Women empowerment and Learner Transformation
On the 13th November a team from AFSD traveled to Barberton, to continue with the United Nations Development Programme, entitled "A demonstration project to develop the capacities of rural women
to operate decentralized solar electrification".
The team arrived on Thursday afternoon and held their first meeting with Team 2 of the entrepreneurs selected during their last visit (6 individuals from the Sinquobile informal settlement).
The objective of the meeting was to follow up on how the new entrepreneurs had found gauged over the previous 2 weeks, and to troubleshoot on the challenges they had encountered.
The main learning from this session was the fact that there was a much higher demand for the solar desk lamp product, as opposed to the roof light. The main reason for this was the challenge with installation, in the thick roofs, in the informal settlement and also accessibility from the ground. Due to the high roofs, one often had to turn the light on with a pole or a broom, which was not popular.
The challenges faced by the entrepreneurs during their first 2 weeks, were as follows:
- Transport costs -eating into profit
- Internal communication within the team
- Knowledge of renewable energy within the local community
- Purchasing of products, without adequate start-up capital
All of these, and other, issues were discussed and solutions were obtained. With regards to the transport costs, a reduced-rate on the cost price of the products, negotiated by AFSD, ensured that the entrepreneurs were able to make a reasonable profit, on the sale of each product. Internal communication was addressed and the issue solved. The team has realized that they will have to work harder, on the education side of things, in order to win over the local community. The entrepreneurs decided that they would receive full payment from their customers, in order to overcome the challenge of limited start up capital.
On Friday the 14th of November, our AFSD team held another entrepreneurial training session with 11 women, from the community, another 6 of them were selected and empowered with products. This brings the total number of women trained in the area of entrepreneurship, from the Barberton area, to 42. The total number of women empowered with products, who have also received additional entrepreneurial training, now stands at 15. Well done AFSD team!
The picture on the right indicates the product training that the 6 selected entrepreneurs have to undergo, before they can start selling the products within the community.
The final aspect of the day was the training of 250 of the school's learners, on the topic of solar energy. One of the main reasons for the training was for the "changing of behaviour". If behaviour can be changed in this area, it will affects choices, lifestyle and ultimately, the environment.
Due to the number of learners, we had to split them into 2 classrooms (the weather was not conducive to outside training). The one group was approximately 100 grade 6's and 7's and the second group was approximately 150 grade 4's and 5's (and some grade 6's).
The training was a huge success. The learners participated very well and received a lot form the training.
