Thursday, July 6, 2017

Abuboi - Sellers & Offroad Adventures

Yenso Solar has established itself in the village of Abuboi. Last week in Abuboi we met with the village chief and committee members. Early this week we met with a seller that they had selected for us. Hannah, a fiery woman who lives on the edge of Abuboi, speaks a little English, and is sort of like the beloved mother of the village of Abuboi. We're really excited to work with Hannah because she is so excited to be part of the village team. She is smart, quick, and the perfect person to rally the village and surrounding areas on solar.
We've also been working hard to find a manager in the Praso area. So far, Yenso has always experienced immense progress while we are working in country. But, once the Yenso team of college students heads back to the USA, there tends to be a tremendous slow-down of operations. If Yenso is going to be successful, we need to hire a manager who can handle the operations and accounting. This morning we held interviews and have a few promising candidates in mind. We’re excited that we’re establishing the Yenso network, finding sellers, distributors, and potential managers!
Yenso had also had an exciting week on the automobile front. Both the Yenso Car and Motorcycle have run into problems and are both sitting waiting for mechanics. On Tuesday, the Yenso team split into two groups to search out villages that don’t have electricity. Four of us headed towards a village called “Number 1” that we had heard did not have electricity. After a long dirt road, we arrived in number one to find several street lights. The villagers informed us that electricity had come to their village about five months previous. They directed us further down the same road to another village called “Number 8” that is still without light. We headed to Number 8 and we were met by curious villagers. The village had a sign down the road that read: “No light, No vote.” We showed the group that gathered around us when we pulled up the solar lamps. We were met with HUGE excitement as we demonstrated the light’s waterproof/ drop proof abilities. We lit up the small lottery stand at the front of the village and surveyed different members of the village about their current forms of light. We learned that villages like Number 8 without any access to light DEFINITELY want solar. We headed further down the road to yet another village that is off-grid. But, we didn’t make it. Partway down this bumpy road our little blueberry car got stuck in some deep road. It took us and some Ghanaian Cocoa farmers to get our little car unstuck. And then it took several of us running, navigating a path, and occasionally pushing the car to make it the rest of the way out of the dirt-roads to the main road. Shortly after arriving to the main road, the car completely died. It wouldn’t budge much further. By this point, we were sitting in the dark in a broken down car slightly out of the town of Praso -- unsure if we should leave the car on the side of the road and start looking for Tro-Tro Vans or Taxis. We stopped and said a prayer. A few minutes after we prayed, Brigham pulled up next to us. Brigham was in church meetings as the District President in Praso down the road that were supposed to end at 10:00. But, he had felt prompted to end the meetings two hours early and had left at 8. With Brigham’s help, the Yenso team and car made it home safely.

A day later, two members of the Yenso team were riding the Yenso Moto in the rain -- and the tire shredded. So, currently we are sitting in our small apartment hoping that this torrential Ghanaian rain lets up and that our automobiles are fixed quickly!

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