April 15, 2012
Two new projects in Sirona's pipeline are destined to bring energy to many homes in rural Haiti over the coming months. Our biggest news is that through the combined efforts of our non-profits, the Sirona Cares Foundation (SCF) and the IEEE's Communitiy Solutions Initiative group, we have proven a sustainable economic model with our Rural Electricity Program and now we are shifting this work into a Haitian for-profit corporation, Sirona Haiti, S.A.
This week we complete the registration process and we will be in the business of providing basic, affordable electricity to homes beyond the reach of Haiti's electricity grid. Ironically when we attempted to register Sirona's work as a Haitian non-profit we were not allowed to because we take payments from those we serve. Those payments ($6.25 US/month) allow the subscribers unlimited recharges of their home kits during a month so they have the first reliable electricity in their homes that they have ever had, for less than the price of kerosene. Subscribers also have the ability to charge cell phones, for themselves or for profit, another advantage over kerosene. Our financial model is proving solid, with customers paying our costs for Haitian field technicians have been covered and every unit is visited every month so that no interruption in power will occur.
These payments of $6.25 are the revenue required to cover costs and pay for the equipment over time. As we scale up the revenue will cover returns to investors and interest on loans. Sirona Haiti's goal is to provide energy to 1 million people within five years, and we are confident that this can be done. This spring we will take the next steps towards accomplishing this goal.
USAID is purchasing nine units for deployment in the St. Marc area. The units are being granted to Sirona Haiti, S.A., and will bring light to 747 homes (assuming six people a house that is nearly 5,000 people). Revenue from this purchase will be used to build nine more units in Haiti doubling the number of homes served to 1,494 or 10,000 people. In addition we will add kits to our existing units so that they will be serving 498 homes (or about 3,000 people). Finally we are also looking at work in the south that would bring light to even more homes, five hundred more by the end of the year (or 3,000 more people). By December it looks very likely that we will have brought light to 16,000 people. Baby steps, but steps forward. We are planning to create many jobs, assembly jobs, management, technicians, and labor. Once we establish an assembly facility we can move quickly building units and getting them out into the field. Next years numbers should be even more exciting. For us, the fact that we are going from 240 homes to 2,492 in a matter of months is exciting news, and the fact that it will all be done by a sustainable Haitian business is even more exciting.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 5:28 AM
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March 13, 2012
Work on the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project continues, all day every day, regardless of the fact that the blog falls behind at times. In Haiti, our six operating SunBlazers deliver energy to 240 homes a day. Every month our field technicians visit each station to ensure that everything is operating perfectly. Haiti's environment is a challenging one, and so far the units deployed in June have withstood the Caribbean climate and everything is working well. Our customers are satisfied with their home energy kits and only a few kits have needed repair since deployment. Repairs are most frequently fixing loose connections resulting from a unit being dropped. In a few cases the kits have required resetting because the battery was drained to the point of engaging the low voltage disconnect. Our kits are designed for longevity, and the repairs have been handled by our field technicians without problem. This type of warranty is very rare in Haiti. When asked by new Operators how long the station will last, we are always happy to say, "As long as you pay your lease". Operator and customer satisfaction are critical to us, and the lease payments allow us to provide full service technicians and replacement of parts as needed.
We are preparing to import nine new units into Haiti this spring which were donated by the IEEE and the CSI volunteers. We will build an additional nine units in Haiti this summer with a grant from USAID. USAID/OTI has many projects in the St. Marc area and we will be deploying nine of our units there as soon as the grant process is complete. With the addition of these 18 units Sirona will have 24 units operating servicing 1,920 homes. This grant with USAID is almost complete, however Sirona must complete it's registration process in Haiti. We are busy with completion of that process now.
NGO registration has historically been a process that takes many years. Rather than engage in the expense of registration Sirona has partnered with registered entities and worked without issue for the past three years. Now, however, our projects have grown in magnitude and it is time to complete the official processes of full Haitian registration. The current government has been working to speed the registration processes up, and we are optimistic that we will be registered in the coming weeks.
Last week Sirona received strong support from the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Rene Jean Jumeau, in the form of a Letter of Intent. This letter allows us to operate legally for a year while we complete the formal registration requirements. The support from the Haitian government has been steady and we are very grateful for all of the efforts that have been made to help Sirona provide energy to rural Haitians. It is clear that President Martelly's administration is very focused upon energy as one of its top goals. Dr. Jumeau works to coordinate all of the actors in the energy sector to increase the impact that each organization might have on its own. The admininstration's goal? 200,000 homes in two years. Sirona is excited to be assisting with this goal.
The blog lapses from time to time simply because we are so busy with all of the projects that are in process. Soon I hope to be reporting the more exciting news of deployment and the impact that having basic, sustainable energy gives to people who live far from the grid in Haiti.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 5:54 PM
in Current Affairs, IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Project
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February 26, 2012
These are children in Dieuxiemme Plaine enjoying food provided by our Jatropha farmers in repayment for loans to extend their gardens. Our latest win-win in Hait.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 6:46 PM
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February 26, 2012
Good news from the field. I arrived in Haiti Wednesday and hit the ground running. As it is when you work here, either a lot happens fast or nothing seems to happen at all. Since last summer the trips have all been of the first type. Fast paced and full of exciting motion as we launched and now seek to grow the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program and the Jatropha Program.
Our Jatropha program is scaling quickly. We will plant 100,000 new trees this year moving quickly once the rains start next month. Over 1,000 farmers are signed up to collect seedlings from our nurseries and care for them in their small farms. From its start, Sirona has worked to build sustainable communities. To that end we work with alternative energy and we support those who care for and educate children in our communities. During our first year we raised the money to feed the children at three orphanages 1/4 of the years food. Never wishing to create total reliance we have assisted as we could when donors wish to help children.
Last year we had some farmers who wished to expand their gardens but needed money to allow them to do so. Sirona lent ten farmers $50 each, and rather than seek repayment in cash we asked that the farmers bring $50 worth of food to the local school and the committee in charge of the Jatropha Program would keep track of the fulfillment of the loans. We reduced the administrative burden on our side and we were able to ensure that hundreds of children would receive lunch at school. The first meals were served this past week and there are many, many happy people in the community. It is wonderful when everybody wins.
I spent Thursday and Friday in Grand Goave with our Country Manager, Lexidan Edme. It was a coincidence that I was in the city at the same time the Edmes were, so they brought me out for our meetings that were planned for the weekend. In Haiti you take opportunities when they are in front of you. We discussed deployment of a new IEEE product, the Light Stick, as well as our current status with USAID funding proposals. I had lengthy interviews with our field technicians and have a good understanding of what is happening at each of our six SunBlazer sites. Bottom line: its all still a success.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 6:37 PM
in Haiti, Humanitarian Aid, IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Project
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January 27, 2012
The IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project is designed to do many things in addition to bringing light to rural people in Haiti. The project is economically sustainable, and relies upon a customer base that pays a monthly fee for electric service. The cost to the Haitian family is $6.70 per month (or 250 Haitian Goude), a price set to be less than they were paying for kerosene, candles and cell phone charging.
In addition, our work encourages entrepreneurship and development of a formal economy. Customers pay their fee to the local Operator who runs the solar 1.5 Kw SunBlazer unit and pays a monthly lease to Sirona. In this way our economics are stable and we can both service the equipment for the long term, and roll revenue into more units and supply energy to more homes. Every unit creates a business. Finally, our program is designed to create jobs. We have worked hard to prove that our model works, and thanks to the rural people of Haiti we have shown that we can deliver a SunBlazer into rural areas and successfully collect payments for seven months. We have not had a single incident of theft or damage to a unit, every home has paid, and every Operator has paid. Now it is time to create more jobs: assembly jobs.
Over the holidays both the Sirona and IEEE Community Solutions Initiative (CSI) teams rolled up our sleeves and readied ourselves to do a lot of work in Haiti this spring. USAID is working with us on potentially funding two grants, one which will place another 18 SunBlazer units in rural Haiti in the next few months, and the other to build out an assembly facility in Port au Prince so that Haitian jobs will be created to build more SunBlazers. Nine units are currently in New York partially assembled. These units were donated by the IEEE and their volunteers are preparing not only the units, but also the assembly processes, for delivery in Haiti. IEEE and Sirona team members will work together to establish Haitian assembly of SunBlazers beginning with the completion of the first nine units in Haiti. These units are destined for St. Marc where USAID/OTI have projects underway. Then, nine new units will be built in Haiti and sent to communities currently on Sirona's waiting list. There are many contractual details to work out, so much of the work this month has been done from California via e-mail and in New York by the IEEE members. We anticipate returning to Haiti sometime next month. Our Haitian In-Country Manager, Lex Edme (pictured above) has already made trips to St. Marc with OTI to evaluate potential Operators in communities selected by the OTI team.
President Martelly recently stated that his government's goal is to reach 200,000 homes in two years. Sirona will be working alongside to accomplish this goal. Our Sirona and IEEE/CSI teams are made of big thinkers and action oriented people. We dream big, we work hard, and we enjoy seeing the positive change that our work brings in rural Haiti now, and eventually in other countries where energy poverty persists.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 6:38 PM
in IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Project
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December 31, 2011
This week brings the end of three years of work in Haiti. As a friend commented recently, we really have come a long way. I am thrilled and amazed by the progress we have made towards our mission to build sustainable communities by placing the power to create, use and sell alternative energy into the hands of the poor. The most exciting thing to report about 2011 is that it was the year in which we empowered Haitians to change the lives of people in their communities, sustainably.
With over 100,000 jatropha trees planted (and an additional 150,000 funded for next year) we will soon see dramatic economic changes in rural Haiti. Each tree produces enough oil-rich seeds to create a gallon of oil that is a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel. This means that for the next 25-45 these 100,000 trees will bring economic improvement to rural Haitians while the trees improve soil and reverse deforestation. A critical byproduct of producing jatropha oil is a charcoal replacement briquette that is made by pressing the residue or seedcake from the pressing process. Our nurseries each produce 10,000 seedlings every three months and farmers eagerly take these seedlings to their land and plant them without displacing any food crops. Our press needs repairs and as soon as it is ready we will make our first oil. 2012 promises to be another incredible year.
We end 2011 with 240 homes that have their first electricity. Far from the grid these homes are serviced by the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program. The IEEE worked with Sirona to design and ultimately deploy six Sunblazer units. These are 1.5kW solar charging stations run by entrepreneurial Operators. Each Operator has forty customers who pay a modest $6.70 per month for basic electricity. Customers receive an energy kit that has a rechargeable battery, lights and the ability to charge cellular phones. When the kit is exhausted (five to seven days on average) the customer brings the battery kit back to the charging station and three hours later the kit is ready to return to their home. The IEEE and the Sirona team have been thrilled to see that, due to our culturally appropriate business plan, all 240 customers have paid every month, every Operator has made his lease payment to Sirona keeping the program sustainable, and nothing has been stolen or damaged since deployment in June.
This program has had such success that the Haitian Secretary of Energy has announced that Sirona Haiti's electricity program is the model for electrification of rural villages. USAID is supporting the program by building Sirona a Haitian assembly facility. This spring the first Haitian built Sunblazers will roll out to rural communities and provide the first electricity many have ever had--at a price lower than what they are currently paying for noxious kerosene, candles and cell phone charging.
We are very excited for next year, the groundwork has been laid for amazing progress to occur in 2012. As the year ends we thank all of our partners and friends in Haiti, our supporters, all of our donors, all of the IEEE volunteers and all of the funding provided by the IEEE for the Sunblazer pilot units. We thank the Government of Haiti for including Sirona in the energy sector strategic planning process and inviting us to display our unit at the Caricom Energy Week events. Many have read the article in World Magazine, and we appreciate all of the kind words and donations that this article has generated. Thank you, one and all. 2012 promises to be a very exciting year full of progress in Haiti and beyond. Year end donations are graciously accepted by the Sirona Cares Foundation!
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 11:42 PM
in About Sirona Cares, Haiti, Humanitarian Aid, IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Project, Jatropha 101
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December 20, 2011
It's amazing what happens to a community when you give them options for a better future. It is exciting, and incredibly rewarding. Since 2009 we have been working with rural Haitians and refining our Jatropha Program. Because Haitians developed the plan there is a strong sense of ownership and pride associated with the work of planting these trees.
Jatropha is a shrub that produces non-edible fruit. The seeds of this fruit are rich in oil, and this oil is extracted with a mechanical press. Once pressed the oil does not need further refining to run in most diesel engines (generators, trucks, tractors, etc.). Jatropha oil can be mixed with diesel fuel. This will bolster the economics in rural areas, and lower carbon emissions in Haiti. As if this isn't enough, the byproduct of the pressing process (seedcake) can be compressed into an alternative charcoal briquette. This will also generate income in rural Haiti and protect the vulnerable island from further deforestation.
Today we have over 1,000 participating farmers in southern Haiti and over 100,000 trees have been planted. Hillsides have been bolstered, soil improved, and no food displaced by the process because we either inter crop Jatropha at safe distances or use it as a border crop (because animals do not eat it). Each of these trees should yield enough seed to create a gallon of oil each year. If we assume the price of a gallon of oil to be $5.00, that means these communities will bring in $500,000 a year. Jatropha lives 25-45 years, so in 25 years these communities will have made $12.5 million dollars. The proposition is exciting, and encouraging.
More encouraging was the news we received from the JDT Foundation last month. Named for Joseph Dennis Thomas, the Foundation focuses upon improving education, the environment and the economics in Haiti. Sirona is honored to have received grants from the JDT Foundation which will pay for the planting of our next 100,000 trees in 2012. In addition, another grant from Dupont will allow us to plant even more trees and begin the process of producing jatropha oil this spring.
It has taken a lot of hard work to get here, but it is gratifying to see the difference that Haitians are making. The program is run as a partnership with Sirona funding nurseries to generate seedlings, and the trees are then planted voluntarily by farmers to help improve their land. We are always looking for ways to create even more sustainability, so this past year we allowed 10 farmers to "borrow" $50 each to extend their farms. Rather than be repaid in cash we elected to have these farmers pay back the debt in food to the local school's lunch program.
Many thanks to the JDT Foundation, to Dupont, and to our supporters who have gotten our friends in Haiti this far.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 1:19 AM
in Haiti, Jatropha 101
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November 25, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving to all who read this. Growing up Thanksgiving Day meant family trips to visit my grandparents. Everyone came, my cousins, aunts, uncles, and the special not-really-family members like Miss Jean and a hippy named John Fowler who were adopted by our family. My grandmother cooked, and our family enjoyed a few days together. I did not appreciate the reality of all I had to give thanks for, it was simply my life.
I have been working in Haiti for three years now, and for three years my Thanksgiving is completely transformed from those before. I am humbled by my blessings, and see my life as filled with relative abundance. I am deeply grateful and appreciate things more than ever. My health, my home, my family, and the simple fact that we have food to eat and water to drink every day without question.
Many people ask me if it makes me sad to work in Haiti, to see grinding poverty and it's effects. Isn't it depressing? A great number of people believe that I and others like me that work in Haiti deserve high praise for our work. I would love to address both of those points here, today, on Thanksgiving.
First, no, it does not make me sad to work in Haiti, and if you know Haiti you would know why. I am not blind to the poverty, but when I think about Haitians I think of them as my friend Clay describes them, Haitians smile with intention. I am more interested in the positive attitude that our partners have, and excited by the possibilities for change. Haiti is moving forward and it is an exciting time to work there. I am amazed by the myriad of solutions Haitians find for the issues they face daily. When something breaks it is repaired with unrivaled ingenuity. When problems arise communities gather to solve them. With 80% unemployment every day involves the chore of finding a way to bring economic value to ones life, and as with repairs, the ingenuity is inspiring. I have never been anywhere in my life where a courteous hello is the expected norm all day, every day, to every stranger you meet. "Tap-taps" are converted pickups that carry loads of people daily, and it is rude to board a tap-tap without greeting every rider on board with either "Bonjou" or "Salut".
Children walk arm in arm to school. Beautiful ribbons adorn the complex braids on the heads of little girls. Uniforms of every color line the side of every road, in the city and in the villages. Women walk with grace skillfully balancing inconceivably large parcels on their heads. Haitians have incredible posture. If poverty is all you see in Haiti you are missing the point. The culture is complex and the people are warm, they love to laugh. Celebration is constant as every hurdle of life is conquered.
To the second point, whether people like myself deserve praise for working in a place like Haiti, for myself I will say that I do not. If you love something, like I love creating sustainable solutions for rural Haitians, the joy of the work fills you, and thanks are unnecessary. If I could bottle and sell the incredible feeling I get from this work I would have at my disposal the most addictive drug ever made. I speak for many friends when I say this, the secret is out: we love what we do, we love Haiti, and we don't deserve special attention for what we're doing.
In giving thanks today I will mention my special blessing, like Miss Jean and John the hippy I am blessed to have been adopted as a not-really-a-family-member by Haiti. I am greatly enjoying the forward progress of our IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program and thrilled by the government's adoption of our program as the method for providing energy to rural homes. I am incredibly proud of our Jatropha farmers who have planted more than 100,000 trees this year. I am excited, and thankful, and again I wish all who have made it to the end of this post a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 2:58 AM
in About Sirona Cares, Travel
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November 10, 2011
Energy Week in Haiti was a great event. It was held at the Historical Sugarcane Park in Tabarre which was a beautiful site. Every day of the three day conference was so well attended that there was not enough seating for the attendees in the conference room. It was great to meet so many people that are making huge strides to bring alternative energy to Haiti. As always, the IEEE/Sirona Rural Electricity Program was well received. Even the President of the utility asked us to place a unit in his home town.
The new Secretary of Energy, Dr. Rene Jean Jumeau, arranged the conference. Haiti has established its strategic plan for energy throughout the country. The larger cities will be handled by the national utility, the towns will utilize micro grids, and the villages will be lit by Sirona's model (solar-based generating stations that recharge home kits for customers). Quite literally, this country is going to be lit and a great amount of the energy supplied will be from alternative energy sources.
We are actively engaged in organizing Haitian assembly and local suppliers of our equipment, the next step will be hiring and training a work force and get our units rolling out to villages. The IEEE has donated an additional nine units, so we have a lot to do. I am thrilled and amazed by the rapid progress that the Haitian administration is making in this area.
President Martelly set energy as a very high priority for his administration and the speed with which this is coming together is exciting. I spent the morning looking at assembly facilities and met great suppliers at the conference. It is all truly coming together.
As if that isn't enough exciting news, Sirona has applied for an Intel Foundation grant to fund equipment for tele-education and tele-medicine in the villages where our units are co-located with schools. We won't know before the end of the year, but it is a very exciting proposal. We have created the very unique situation by placing reliable energy in these remote villages. Perhaps the children there will be learning on computers, and the adults gaining access to training and information. Like everything we do, the element of sustainablility is built into the model. The facilities can also generate revenue by operating at certain hours as a cyber cafe or providing entertainment like broadcasts of soccer games or movies. Exciting things, life changing things, become possible with energy.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 10:07 PM
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November 04, 2011
Sirona has been invited back for another presentation in Haiti of our IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organization of 15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. CARICOM's main purposes are to promote economic integration and cooperation among its members, to ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared, and to coordinate foreign policy. Renewable energy is one sector in which CARICOM works to support its member nations, and next week is CARICOM Energy Awareness Week.
Haiti is participating as are many other CARICOM member countries, with it's own program entitled: Energy: Cornerstone of Haiti's Reconstruction. As I mentioned in an earlier post, after participating in the strategic planning process of the Haitian energy sector I am excited by Haiti's committment to exploration and implementation of alternative energy solutions.
If you happen to be in Haiti, I will be at the event Monday-Wednesday in Tabarre at the Parc Historique de la Canne a Sucre which is across from the American Embassy. On Tuesday at 11:15 I am scheduled to speak about our innovative Sunblazer program which brings both energy and economic development to communities unreached by Haiti's grid. We are borrowing our Sunblazer unit from St. Etienne for display. The event will be attended by government officials, the media and the general public.
We are receiving very positive attention in Haiti and I am very excited about next year.
Posted by Michelle Lacourciere at 5:08 PM
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