Microsolar kicks off in Kitui

As part of my microsolar prototype research I spent two days meeting with local villagers in Kitui to demonstrate the potential of solar power using our solar cinema, train entrepreneurs, and to gain some valuable feedback regarding microsolar practice.

Joshua (second from right) and his friends keep warm in the back of the Solar Roller before kick off.

We stopped in Kitui West Market to set up the Solar Roller which comes equipped with a solar powered projector for an evening of live football. The match was Uruguay vs. Netherlands. The whole village seemed to have turned up - impressive considering they would usually be asleep by 9pm or 10pm and the match didn't start until 9.30pm! Most of the village stayed right until the end to watch Uruguay win 3-2, including seven year old Joshua and his friends who were keeping warm in the back of the Solar Roller (see above).

Before the match we took the opportunity to advertise our products, everyone was interested. Showing the bright Ravi light at night generated enthusiasm and we got a lot of attention. It also gave me a chance to test out my prototypes.

The following day we held a training session in Kitui for 12 new SunnyMoney entrepreneurs. There was a good mix of men and women of all ages. Each had been through our SunnyMoney challenge process to find and demonstrate support from local villagers for their new roles as franchisees. It was a long day of training in troubleshooting, marketing, solar power and business skills but was gratefully received. We left them with a demo product each and marketing materials to help drum up sales. It was great to see so many enthusiastic entrepreneurs!