Pump it!

I found it! I have been looking for solar powered water pumps for a while, ever since a friend mentioned that they are used all over Germany. The problem with using solar panels in development countries, like Tanzania, is that they often got stolen and sold or they are too expensive to fix if something happens to them. Solar panels seem like such a brilliant thing to have in countries with hardly any rain during the year, energy often being a big problem to run any kind of basic equipment, like pumps for wells. 

But with the tiny ones I've found some of the major problems are solved. The solar panels themselves are so small that selling them is not worth the effort, and with them being so cheap with a little starting capitol most communities can afford one. They can pump a lot of water up from a well they work in cloudy weather when there is any, and the parts are easily fixed. The skills and knowledge to make sure it can run for decades are next to nothing, basic mechanics are know to a lot of the population due to basic technology introduced some years ago

Might seem strange that I get so excited about these, after all I'm not bringing any down with me in September and I'm not really planning on spending time distributing them either. But when I do consultancies with companies and schools I can use these solar pumps as an example of how simple things can make a huge difference, just as I did with the insecticide bed nets last year. Having these sources around I can also try to get big donations from the companies and then distribute them far more efficiently than I can do on my own or with a small team. Every little helps, I do believe that, but when you're just one person then you got to think big and find creative ways to do more.

Here's the link to the pumps,I know there's different ones out there, and I'll be looking so:

http://www.solarkey.com/product_details.asp?classtype=0301&mid=281

wish me luck :)

Epiphany in the night

You know when you have those nights when you can't sleep, when there is something you are suppose to realize or remember but your brain is too sluggish to get there before ruining some sleep first? I don't have many nights a year like that, I mostly sleep pretty well, though I do dream about the craziest things. But when I do have them I end up doing stuff, like watch Die Hard or read a book or write something. Die Hard numbs my brain and can help me sleep again, a book makes my eyes lazy, which makes me sleepy, but the writing is the best way, because then I can sneak out whatever it is that I'm suppose to realize out of my head and go to sleep a little bit happier

See, I tend to have the best ideas in those few nights. Its a shame I don't have more of them. These are the nights I realize that if only I could find a really rich person to set it up we could solve the unemployment crisis. Yeah, its true. AND we can save millions at the same time. Put up a factory, have people making water purifying straws (yes they do exist, here's the website: http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw-introduction.htm) and then loads would have work and even more would have clean water. Brilliant yes? After a while we can switch to other really cheap, simple solutions, like insecticide bed nets or little solar water pumps. 

I'm sure there are loads of issues with this plan, and please feel free to let me know, but the thing is I feel that for some reason it seems like people can't help complicate things. If you have a huge population without work why not put them to good use? In England it can be things like mentioned above, in poor countries there is urgent need for infrastructure, so get people doing that. I can't seem to fully understand the issue with that, after all someone in power could with a bit of creativity and thinking out of the box find the resources to start such a project, and then the rest will follow, opportunity creating new ones.

This might seem like a young persons rant about things she doesn't understand. Fact is I have great people backing me up. Jeffrey Sachs, a personal favorite, introduced in his book "End of Poverty" an idea called clinical economics, meaning taking a step back and looking at a situation including every aspect of it. Say if you are looking at a country in trouble you would not just look at the economics to help them economically, but you would take into account the geographical positions and resources, religious and cultural traditions, political connections and history. This for me seems like such a simple but brilliant idea, and I kept thinking- why has no one done this before??? I don't know much about financial advice, but looking at all the aspects and the nitty gritty of it surely must make sense to anyone? That's what I would do...

So here's to really simple ideas in the middle of the night. I hope people with a bit more power than me has the same thing once in a while, and if not then just give me some time and I'll take care of it ;)

I wish you all awesome dreams, or epiphany waking hours :)

Why, oh why

The question I get the most often about this project is why- Why bother? Why not be something else and let others do the work. What do I get out of it? I also get that smile, you know the one, the smile that says "poor ambitious girl, sacrificing her future like that". And then of course the look "I wish I could do something like that"

Well, here's the answers, and I've been running them around in my own head for years.

Why bother? Because the solutions are so simple, so easy to get your head around and and it takes a lot less effort to do something creative and helpful than make up excuses not to.

Why not be something else? There seems to be this idea around that aid work, event management and fundraising is only for nannies with nothing else to do, or women who have no families or other commitments. Or worse- girls with ambition but who give them up, or "grow out of it". Well, I'm not planning on being any of those.I love planning events, getting a team together and pull off a great event, I love finding new ways to solve big problems, I love meeting new people, traveling, spending time understanding situation I've never been in, and I love learning new things. It gives me a buzz, it gets me out of the bed in the morning and it makes me excited about the future. 

And since I love this line of work I'm really good at it

But that's the only real difference between me and other people, I love this kind of stuff and some people don't. I have no agenda getting everyone to go down to Africa to build wells or give up half their house for a charity. But I want to encourage a better way of looking at it- what do you have to spare? Some companies have boxes in storage, with t-shirts, school uniforms, books, toys and so on. I have connections to redistribute almost anything. And as a family maybe you have something in the attic to sell on ebay and give that money to a charity you like? Everything helps. 

And if anyone needs advice about charities, what they do, what they are like to work with, or just a good cause to support with guaranteed good results then let me know,I'm sure I can help you out :)

No guilt, no pity, just really good ideas, now thats worth being a fan of

Students and charity gigs

Last year I tried to have a band night to raise money. Not knowing much about sounds systems, bands that would get people to come or how you would tell people about it, I got some help from a few friends in the music community at Lancaster Uni, I figured it was a good start. It went ahead, with a facebook event posted of course and good friends coming to support me.And that was pretty much it. 250 flyers, 100 posters and about 20 people at the actual night. The main mistake was not listening to my gut feeling, I had many ideas of how to get people interested and how to sell tickets the days before, but I figured people who had arranged loads of gigs new better. Don't get me wrong, the help was good when we had to get the bands and figure out the technical stuff, but I learned the hard way that some times you should also go with the ideas you have, even if you are doing something new

Which meant that this year we did things a bit differently. Last year I had no team, this year I have a great one that I got through SIFE (Student In Free Enterprise).Every year the colleges around campus has an end of term party called the Extravs, usually there are themes, drinks, decorations and bands all night. Great fun, many students stay around or come back from home just to attend the best ones. But before you get there some colleges have an event where bands can battle it out for a spot to play at the Extravs- an Extrav Factor. We got in touch with the colleges and arranged with them a deal where we could charge at the door, help with the marketing and get people to the event. They would earn more money through bar sales and find a popular band to have at the Extrav and we could raise some money for our trip, both through the tickets and donation boxes

March 13th we had the first one, in Lonsdale bar, with Heidi Burford, Chris Matthews with band, Lonsdale JCR and Boo Boo Kiddy Fonc playing. As there was a different event on as well that night we didn't do tickets, but had donation boxes at the bar and in the hands of helpful team members and with some of the bar profits we made close to £200, which might not sound like much in the big picture, but with four more gigs lined up and tickets to Tanzania still going for about £400 its half a ticket for a team member to go down in September (Both Chris Matthews and Boo Boo Kiddy Fonc will be playing at the Lonsdale Extrav 2009)

The thing with students is that it can always go both ways. You can get brilliant excited team members ready to do the dirty work to get to the trip and to helping Tanzanians. And you can get people always wanting to do things the easy way, or the fast way or the cheap way, pretty much the less effort the better. I'm sure you get that in any business, but with students there are no threats of being fired or not getting promoted, there is only a shrugging of shoulders and plenty of excuses. I have found it interesting to discover what kind of personalities the ones you can count on seem to have and how you can pick up on those who will give up under stress.I any case I've learned a lot from that, and I'm quite happy about the fact that I seem to have a nudge, a gut feeling if you will, that turns out to be spot on in most cases.

Nothing like a good guess to boost your confidence :)

So, the team pulled together really well, we are ready for the next gigs, and as we are all taking products from Neema Crafts home this easter we are all excited to present our friends and family with elephant dung cards and notebooks, just to see their faces

And I am ready to go network a bit (April 1st) before coming home (April 2nd) to the snow and sunshine in Norway :)

Introduction to the Light Project

Welcome to the Light Project and my blog! This is the first so I will outline the goals and ideas behind my project for everyone to know

I built the Light Project on a few ideas I had in a moment of clearness, at a time in my life I felt like I needed to find some goal to work towards. I'm sure you know the kind, where you ask yourself- what do I want to do? What skills do I have? What do I like doing? What could I make a living from? What do I want to leave behind when I'm done? What do I want to influence?

I'm not one to put down small goals, I go for the big ones, not getting disappointed if I don't get there, but just to make sure I push myself all the way. With my new one I don't think that's going to be a problem- I'm gonna win a Nobel Peace Prize 

On the way I will advertise a way of raising money in the development world that does not include making people feeling guilty. Anyone with a little bit of experience with the recipients of aid will know that pity is not what people struck by poverty needs.It won't help to feel bad, to see the videos of big-eyed children and plastic cups of water. I am NOT at all saying that the work being done by the organizations that use this kind of promotion for their causes is not good. It's great, most of it's very useful and well thought through.I support the work and especially the workers, I just don't agree with the way the money for that work is collected

So the Light Project will not be showing that kind of footage. We will, and are, approaching people differently. For individuals it will be through selling products from Tanzania (the country I chose to support after major research), inviting you along to gigs, art exhibitions, markets, auctions and any other event to raise money in a fun and exciting way. The information about our work will be completely focused on the great solutions out there to battle effects and causes of extreme poverty, like insecticide bed nets to prevent malaria (90% in Tanzania are infected).No dying children or crying parents, you know they exist out there, but honest information about how to help them.If you are interested that is

Now for businesses I have something else to offer, which leads to the career that I am trying to build for myself. I want to help any business, branch or group to do something a bit more exciting than pass around a bucket at Christmas (no offense, its nice, but only patches up your guilt for a little bit). What about everyone bringing something from the attic and having a little auction on a monday night? Or getting a band together from the staff and having a informal gig at the local pub? Or maybe something bigger- like putting products from Tanzania in your shop? Or having a ball? Easter egg hunt? I have a million and one ideas, which means I can tailor any business something they are comfortable with, but that will no matter what create a great work environment and a sense of accomplishment, as well as supporting great causes. Might even do a brand or chain some good to be connected to an ethical cause, we all like that don't we? 

This might seem like a weird way to go for the Nobel Peace. Check out this winner and get back to me:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance

This idea won one, and for good reason. Desperate people do desperate things, conflict erupts far more easily in countries that are all ready struggling. Nothing like death, starvation and illness to fuel the fire of any angry and frustrated person.

If you would like to join me, or just comment, please do.At the moment I have a great team working at the Lancaster University,UK and we are raising money to get four of us down to Tanzania in september, helping Neema Crafts to get their products into the UK market

http://www.neemacrafts.com/

Let me help you to share what you have to spare (Nice and cheesy right)

H.Magdalena