July 2009 Archives

Hello everyone!
May's been an eventful month, with my trip to visit our programmes in Kenya and Zambia postponed due to visa delays. This has been not only frustrating but also disheartening for the projects where my presence was sorely needed.
I am hoping to now be on my way mid-August. In Zambia I will be visiting the programmes with our funding contact from the Global Cool Foundation. I will also meet with our programme manager Trevor to go over the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) processes as well as visit our macrosolar sites where schools and community centres have been benefiting from the panels for up to a year.
In Kenya I will be helping align the existing processes with ones we have designed in our London offices. I will be visiting our micro-franchisees and conducting important M&E surveys and focus groups - which allow us to evaluate how our solar products are changing the lives of our customers and franchisees.

SolarAid takes the Monitoring and Evaluation of its programmes seriously and at present we are rolling out fresh processes to further understand the effect of our products to all involved: Franchisee, Customer and Manufacturer. This process comes in the form of surveys, one-to-one discussions, focus groups and more! As an organization we seek to constantly improve and ensure that we are meeting our remit of fighting climate change and poverty through solar and micro-businesses. With open minds and a strong dedication to those in great need we push on forward!

Miguel Ramirez... still in the London office