Sirona & IEEE's Electricity Solution for Rural Haiti is Launching

It's 2011 yet in much of Haiti people use candles and kerosene lamps that fill their homes with dangerous fumes.  No electrical infrastructure exists in many areas.  There are no phone lines, so Haitians use cell phones.  People walk long distances and pay to charge their phones.  Having access to electric light and power in the home will be life-changing; and access to affordable power is revolutionary.

Sirona Cares has been working with a dedicated group of IEEE volunteers called the CSI (Community Solutions Initiative) for over a year designing a system that promises to bring sustainable change to rural Haiti.  Not charity, this endeavor is designed to create businesses and be economically self-sustaining.  Sirona surveyed 70 rural communities and we know what people are already paying for kerosene, candles and cell phone charging.  The goal of our project is to provide reliable electricity to homes at a price they can afford.

Mobile, solar-based 1.2 kW generating stations are being sent to six areas of rural Haiti this month, each generator has 40 home kits (three lights, wiring, and a DC adaptor for cell-phone charging or use of other small electronics). The generating stations will be run as franchises where each operator leases out 40 home kits and runs a small business with the station's residual electricity.  Most operators are planning to run small freezers as their business as ice is a valuable commodity in Haiti.  Each month the home customers and station operators will make lease payments for their equipment, and Sirona will train  Haitian field operators to maintain the units.  

At every level of the project there is opportunity for revenue generation and job creation.  Enterprising home kit customers will charge their neighbors cell phones for a modest fee; operators will create businesses; maintenance teams will be trained; and ultimately in-country assembly will begin. 

Rather than compete with Government of Haiti utilities, our project compliments their effort to bring power to rural areas.  We are creating a base of customers prepared to pay for electricity in their homes; and as utilities reach their areas we will move the generating stations further out into the dark areas of Haiti.  Eventually, if the government is able to light every home, we can move the equipment to other countries where the same need exists.

The first six units have left New York, they are in Florida and will be in Haiti shortly.  240 homes will receive affordable, reliable electricity and six new businesses will start this month.  We plan to send the components for nine additional units by the end of the year and begin in-country assembly.  There are many eyes on this project because potential investors want to see if an economically sustainable project is possible in Haiti.  We strongly believe that it is.  We have spent enough time on the ground to know that Haitians crave the opportunity for self-reliance beyond charity.

First Home Battery Kit: Haitians Get Light in February

A picture is worth a thousand words, and this is a photo of the first home battery kit that we are putting into a Haitian home next month.  This kit is one of 240 that will be sent out into the rural parts of Haiti bringing the first electricity to these homes.  Each customer will receive this battery, the lights, the wiring, and a cell phone charger, and for $50 Haitian dollars per month they can recharge their battery as often as they need to and provide light to their families.

$50 Haitian dollars may sound like a lot, but converted to our dollar we're talking about $6.21 per month for electric light.  This is a pilot price that we are studying to see if it works for the customers and the entrepreneur who runs the charging station.  Our price was set by surveying the amount that Haitians pay for cell phone charging, candles and kerosene, costs all offset by this unit.  Each entrepreneur receives a trailer with six large solar panels and an additional four large batteries to run a business for himself.  The goal is to create a situation where he can make a good living from the equipment and make a $200/month US lease payment.

We are carefully designing the entire project with several goals in mind.  Foremost, we want the entrepreneur to succeed and start his business with no debt.  For the first three months he can collect and keep all customer lease payment to purchase the equipment he will need to start his business.  Almost every one of these first six unit managers are proposing refrigerators as an equipment need.  We are allowing them to create any business that will work for them in their area.  In one case it's an internet cafe with cold drinks.  That station is co-located with a school and church on the road to Jacmel- a beautiful road with no rest stops.  Another is in a village where they plan to use the equipment for multiple small businesses, ironing, juice making, cold drinks and coffee drying. 

By giving entrepreneurs a head start we help them succeed in using the equipment to their advantage and be able to make the lease payments that keep the program sustainable.  Our goal is to work in harmony with the Haitian utilities and as power becomes available in areas we will have created for them customers that can pay for power.  All of our equipment is mobile, so as we become obsolete in one area we will move further into the dark parts of Haiti and create businesses and provide homes with light until the utilities reach them.  When all of Haiti has power we can roll our units out and into other countries where the need for light and small business development exists.

All of this is made possible by the ingenuity and compassion of members of the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers).  The CSI Group (Community Solutions Initiative) has worked tirelessly developing this culturally appropriate solution for Haiti.  The units are currently being fabricated and readied for transport.  The IEEE groups who have provided funding for this program are: Humanitarian Technology Challenge (HTC), Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS) and Power and Energy Society (PES).  Sirona Cares is very grateful to the IEEE for investing in Haiti, and excited about working with them to deploy these pilots in February.

Rural School Receives Technology!

The focus of our work is on sustainable development.  We take a two facet approach by supporting the agricultural sector and supporting those who care for/educate children.  By empowering the farmers and the children we hope to make a significant impact in our communities over time.  Haiti's median age is only 20, meaning that great change can occur in a short period of time.  Positive effects for this generation will fuel the next.  Haitians will propel themselves forward, and education is critical to this process.  Our bi-monthly trips to Haiti always include both aspects of our work: furthering our Jatropha projects and advocating for Haitian programs that need outside assistance.

While we were in L'Azile on this past trip (only two weeks ago) we met with the director of a school, the Eglise de Dieu.  The school survived the earthquake but classes were held outside through the summer as they reinforced the structure.  They will return indoors this fall.  At their site they were constructing a new building, a technology classroom.  They had received funding for the construction of this project, through Compassion International I believe, but had no access for funding the computers for the class.  While we were there we saw a class of about 40 students working with two computers.  Pictured below are members of our team, Janine & Chris, our Haitian partner Yves Gourdet, and Pastor Eden who runs the school.

Haiti Rewired is a site dedicated to creating an ongoing conversation about technology, infrastructure and the future of Haiti.  Through the Haiti Rewired site I was contacted by Tech Assist Haiti and asked (before I had even mentioned this project) if I needed their assistance.  I did, in fact, need computers for this project in L'Azile and I had no idea how to get them.  With in a matter of days I am thrilled to say that Tech Assist Haiti donated and shipped 9 refurbished (almost new) computers which are ready for use in the classroom as well as an inkjet printer.  It is always a wonderful experience to be able to link resources here to Haitians who need them, it's the best part of this work.  Many thanks to Tech Assist Haiti (you guys are making miracles happen), to Rick Davis who reached out to me, and to the Haiti Rewired group for creating an arena where we all learn and share so much for the benefit of Haiti.  Photo below: the computers ready for shipment.