Sirona Cares

Hurricane Isaac Hit Sirona's Farmers, Hard

 

Saint Jean with his mother and his wife

Today I received the following e-mail from our agronomist, Saint Jean, in southern Haiti.  He writes on behalf of our jatropha farmers whose area took the worst hit from Hurricane Isaac.  They are desperate, I know because he has never written an e-mail like this.  The nursery was wiped out, which can be replaced, but their homes were also destroyed and they are suffering.

 

 

Sirona has always supported our communities by helping them become self-sufficient.  We give them the power to create, use and sell alternative energy.  In the wake of the earthquake we gave financial and charitable assistance, and so on behalf of my farmers I am sending this e-mail to our readers hoping that donations may be made to help them through this recent crisis. 

Dear Michelle,
                        How are you doing? In my side It's not really okay. Haiti is hit by an hurricane, gardens and animals are lost, many houses at 2nd plain are destroyed, the farmers are in difficulties then my mother is sick. how you can assit the farmers? It would be bettter if you use a way to do a donation to the farmers. I need to prepare new plants but I want you do the transfert.
 
 
Best regards

Saint Jean Illace

Thank you in advance, for anything you can do

When You're Holding the Tiger By The Tail, Don't Let Go!

Johannesburg, South Africa; Witts University

The IEEE convened a conference at the Witts University last week and Sirona was there to participate in a CSI (Community Solutions Initiative) working group that worked all week to educate and collaborate with African based NGOs on the successful work relating to the SunBlazer in Haiti.  The university was symbolically appropriate as it is focused upon social justice.  Nelson Mandella attended this university.

The technology for the Rural Electricity Program is simple.  It is designed to be a radically affordable way to bring basic electricity to homes deprived of energy where solar power is appropriate.  The business plan for the program is unique in that it is an economically viable way to bring power to the poorest people.  By charging customers roughly what the household pays for Kerosene alone we can bring enough power to a home with energy efficient lighting to not only illuminate a home, but also provide the subscriber with enough energy to charge cellular phones.  The product has been eagerly sought and is currently over-subscribed in Haiti, and now we are taking the fist steps to scaling in Africa.

Many exciting things are happening, and the days are filled with a lot of hard work.  In Haiti we are fulfilling a USAID grant that will bring light to 747 homes by the end of next month in the St. Marc communes; and we have the funding in place for an additional 1,253 by the end of the year.  We are beginning the process of in-country assembly, ironing out supply chains, and quickly moving the program into its next iteration.  Today we also received notification from UNEP that we have received another grant to undertake an end-of-grid program to enroll an additional 3,000 homes in our program and create thirty new small businesses.

In Africa the working group members came from South Sudan, Cameroon and Nigeria.  The CSI is eager to move forward and IEEE is committing to a ten year plan wherein 50 million people will receive electricity through this program.  IEEE will donate the equipment, and Sirona is a key player working to get the program scaling. 

The most memorable quote from the days we spent working in Johannesburg was the title of this blog entry: "When you are holding the tiger by the tail, don't let go!" (or else one of two things will happen: you will be mauled, or you will be left in the dust).  Wise words and a worthy challenge for us as we move forward both in Haiti and beyond.

Progress Reports from Haiti

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.

Sustainable Change Occurring in Haiti through Alternative Energy

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!

The Value of Sustainable Impact vs. Charity

After a visit to Haiti people leave with only one of two reactions.  Some think Haiti is the worst place that they have ever seen.  Heartbroken and frightened after seeing extreme poverty they flee and never return.  The other reaction is one of being hooked by Haiti.  For life.

I fell in love with Haiti, and have spent three years working out what it is exactly that I can do to bring the most change for communities there.  Initially it was the children I focused upon, how to get them food, how to get them into school.  In the first few months of running this organization we raised the funds to feed four orphanages 1/4 of the years food.  While this was a great accomplishment, I must admit that once I sent the funds I was deflated.  I realized that this would be a perpetual cycle, and it was then that I developed a strong bent towards creating truly sustainable communities by creating ways that people in the communities could earn more and feed themselves.  We handled the largest post-earthquake aid delivery from Northern California, but again, like the money for food I had to weigh the cost of that project against it's impact.  20,000 people received basic necessities, at a cost of roughly $20,000.  This $1 per person ratio was not bad, however I know that $20,000 can be spent in ways that will have lasting impact that far exceeds the clothing and toiletries we shipped.

Our work on the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project shows exactly how funds can be spent to create massive change in places like Haiti.  The 1.5 Kw solar charging station provides life-changing benefits for 40 households.  Kerosene lamps are dangerous.  Their fumes noxious and many people, especially children, suffer terrible burns every year.  We have empowered people in Haiti by bringing jobs, business, and a step out of the darkness.  Today one of the orphanages we had assisted is able to buy food with income generated by their Sunblazer unit.

Our six pilot stations are operating perfectly and were not affected by recent storms.  All were visited by our Haitian field technicians in the past two weeks and interviews with both station Operators as well as customers confirm that this is a hugely successful endeavor, and that people simply love it.  The project is so embraced by the communities that all six units are safe and secure, and all home kits accounted for.  There has been no theft or tampering with any of the units.  This reflects another benefit of business over charity: we take better care of things that we work for than things that are given to us.

Our work is focused upon listening to Haitians about what they want, and they often say, "It's better to teach a man to fish than to give a man a fish".  Below is an excerpt from an e-mail I received after our trip.  Comments like this are encouraging, and let us know that not only in Haiti are we on the right track with our work: 

"My husband, Eric, shared with me the information that you passed on to him regarding Sirona Cares. Both the Jatropha Project and the IEEE Rural Electricity Program are amazing! What strikes me is your emphasis on building sustainable communities within Haiti and beyond. Truly, as stated in the Jatropha Project Overview, "charity is debilitating." When I was in Haiti in March, I was truly struck by the Haitian people and their strong desire to have jobs and a chance for a better life. In contrast, there appeared to be many well-intentioned groups offering aide to the people of Haiti. While no one would argue that the need in Haiti is great, the greatest need is not for foreigners to come in and "rescue" Haitians through foreign aide, but rather the need is for the establishment/building of sustainable communities.
 
We commend your vision to build sustainable communities! We also desire to become a part of building sustainable communities in Haiti and beyond. Thanks for sharing your story with us and giving us hope and confirmation that it is possible!"
 

 

IEEE/Sirona Haiti "Sunblazer" Solar Generating Stations are Haiti Bound

It is with great excitement that I announce that the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity generating units are now on the water headed for Haiti.  We have finalized the schedules for deployment of the six units and along with IEEE engineers we will arrive in Haiti on the 20th to begin that process.  We have been working on this project with the Community Solutions Initiative (CSI) IEEE sub-group since the fall of 2009, and to be at the point of deployment is very exciting for the members of both teams.

The technology has been designed to create small businesses and provide reliable electricity to homes.  There are six "Sunblazer" units in the first deployment, so by July 8th we will have started six businesses and provided light to 240 homes.  The excitement that we have pales in comparison to the excitement in Haiti over the project.  Our first six Operators have already signed up their forty customers, and will attend training next week on operation of both the equipment and their business.  In addition to providing technical support for the units, Sirona is also providing entrepreneurial support for the Operators.  A successful Operator becomes a candidate for additional units and can ultimately receive up to 5, meaning that they will be providing electricity to up to 200 homes in their community and using residual energy from the units to run their businesses.

This is blog entry 200.  Since December of 2008 we have been formulating plans to improve life in Haiti and attempting to educate people here on what life Haiti is like, and what Haitians really need.  130,808 readers have visited the blog, and the support of people who believe in us personally, and/or in the vision we have for creating positive change in Haiti has gotten us this far.  Our early work was more focused on charity, and how to "help"; a reader can go through the posts to follow our transition from the charity mindset of "giving" to one of "partnership": working with Haitians to create sustainable change in their communities.  We are using alternative energy for the basis of change, and have created a strong Jatropha project and now a home electricity kit business.  "Poverty" is not the only word people should associate with Haiti; I hope that our programs will induce readers to associate more words like "inspiring", "ingenious", "creative", and "industrious" to the people of Haiti.

Our trip will last from June 20th-July 8th.  Should anyone in Haiti wish to see the units, we will be training Operators and displaying the equipment on June 22nd.  If you would like to attend, please contact me through this site for specific information on where the training will occur. 

Post Washington DC & Pre IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Pilot Launch

We traveled to Washington DC last week to meet with different funding organizations for the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project.  The discussions went very well and we are now back following up, organizing materials that show the scalability of this project, and preparing for the shipment of the first six units.  It is a very exciting time for us.  During our meeting at the UN Foundation we discussed the fact that 2012 is the International Year of Sustainable Energy For All.  We are excited to be part of this important initiative.

In Haiti our groups are preparing for the arrival of the equipment as well as the training for our first six Franchise Operators and first Field Technicians.  In only a few weeks we will be turning the lights on, for the first time, in 240 homes and starting six small businesses.  By the end of the year we hope to have all 15 pilot units in Haiti, and have lit 600 homes and started 15 businesses.  The children above live in an orphanage that will receive light next month.  We are working to co-locate several of the next units with schools in Haiti.

The pilot will demonstrate that Haitians are both willing and able to pay leases on their equipment and that we have designed a sustainable program.  Sirona will use the data we collect from the pilot to encourage social investors to supply capital for formation of a Haitian for-profit company, Sirona Haiti.  This capital will fund in-country assembly and bring the project to scale.  By the end of year five we hope to supply electricity to 1,000,000 Haitian people.  Very much a chicken-and-egg scenario, Haiti is far too risky for capital investment on an unproven business plan, so the equipment and pilot was developed by the IEEE Community Solutions Initiative Group and The Sirona Cares Foundation: both non-profits that are focused upon using alternative energy to improve lives in developing countries.  Many groups within the IEEE contributed funding for the pilot.

The beauty of this project lies in its simplicity.  Due to our relationships and our experience in Haiti we know that to simply survive Haitians have honed their entrepreneurial skills.  This project gives Franchise Operators the ability to supply home battery kits (3 lights, wiring, a dc outlet for cell phones and small appliances, and a rechargable battery) to forty homes and use the excess energy generated by the 1.2 kW charging station for their own business.  The battery charging service alone more than covers the Franchise Operator's lease payment, and what he/she makes beyond that is theirs to keep.  We are excited by all of the possibilities and we fully expect to see uses of this power that we cannot even imagine.  Perhaps the home kit customer will use their battery to charge a neighbors cell phone and offset his/her monthly fee ($50 Haitian per month, or $6.70).  Where there is money to be made, we can be certain that the Haitian entrepreneur will capitalize on this opportunity, at every level.

People ask about our concerns regarding theft of equipment and the answer is simple: Haitian-to-Haitian accountability will provide security for the equipment.  If someone steals a battery kit they are not stealing from us, they are stealing the from their neighbor, probably the first electric light he/she has ever had; and from the Franchise Operator who will then face a challenge meeting his/her lease payment.  Theft is not a primary concern for us, because we know Haitians will manage that risk.

There is much to do, and daily we receive positive comments as well as inquiries about access to this program for rural Haiti.  Interest is very high, and we are working very hard to deploy this program as quickly and efficiently as possible.  I would ask that any reader interested in investing in this program contact us for a copy of the Sirona Haiti Business Plan.

 

40 Hour Work Day: Day One in Haiti

We arrived in Port au Prince on Monday at 8:00 a.m. (Sunday had been a full day of packing, a presentation at our church, and a sleepless red-eye from San Francisco).  We traveled the countryside of Haiti in the back of a pickup truck and worked with our partners until 11:00 pm. This was the longest work day I can remember.

Doug Stevens of The Leadership Connection traveled with me to meet with and provide leadership training for Pastors in Haiti.  Just as we arrived I received notification that due to manifestations (demonstrations) in Grand Goave relating to the recent election we would not have our meeting there.  At the airport we began scheduling an event in Port au Prince, for Thursday to replace the lost training session.  Working in Haiti requires a lot of flexibility.  The call to cancel the Grand Goave meeting was the right one.  As we passed through the town there was a massive UN presence keeping the peace.  It was not a good time for a large gathering.

We stopped in Aquin to leave books for my young friend Pierre.  He and his friend have been teaching themselves English sharing a battered dictionary, so I brought him a new one and a few other books.  I also delivered nail clippers to him for his community to help combat cholera and diarhea from bacteria under the nails. 

Then we headed to L'Azile and I was amazed at how smooth the road was.  It is unpaved, so it will only stay smooth until the rainy season.  I walked the first field with transplanted jatropha from the nursery there where 500 new seedlings are waiting for the first rains of the season.  These seedlings are border cropped around a field with banana trees and other food crops.  The 10,000 seedling nursery for this community is under cultivation and by summer all of those seedlings will be transplanted.

I visited the L'Azile school to see the progress on the technology center.  The computers were en route to the school from Cap Haitian and by summer the class will have it's first students enrolled.  I also walked the school land and discussed the sustainable kitchen garden project.  The garden will supply food for the school and educate the students who care for it.  The first site was deemed too close to the soccer field (the Director was concerned that the boys might destroy the garden) so it is being re-located to a safer area.  This project was envisioned by an incredible student from the Oakland College Preperatory School, Callie Roberts.  Callie has given a tremendous amount of time and effort to make the lives of the children we work with in Haiti better.  She started by collecting clothing and French books, then worked with the Ashoka Youth Project to fund the sustainable kitchen garden for the school, and, in response to the earthquake, wrote an educational pamphlet for children in Haiti to help them understand what earthquakes are, and why they happen.  Callie is a remarkable girl, and I look forward to seeing where life takes her.  I'm quite sure many more will benefit from her incredible spirit.

We got back into the truck and drove to Les Cayes where we spent the night.  I was able to meet with people there, our first partners ESMI, and discuss the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project.  The excitement over that project is indescribable.  This is the first opportunity for affordable, sustainable electricity in homes at a price Haitians can afford.  I spent a great portion of this trip explaining the project to groups and individuals, poor and wealthy Haitians, and the reception is consistently one of excitement.  Many great things happened on this trip (and I've only covered the first day!).

Earth Day 2011: Think Haiti!

Haiti's earthquake got the world's attention and many issues that had existed prior to the devastating quake were brought to the world's attention.  Sirona Cares was on the ground a year before the earthquake working to help communities become self-sustaining.  While donors may be baffled by the lack of progress in Haiti, it's truly unfair to say that nothing has been done.  In particular the small-medium sized organizations have accomplished much and will continue to do so as Haiti rebuilds.  The presidential election is concluding, and now Haiti can begin to find her way forward.

We leave Sunday night for Haiti.  On this trip we will make final preparations for the arrival of the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Project which will light 240 homes and start six new businesses and create new jobs in areas where there is currently no access to electricity.  People are excited.

Also we will distribute 10,000 new Jatropha seedlings from our Petit Goave nursery.  The team that runs the nursery will be commended for their hard work, and we will discuss doubling the capacity of the nursery because there are so many farmers anxious to participate in our program.

Jatropha plants last 25-45 years and their seeds are rich in oil that is so low in glycerine that it is a drop-in replacement for diesel fuel.  Right now though, the farmers are most interested in preserving topsoil and stopping erosion on their farms with the seedlings we provide.  Jatropha plants add nitrates to the soil, thus improving exhausted soil in their small plots.

Sirona Cares mission is to build sustainable communities.  To that end we focus on economic development through alternative energy, and on the children in the communities where we work.  We've come up with a new program that incorporates both.  Many farmers have access to land that is not currently under cultivation; and many schools provide the only meal that children receive in a day.  We think we have a solution for the farmers and the schools.

The initial request from farmers was for loans to clear unused land and plant Jatropha.  These loans would have been repaid through future Jatropha seed harvests in increments that still allowed farmers some profitability.  What makes Sirona's Jatropha project unique is our focus on inter-cropping with food crops rather than creating mono-culture Jatropha plantations that compete with food production.  Instead of loaning farmers money to grow Jatropha alone, we will pre-purchase food for local schools.  The farmers will clear the land for Jatropha, but also incorporate food crops that will be taken to schools to repay their debt.  The farmer will have more land under cultivation, and schools gain access to food for their students.  Jatropha production will improve if the plants are cared for alongside the food crops.

Earth Day is around the corner, and if you're not sure how you will celebrate, please consider supporting our work in Haiti.  For every dollar we receive, ten Jatropha trees are planted.  So far we've planted 50,000 trees in Haiti and created a positive future impact estimated at 6.25 million dollars, and all of this was accomplished through donor support.

 

Haiti: More Adventure than Typical Business Trip

I thought I'd share our travel itinerary, we pack in a lot on our trips!

April 10th, leave San Francisco on the red eye to Miami, catch the 7:00 flight to Haiti and arrive at 8:05 local time (or six a.m. San Francisco time).  After flying all night our trip starts.  We ride from Port au Prince with our L'Azile agronomist who will take us first to Aquin where we will pick up our translator, Pierre, a charming teenager I met last summer, and we will drive on to L'Azile.  I have been told that the potholes on the L'Azile road have been filled, and what used to take an hour now only takes ten minutes... we'll see.

In L'Azile we will visit our jatropha nursery, check on the sustainable kitchen garden planted by the Global Call to Youth, and the computer center that was set up with equipment from Tech Assist Haiti.  We will take Pierre home and continue to Les Cayes where we will stay with our old friends from ESMI, the St. Germain family.  We will sleep well!

The next day my companions will meet with Haitian Pastors.  In my advocacy role I facilitate introductions between groups that want to help in Haiti, like The Leadership Connection, and Haitian groups that need suppport.  They will have meetings and discuss their projects, and I'm hoping to see some of the kids I haven't seen for a while at the Cambry orphanage.

On Wednesday we travel to Petit Goave to distribute jatropha seedlings.  I am very excited to see the progress of this group, and honored to be present at their first distribution.   We will be joined by two American Pastors involved with the TLC project and a medical doctor who brings groups to Haiti.  I'm excited to connect this group with the Mission of Hope, who regularly hosts medical and missions teams. 

We will spend the night at Mission of Hope's beachfront compound in Grand Goave.  I'm hoping to see Hal, and bring him some Oreos!  I will sleep under the choukoun (a grass covered patio) and listen to the ocean. If you wake before the sun rises (which is easy because of the roosters) you see the fishing boats out on the water, each with a small fire burning in it creating bright dots in the distance.

On Thursday TLC will meet with Pastors, and I will have discussions with the Lex and Renee Edme about the upcoming deployment of the IEEE/Sirona Haiti Rural Electricity Program.  That equipment is in New York where IEEE members are improving the home battery kits to ensure longer use between re-charges.  As always I'm looking forward to seeing old friends, and making new ones. 

Early Friday, April 15th, we head back to the airport.  It's best to get into Port au Prince early, before the traffic, and our flight leaves at 9:10 for Miami.  (Hoping we won't have a fender-bender on the way to the airport this time!)  If all goes as planned we will arrive home at 7:20 p.m. (or about 12 hours later).

After every trip I'm always thankful first for my family, and then for electricity, clean water, hot water... things we take for granted.  I get home tired, but there's something about Haiti that restores me.  I will have the deployment trip to look forward to, and lots of work to do for it's preparation in between trips.