EarthSpark, Energy and Me.
(The young lady above is studying by candle light in Les Anglais)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily representative of the organization. Also, I got a little long winded and detailed, again, no one’s fault but my own.
The Org / The Hope
‘EarthSpark empowers communities by eradicating energy poverty. We achieve this by partnering with entrepreneurs and organizations to develop local businesses and country-scale supply chains for clean and efficient energy technologies. Through these partnerships, we ensure that our work is sustainable and integrated into communities.’
EarthSpark is (the little engine that, I hope, could) a small nonprofit that has been operating in Southern Haiti since 2008 working to alleviate energy poverty. Energy poverty was a foreign term to me, and is truly a foreign concept to most of us. The vast majority of Haitians, approximately 75%, do not have access to electricity. Picture how your life would be different if at 6pm (when the sun sets here) you no longer had a steady source of light. A candle or a kerosene lamp would be all you had to illuminate your night. Candles and kerosene that you would pay a highly disproportionate amount of your income for. You would have less and pay more for it. Forget TV, internet, microwave, aircon, or a heater. Forget it all. Picture yourself at 6pm, in a dark little house, with a dark little tin roof, on a dark little street, in a dark little town which will be staying dark until the sun rises the next morning. Picture yourself going back in time but without romanticizing it. Picture this being your reality EVERY day of your life. Welcome to energy poverty.
EarthSpark is bringing affordable and environmentally friendly sources of energy to Haiti’s energy poor in a few exciting ways. My focus, the ‘Hope’ of my time here, is to help EarthSpark professionalize their business practices and lay the groundwork for their expansion. Currently the organization has one retail store in the small town of Les Anglais. Thanks to a recent partnership (welcome to the world of NGO – nongovernmental organization – acronyms, take a deep breath…) called CSI (Cot Sud Intiative – Cot Sud means ‘Southern Coast’), a new partnership with UNEP (United Nations Environment Program), the Columbia Earth Institute and CRS (Catholic Relief Services), Earthspark is focused on bringing clean energy to 300,000 people in the region in the next 3 years. They plan to reach this goal through a market based approach, which I’m very excited about. The store and soon its offshoots, sell small scale renewable energy solar products and high efficiency cookstoves.
The value added to our lives by electricity is incredible and in places where it is cheap, dependable and constant, easily forgotten. The Solar goods sold here provide a safe, environmentally responsible and economically sound source of power to those who would otherwise be without it. Being able to plug in a mobile phone, saving the time taken to walk to a person who can charge it, and the money saved paying for the charge, is a benefit most of us can’t truly conceptualize. Being able to read at night, after work, might hit closer to home. Kerosene lamps are an option here, but they are relatively expensive, smell, yellow walls and furnishings, and far too often fall over and burn homes and families to the ground. But I digress. The most common, practical, extraordinarily important benefit to safe and affordable light for a home is in providing children light to study with. The greatest tool in our collective repertoire for encouraging sustainable development is primary education. Having safe and accessible lights in homes is a great tool for education and a great facilitator of development.
The cookstoves address serious environmental and health issues in Haiti. On the environmental side (get ready to get green) the rampant use of locally produced charcoal briquettes is a huge problem. The majority of people are poor, and fuel is expensive. Because many locals see trees as free game and therefore production of charcoal as essentially free to them, they chop down trees and use the wood as biomass fuel. Along with producing a dirty burning fuel, these people are contributing to the massive deforestation of their country. Not only do fewer trees mean a reduction of oxygen, wildlife and scenery, they certainly mean more frequent and stronger floods and an associated loss of topsoil and farmable land. Without trees in place to hold the ground and absorb the rainfall, these already impoverished small lowland towns now need to deal with erratic and powerful floods changing river flows and washing land away. Unfortunately, there simply is not currently a viable, affordable and prevalent alternative here for the impoverished to cook with, so the greater efficiency in their stoves, the less charcoal they need consume and the fewer trees need be destroyed.
The medical benefit is just as apparent and significant. These stoves reduce the source of kitchen emissions which are a major health problem for women and children in the developing world. Mothers cook with their children nearby in small homes with little ventilation. The smoke from the burning charcoal, day after day in these cramped quarters leads to serious eye and lung problems. Reducing these emissions is a huge deal and saving people money while doing it is a nice kicker. High efficiency stoves reduce the input needed, saving the cost of fuel. The least expensive of these products is about $4. This is roughly $1 more than the market rate of an average stove. That $1 is, unbelievably, an impediment to purchase for many. Imagine a product with health benefits for you and your family that produces a savings such that your payback period is a few weeks, and yet an additional upfront expenditure of $1 would keep you from purchasing it. Not a pleasant thought and most certainly not a pleasant reality. Through customer education and small scale loans EarthSpark aims to bridge the divide between those who would benefit from this and those who can afford it.
The Meetings
Dan, EarthSpark’s founder and lead advocate, came to Port Au Prince for a Clinton Global Initiative meeting, so I made the trip up to meet the man, check out CGI and see what other pies this complex little org was sticking its fingers in. The CGI in Haiti is headed by Denis O’brien, one of the top couple hundred richest people on the planet. In addition to his close relationship with good old William Jefferson and his philanthropy, he is also the owner of Digicel, the Telecom giant with a massive market share in Haiti and much of the Caribbean. Denis also seems to like Dan. This is a good thing. The CGI is about results, and watching the meeting in action there is no doubt that from the top down this is being taken seriously. Denis questioned, cajoled and rebuked the affiliates in attendance, with poise, a gentle voice and an even temperament. The message was clear; accomplishment not intention is paramount. This too is a good thing. Dan spoke for the energy sector and displayed Eneji Pwop’s newest product, the Nokero Solar light bulb. It played to rave reviews.
Dinner by solar light
While in PAP we had a few meetings with different divisions of Digicel, at their twelve story headquarters, the tallest building in the country, for different parts of a program we’re trying to roll out. Some really cool, pretty heady things should be in store here in the next few months. We also met with the head of Digicel’s Energy team, a Kiwi named Darren with some really interesting and impressive insight into how big corporations can create really positive social change simply by worrying about their bottom lines. Imagine for a second that you’re a Telecom in a country where much of the population has inconsistent access to power. You, the Telecom, make money when people make calls. People make calls when their phones are charged. No power, no phone charge. No phone charge, no calls. No calls, no money for you. You get the gist, it’s time for you to figure out a cost effective way to get people’s phones charged. Darren and his crew are working on some interesting ways to make that happen and EarthSpark is doing its best to assist in any way it can.
CARE was another great meeting and hopeful partnership on the horizon. CARE is expanding a microfinance program in Haiti that they have previously implemented in Africa with impressive success. In the new iteration here, we hope that EarthSpark will play a key role. Microfinance has tasted the dark side of growth lately as unscrupulous lenders and shady organizations have gotten in to the business and preyed on the poor (Remind you of anything?). Just as America’s banking mess shouldn’t be representative of all of capitalism; neither should these lenders devalue all of the good that microfinance has been a party to (I was lucky enough to personally glimpse some of that great work during my experience in India a few years back). That said, what CARE is doing is totally different. The practices that are causing such a stir globally are the high rates of interest being charged by lending institutions. CARE is a nonprofit and a facilitator, not a lender, so they take no cut. What they do is help sets of women establish their own small scale lending groups where the group itself becomes the lender to the individual members. The interest each member pays is going into the groups’ coffers and increasing the value of her own share. Talk about local. CARE gives the women the education and tools to succeed and the women themselves keep the profits. I can’t help but love the concept. Currently CARE is serving 1,000 members of groups in Haiti, with plans to reach 20,000 by the end of 2012. Thanks to a partnership that’s in the works, EarthSpark should be a part of that expansion!
How it all ties together, with a healthy dose of minutia…
Facts on the ground
EarthSpark helped open Magazen Eneji Pwop in Les Anglais in June 2010. After plenty of fits and starts, hiccups and lessons, they’re ready to expand operations throughout the region. Thanks to some much needed and appreciated seed money, products have been purchased, consultants are being consulted, employee searches are under way and plans are being set. Thankfully this organization is rife with curiosity, open to ideas and willing to try multiple approaches at once. This spirit of adventure and innovation is leading to a multi-pronged expansion utilizing some nifty new innovations. Through their Eneji Pwop (Clean Energy) Haitian brand, EarthSpark will be adapting Greg Van Kirk’s Microconsignment Model with some of their own unique twists.
The Microconsignment model has been operating with really impressive success in Guatemala and what we’re doing is a similar iteration. The major difference is in the application of sales. The emphasis there is on one large sales day. This entails a big marketing push creating a great deal of buzz around the impending day. They then bring products to a town, have a big sale, and are on their way. We are attempting a different route, trying a catalogue approach. We’ll provide retailers with product information, education and demos on the shelves of their stores. Using these tools, and some additional local marketing, the stores will generate orders with products delivered on a weekly or bi weekly basis. We hope that by having a constant access to the product people will be able to see it in action in their friends and families stores and homes and be able to plan for and access them as they are able to. Also, by having a permanent local presence, we can provide greater product education, tech support and maintenance. Some of our higher end products require care and we want to ensure that we are supporting our customers and assisting in that care.
Rather than open more brick and mortar stores, with their inherent overheads, EarthSpark will be teaming with existing small businesses throughout the region. The hope is to establish a mutually beneficial scenario that can assist these small businesses in improving their bottom line with no risk to them, and help EarthSpark reach a larger population while maintaining low overheads. By working with established business people in these communities, EarthSpark believes that their products will benefit from the existing local credibility of the retailer as well as allow them to tap into existing customer bases with increased exposure. This model is being referred to as Micro Franchisees (MFs).
Working hand in hand with the above will be the expansion of the ‘Roving Salesperson’ model. Currently EarthSpark is having success with an entrepreneurial woman in Les Anglais who, through her networks, demos and then sells small scale appliances on a rent to own basis. In conjunction with the Microfranchisees, EarthSpark will be recruiting RSPs in the local towns where they are expanding. These women, just like the MFs will be put through an intensive training and then given a ‘Business in a Bag’. This will be comprised of their catalog, marketing materials, Product training guides and other pertinent information. They will then be equipped to be mobile sales agents, selling Eneji Pwop products throughout the Cod Sud region.
All of this exciting expansion means more sales in a less concentrated area, making data collection and reporting that much more important. EarthSpark will be receiving near real time sales data through a multi-step system. The first component is thanks to a service Digicel offers called ‘SMS to email’. Using even the most basic low end mobile phones on the market here (The one I’m using was purchased locally for $5) the sales agent will send a text message to a specified EarthSpark number that will act as a platform to receive and sort the information sent into an Excel spreadsheet. A talented and generous EarthSpark volunteer, Tristan, is writing a platform that will have this data be automatically processed through to EarthSpark’s SalesForce.com account and populate there as a sale. Dan at his desk in Pittsburgh, or Allison on her blackberry on the bus in DC, will within minutes be able to see the updated inventory and sales records. Pretty neat right? This kind of technology will enable tighter inventory controls, better order times and an overall improved supply chain.
EarthSpark will also be utilizing another tracking system to better serve their customers and ensure their satisfaction. Tristan is building simple forms that can be used and transmitted by smart phones, java enabled phones and laptops. These forms will let the Customer Service Manager and Regional Sales Manager easily transmit any service or maintenance issues into the system. The forms are set up so that the employee simply selects the options given for each question presented and hits send. The information is then automatically transferred to the Sales Force account where it self populates a back end report. The Management team, anywhere in the world, will immediately know of any issues. Improving customer service and being there for clients is just as important as making a sale. The energy poor only benefit from these clean technologies if they are FUNCTIONAL technologies!
As the customer base grows, so too will the information database. As sales and customer information is recorded, EarthSpark will then be able to easily and efficiently send out, through Digicel’s ‘Bulk SMS’ platform, direct marketing campaigns, end user information tips, coupons and other important information. The customers will be able to respond, provide feedback, and register their warranties through the same system. The relationships with the customers will become more interactive, engaging and dynamic.
The Big Takeaway
I came to Haiti expecting to see abject poverty, and I did. I did not expect to see such a beautiful landscape. The south, where EarthSpark operates, is a really pleasant and scenic place. Unfortunately it’s also a place ravaged by far more than its fair share of problems. EarthSpark is squarely in the fight to reduce some of the burdens on the people here by meeting their energy problems head on. My experience here has been invaluable; filled with much learning and insight. I hope that I can give half as much to this organization as it has given me. In any case, I’m confident that this is a group moving in the right direction driven by pure motives and on its way to results.
*If any of this is interesting to you, and you want to know more exciting news about energy in Haiti, and it’s government stepping up for it, check out this post about Haiti’s new ’5th E‘. If this is REALLY interesting, feel free to support EarthSpark by liking it on facebook, or even better, in real life by donating on its site.
