily overshadowed by a death that had just occurred that morning. The average life expectancy in Ghana is 60 for men and 62 for women; however death in the villages always seems to be a reality, with people attending funerals with some frequency. It was a sobering reminder of the challenges that people here face and the importance of development work.
After learning about the death, we offered our condolences and suggested coming back tomorrow, however the village elders were eager to meet with us and started gathering in the chief’s hut. We were going to have our chief meeting right then and there, and luckily Ben and I were prepared. The chief meeting is always fascinating. The chief is always seated or laying on a raise platform with his elders sitting on the floor around him. Meanwhile, Ben, Shack and I are sitting on a bench across from him. We pass around a Cola nut as is customary when meeting a village chief and start go into our pitch, with Shak translating every other few sentences. We tell them we are with Community Water Solutions and because they were so successful with their water program we wanted to
Ben scoping out potential spots for the Solar Center
introduce a new project to help bring Solar Electricity. Immediately the elders are on board and the chief started thanking us and God for all of our help. Their gratitude was obvious, and even when asked if they had any questions, their “question” was to keep saying thank you and to let us know that we were blessing from God. Not sure about all that, but glad that they are as excited as we are about getting started.
After a successful chief meeting we began to survey the village in preparation for construction. We needed to find a spot that was centrally located for convenience and security, a plot of land that would get plenty of sunlight at any time of day / year. After walking around a bit we settled on the perfect spot, the vacant lot is right in the heart of the village and right next to a few other huts but, ironically, is currently being used as kind of a dump with lots of garbage collecting there. The community assured us that the space would be cleared by tomorrow so that we could “break ground”. Just another example of having to look past what’s there to see what’s possible.
Site of the future Solar Center!
We were also able to talk to members of the community to get a sense of the demand for electricity in the village. We were told that each household has multiple cell phones and that people travel close to an hour two to three times a week to charge them, and while many households have a flashlight, they have to replace the battery every 4 to 5 days. Wheels turning, Ben and I began to realize just how significant an impact this solar center could have, not just for the women who would be running it and earning profit, but also for the entire village as they would be saving tremendous amounts of time and money having their energy needs met locally.
Energy in Ghana is a huge issue right now. The government recently announced a 36% increase in energy costs and people are already threatening to strike. It’s a pretty staggering increase considering approximately 40% of the country still doesn’t have access to electricity. We witnessed the government’s oversight first hand in Wambong. In the center of the village there is a massive pile of electrical poles that were distributed by the government to connect Wambong to the grid. The poles were delivered over 5 years ago and still haven’t been touched, forgotten by their owners, symbolizing a promise unfulfilled.
Tomorrow we begin construction so be sure to check back for pictures of our solar center!
After a quick couple of days in Accra picking up our supplies, Ben and I purchased our bus tickets for Tamale and braced ourselves for the 12+ hour journey to the Northern Region. For reference, Ghana is approximately the size of Oregon, and Accra to Tamale is like the coast to the center – so should maybe take 6 hours tops, but because of the quality of roads, the insane traffic laws, daredevil drivers, and unpredictable detours it’s a full day’s journey, but as they say, this is Africa.
Despite a delayed start, we were incredibly “lucky,” we made great time and arrived in Tamale at 8PM. We quickly settled into the CWS office, caught up with the team here, and checked to make sure our materials had arrived in tact (success!)
To say that today was a big day for us might be a bit of an understatement. Ben, myself, and our trusted Ghanaian translator Shak spent the day assembling and testing our solar system, from the panels all the way to the socket where you plug in your phone. We spent the morning stripping wires, playing with currents, connecting batteries and basically just playing with adult Legos and it was awesome…you might even say…sparks were flying? No really, sparks were actually flying. Of course, if you had a solar panel like this installed in your home in the US with the support of companies like Electric WorkForce (https://electricworkforceil.com/service-areas/burr-ridge/) the installation process would probably involve fewer sparks.
Ben connecting the power socket to our batteries.
We were able to use Ben’s technical genius, Shak’s innate understanding of electronics, and my unrivaled ability to follow orders to connect all of the equipment (with a little help from some very informative diagrams. In a solar system, you have panels, which capture sunlight and turn it into electricity in the form of DC or direct current power. The current then moves to a controller which makes sure the system doesn’t get overloaded before passing through to the batteries for charging. Deep cycle batteries, such as lithium solar batteries, are the best if you are in need of a battery that slowly runs, rather than a battery designed for quick speed or ignition. Finally, the batteries are attached to an inverter, which converts DC power to AC power (Alternating Current), which is what most home appliances use. Finally, you connect the inverter to an everyday wall socket, and voila! Electricity! You may need to check and see if this is covered under your home warranty, or see about getting a home warranty from companies such as First American so you know you are safe.
After letting the system sit out in the sun for several hours we decided to test our engineering know-how. With fingers crossed we plugged in a few phones…CHARGING! SUCCESS!
“We are like the Benjamin Franklin of Western Africa” – My not so humble take on our success.
We couldn’t believe it, we had somehow managed to not mess it up, and we were producing electricity…from sunlight! For me it was definitely a moment that I’ll never forget, knowing that we had used some available technology and some good ‘ol fashioned know-how / elbow grease to create electricity in a community that is plagued by blackouts and where people have to travel up to 3 hours to charge their cell phones! We ended up charging a completely dead Samsung Galaxy in just 2 hours, and we know that’s just the start of our charging capabilities.
Shak, Mark, and Ben, checking out the fully-assembled Solar Panel system.
Ben and I have been talking constantly about the ongoing possibilities that solar represents. For the purposes of this pilot we are focused mainly on lights and cell phone charging, but it’s so easy to imagine people having access to refrigeration (similar to this co2 refrigeration system), radio, sewing machines, rice cookers…anything that you can plug into a wall is now on the table for these communities.
We can’t wait to get to Wambong – the village where we will be implementing this new solar system to share the exciting news and get to work. We are planning to make our first visit to the village on Friday, so check back for more updates!
After a year’s worth of planning, the InnovaSun team of Mark Moeremans and Ben Powell finally arrived in Ghana.
Following a slight pit-stop in Dubai, the team landed on Sunday afternoon and got settled in at “Pink Hostel” in the Asylum Downs neighborhood of Accra.
As they say, there is no rest for the wicked, and these two set out right away, starting to gather some essentials like water and phone minutes, while making contact with previously identified solar companies.
With an organized game plan, the team set out on Day 2 to start visiting different solar companies and comparing systems and prices to determine which combination would be the best fit for the rural communities of Northern Ghana.
Despite having identified three solar companies as potential partners, the team had found their match after visiting the second company – Atlas Business & Energy. Sakeena, their contact at Atlas, was extremely helpful, both before leaving the US and upon their arrival in Ghana. She proved to be interested in the work and incredibly knowledgeable about solar power. She gave great tips on implementing, and even followed up with some diagrams to guide in the construction.
After purchasing all the big ticket items including panels, batteries, and inverter, Sakeena sent an employee named Isaac with the team to Accra Square, one of the capital’s largest markets, to find all the remaining supplies like wiring, cables, and power sockets.
Materials in hand, the team ended the day at the Accra bus station, where they purchased their tickets for Tamale. Tomorrow will be a 12+ hour travel day, bringing our leaders one step closer to the communities they will be supporting.
Check back soon to hear more as Ben and Mark begin to test their equipment!
The metal polytank stand CWS entrepreneurs are now using in a number of communities. The stand allows for the water treatment centers to be moved to different water sources.
Back in June, I wrote a blog post about metal polytank stands and how CWS was going to test them in communities that use multiple water sources. You can read that post here.
Since then, CWS has distributed metal polytank stands to 10 different communities: Gbandu, Jarayili, Kabache/Kasawuripe, Kindeng, Kpalbusi, Kpalbusi, Libi, Tacpuli, Tindan II and Tunga. These are villages that CWS targeted because of the challenges the entrepreneurs were facing in keeping their water businesses open year round. Most of the CWS water businesses are set up next to dugouts where community members already go to get their water. Center implementation next to the dugout is ideal because when women fetch water for household use, they can buy clean drinking water from the centers without disrupting their daily routines.
Women fetch water from a typical dugout in Kadula.
But what happens when people go somewhere closer to fetch water? Well the entrepreneurs who sell water (usually) lose business. The community members living in these CWS villages are practical people with busy schedules. If the village women can save time by fetching water somewhere closer to home, they are going to make the switch and avoid the extra trek to buy clean water.
The CWS field staff observed this in a number of communities. In the transition from the dry season to the rainy season and vice versa, the level of the water sources can drastically fluctuate. In the Northern Region villages, the rains determine how much water is available. New dugouts form for short periods of time, a river can become more accessible or even hand dug wells are used to collect rainwater. With the low-tech nature of the CWS model, the women can move the location of their water businesses as long as there is water to treat.
Children pose by a hand dug well in Kabache/Kasawuripe, where the entrepreneurs decided to move their center to treat water.
With the help of a welder, CWS created the metal polytank stand and modified the CWS model to the changing of seasons and water levels. Some of the water businesses easily adapted to the metal polytank stands. For example, in Kpanayili, Affilua, Anatu, Fati and Zilifau used their metal polytank stand to move the center to a closer dugout that only has water in the rainy season. Their sales drastically increased when they switched water sources. In Tacpuli, Lasinche moved the water business from the dugout to a smaller dugout closer to the community. Kpanayili and Tacpuli have been operating with the new stands just as the CWS field staff envisioned. And the entrepreneurs have reaped the benefits.
The water business owners in Kpanayili from left to right: Zilifau, Affilua, Fati and Anatu.
The smaller dugout in Tacpuli.
The entrepreneurs have lower sales during the rainy season because community members have the option to collect free, clean rainwater instead of buying water from the centers. In Libi and Kpalbusi, the rains delayed their transition to using the metal polytank stands. In Libi, the water business entrepreneur, Cheriba, banked on her community collecting rainwater in July and August because she was busy on her farm. As a result, the water business was left empty at the river where nobody goes to get water this time of year. The CWS field staff is working with her to bring the center to a closer source, so people will have the option to buy clean water when the rains stop. In Kpalbusi, Huseifa, Zilifau and Maria moved their water business from the dugout to the center of town to treat rainwater. The problem was they were not receiving enough rain to treat. Their center was empty all of July. As of the beginning of August, the entrepreneurs have moved the business to a nearby stream where they will be able to keep the center up and running until the dry season.
An example of how water levels can change in the Northern Region. Here is a road flooded by a stream in Tamale after a heavy rain.
With the drastic change in water levels throughout the year, the CWS entrepreneurs have to alter the way they do business. This could mean treating rainwater, dealing with the change in sales from the dry season peaks to the rainy season lows, or even moving location. In the past, CWS has found that it can take a year of dealing with these challenges for the entrepreneurs to become familiar with the way their individual businesses operate. The metal polytank stands are going to be added to this equation of business operations. The entrepreneurs are going to have to ask themselves: When should we move the centers? Where are people going to fetch water? What location will bring in the highest sales? Who can I find to help us move the centers? This will take some getting used to. But the metal polytank stands should help in keeping these businesses open year round, which is the end goal after all.
**Quick note: Team Sharifa wrote this post a few days ago. All the Fellows are back in Accra and are headed home today!**
Team Sharifa!
Team Sharifa visited Namdu’s school yesterday to educate the children of the village about hygiene practices, waterborne illnesses, and use of the water treatment center. When we arrived, the teachers had already set up desks outside for the about 200 students so that we could present to them all at once. With the help of our translator Sharifa, who is also a school teacher, we explained the differences between dugout water, polytank water, and rainwater. Using a demonstration in which we asked one student to taste test two clear bottles of water, one of which was polytank water and one of which was salt water, we emphasized that ‘clear does not always mean clean.’
Clear water is not the same as clean water!
Sensing the children were getting a little restless, we decided a more physical activity would be a good idea. We explained the rules of Healthy Habits Tag, assigned the diseases and healthy habits to several of the children, and watched the chaos. The children had been very attentive and engaged when we spoke to them earlier, but it was clear they had built up a lot of energy. After all the children had contracted one of the various waterborne illnesses, we called them back to their seats and talked with them about why getting tagged by one of the illnesses meant you had to go to the hospital. We were thrilled to find out that many of the children had already made the connection between the healthy habits and the waterborne illnesses that the game was meant to demonstrate.
After the rousing game of tag, we introduced the concept of the safe storage containers. Each classroom received one bright blue bucket solely for polytank water. We explained to them the importance of keeping the bucket, their hands, and whatever cups they use, clean. We also demonstrated the use of the tap so that they would not dip their hands into the top as they are accustomed to. Following this quick lesson, the children all asked very good questions, addressing the issue of drinking water when working at the farm and who would be responsible for refilling the safe storage container in the classroom. The older children in particular demonstrated interest in the issue, which was great to see.
Katie, Steph, Sharifa and Lucas with some of the kids after an awesome round of Healthy Habits tag!
All in all, it was a great day for Team Sharifa. We had a blast with the kids and taught them the importance of safe drinking water. Students and teachers alike were extremely grateful for their new safe storage containers, and we look forward to see them enjoying clean water in the future!
Lucas, Katie, Step and Sandra by the new water treatment business in Namdu!
