We had a meeting with an official from a UN agency who specialises in helping set up businesses in Malawi. He told us about all the challenges facing organisations that try to set up sustainable businesses here. The culture of dependency, which we mentioned earlier, and decades of dictatorship under Banda play against entrepreneurship. He said that there are around 2,500 operating registered businesses in Malawi - that's not much at all. A key problem is that as soon as someone sets up a successful microbusiness, the family network kicks in and relatives start asking for a share of the income - ultimately leading to the collapse of the business.
But he's put us in touch with an Italian organisation that has been extremely successful in surmounting these problems and helping Malawians create sustainable enterprises. It's all a question of giving people the confidence and the skills to release their potential.
As you'll have realised by now, we seek to work in partnership with all kinds of organisations: international NGOs, companies, local businesses, government - anybody who is willing to share their experience and work with us for our common goal. We don't believe in reinventing the wheel!
Nick
What a fascinating experience it's been here today, although I must say that we're pretty bemused by certain things.
On the one hand, there are some extremely committed people here who are devoting their lives to fighting poverty. Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries, with the majority of its 12 million people living on less than a dollar a day. It's in desperate need of development.
On the other hand, it seems that the international development system has some serious failures here. Millions of pounds of aid from governments, international organisations and charities have led to a culture of dependence that is endemic. Countless local NGOs have sprung up that are entirely dependent on this outside aid. Any sense of entrepreneurship is hard to find, and the country numbers barely 2,500 operating registered businesses, according to an international official we met today.
But most shocking of all is the culture of 'seating allowances' that the international NGOs, international donor agencies and foreign governments have set up. It goes like this: there are so many international development organisations here competing that they've started paying people to attend their trainings and workshops, so that they can then report back to their overseas headquarters that so many people came to their training session.
Initially, this was meant as a form of compensation to take account for the fact that attendees were possibly giving up valuable work time in order to attend trainings. Instead, it has led to an increase in dependency and a decrease in commitment verging on corruption: people turn up who have no interest whatsoever in the training and just come to collect the cash.
It totally beats the point. Why bother running a training in agricultural techniques, capacity building or literacy if you're going to pay people to attend it?
Even worse is that agencies now pay government officials in order to meet with them. So a government official may make $100 just for turning up to a meeting with an international agency. So there's no incentive to do any work apart from attend as many meetings as you can! How can we then blame African governments for being corrupt when our agencies actively encourage it?
Suffice to say that there's no way we're going down this route. We've met a number of other NGOs that refuse to play game, and we're one of them. If that means fewer people turn up to our microsolar trainings, then so be it - at least we'll be sure that those who do turn up are committed!
Nick
Converting a kerosene lamp into a clean, safe solar lantern. It's easy when you know how!
Greetings from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. Jeremy (our chairman) and I have just spent the day visiting a number of international organisations and government departments here. We've had a massively inspiring time that is shaping our vision: we thought we were ambitious, but some of the people we spoke to have encouraged us to think even bigger.
One meeting in particular stands out. We were discussing our plans for converting kerosene lamps into solar lanterns in Malawi with a British government official. We thought we were being pretty ambitious when we were saying that we ultimately want to convert all the kerosene lamps in Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia into solar lanterns.
He suggested we take it one step further: how about setting our sights on converting all the kerosene lamps in Africa? That's hundreds of millions of kerosene lamps being converted into a clean, reliable and cheap source of energy: one that does not generate carbon dioxide, that does not lead to burns, eyesight problems, accidental poisonings or lung disease, but that does generate a better quality of light for children to learn how to read.
Jeremy and I looked at each other during the meeting: now that's a vision that we like. Will you join us?
Nick Sireau
A further design is currently being worked on using 50mm PVC piping to hold the rechargeable batteries and LEDs. Further design work is needed- particularly for the design of tools to make production easier and faster.
A bicycle taxi equipped with a solar powered radio!
Other design work involved using a single 0.3 Watt mono crystalline plate housed in a grooved wooden frame that can be attached to the handlebar of a bicycle and used by bicycle taxis to run radios. This latest product application will be tested by a local bicycle taxi.
As well as the design that has already gone into production, a similar one has been conceived for the larger mono crystalline plate. One of the differences being the need to construct the holder for recharging 3 AA rechargeable batteries differently, as this plate is of smaller dimensions than the glass plate. Also, in this design the plate and the back slide out and it also features a basic two-pin socket made with strips of metal for ease of operation. The radio used in this demonstration was adapted with the transformer removed so the radio could operate on DC power. Further work will be necessary to finalise design.
Over the course of the last six weeks, a major focus of activity has been the design of a suitable framing for the solar plates using easily available local material. Carl was the main driver behind this, with input from the independent carpenter, Macquin.
Using the glass amorphous plate, a wooden frame and box structure was conceived, with the plate recessed in grooves cut in the frame. Since battery holders cannot be sourced in Mzuzu, a further innovation is the inclusion of a holder for recharging 3 AA rechargeable batteries.
The holder is made from electrical conduit clips. The design includes a removable back cover to allow for cooling of the panel and easy repair of the product should repair prove necessary. Also it allows for inclusion of a 'manual' for the customer. The current design has gone into production and will be tested in the field before making further changes.
This is Fiskani Msutu, our Malawian Co-ordinator, working on the new SolarAid laptop
Since the arrival of the first of two volunteers on 2nd February, Carl Van Zand, significant progress has been made, but not without challenges! Carl focused on design issues for the proposed micro-solar products, including the panel and the solar lantern. With the assistance of an independent carpenter, designs were developed using locally available materials. Using the glass amorphous plate, a wooden framed box structure was designed which incorporated three AA batteries for charging. A further design innovation was the use of the 0.3 Watt mono crystalline plate in a wooden housing that can be attached to the handlebar of a bicycle to be used by bicycle taxis to run radios. This last product application will be tested by a local bicycle taxi.
With regard to the solar lantern, Carl has innovated with the use of 50 mm PVC piping to hold the rechargeable batteries and LEDs. Further design work is necessary on this product.
Carl also delivered a training session to the Training Coordinators and CAT employees on the glass amorphous plates and solar lanterns. Production has now started at a workshop in CAT, involving three CAT selected employees in the assembly of glass amorphous panels in wooden frames.
The second volunteer, Dave Gillooly, arrived on 8th March and is currently focusing on establishing distribution and sales channels, as well as putting in place project reporting formats.
Fiskani Msutu has shown great initiative in pursuing contacts with key local government officials. So far, contact has been made with the Chief Executive of CONGOMA (the NGO registration body) and Fiskani is in the process of compiling all the requisite documents to proceed.
Contact has also been made with the District Commissioner of Nkhata district, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is in the process of being drafted.
Carl and Dave have also met and introduced themselves to the Chief Executive of Mzuzu city, who has offered to introduce us to key people in the Community Development department and local CBOs once Solar Aid have completed registration with CONGOMA.
These are examples of solar panels built by our local solar entrepreneurs. They are being tested in the sun.
We're really glad to announce that TRAID, an organisation that runs high-end charity shops in the UK, is providing funds towards this project. This will really help us get it off the ground, so any more donations that you provide will have an even greater impact. TRAID do an excellent job recycling clothes in the UK and turning them into great new fashion-wear, which they then sell. The profit they make goes to fund development projects such as this one.
So please donate now so that we can accelerate this project even more!
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