So, these past few weeks have been pretty amazing. We’ve been doing a number of demonstrations and setting up agro-dealers, and it’s been really fascinating. On top of everyone’s excitement, there has been really fun stuff, especially with our adventures to Hai.
We ran into CNFA in the field, set up a village meeting for next week with the village chairman, met with the agricultural extension officer of the area, and sold two machines to two dealers! Essentially, we finished our stash!
And then, for microfinance at its best, let me tell you what scheme this man from Njiro set up himself. He walked into the office the other day and gave me 10,000 TZS. I asked, “Are you paying your installment?”, and he said “No. I haven’t gotten my machine yet. I am paying by the week.” This is my second payment. I was truly impressed. Essentially, he was just showing that if he didn’t bring the money, he wouldn’t be able to afford it. But, at a small installment each week, then our machines are extremely affordable.
We’ll be working hard to establish dealers for the weeks to come. Busy as ever, but updates to come each month.
Jodie – Tanzania
On Sunday, we went to the Kilimanjaro Marathon, and the event was enormous! Thousands of people were in the stands, and it was a blast. When we arrived, we were sad to learn that we were in the back of the stadium, but we set up nonetheless. Much to my amazement, people suddenly started flocking to us. It was phenomenal, and before we knew it, two sacks of maize were shelled and 1000 brochures were given out.
It was a great day to say the least, as people asked where we’re located, and we told them, “Arusha”. “But we’re in Moshi. How can we get it?” Or when glowing faces enthusiastically reported “Mashine ni nzuri sana!” [The machine is very good]. One professor said, “Why haven’t you advertised this in Moshi? Let me buy this now because I know the price will go up later.” And he did just that. He bought the machine off of us.
The people there were from all over Tanzania. To give you a feel for the event, check it out below!
Jodie handing out brochures to interested customers
Spectators come over to watch Philemon and Jodie attach the sheller to a bicycle
The view on the ground
Jodie – Tanzania
So, the past few weeks have been all about disseminating our chargers, and it has definitely been an adventure. We are currently in our testing phase, and sharing our technology with the people has been enormously rewarding.
The first sign of success came on Wednesday of last week, when Philemon and Bernard went to Kiserian. As they talked with others, they got excited reactions, and the most exciting aspect is that in the one hour in which they mingled with the locals about our company, one man charged his phone from 0% battery to full charge. Everyone couldn’t help but be impressed.
And then this past Tuesday, Bernard went to Nadosoito to disseminate some chargers for testing, and it was apparently an adventure. Though I didn’t go myself, Bernard and Joe (a close friend from Two-Wheeled Foundation who will be doing the Kampala2Capetown Heritage Tour) had a blast.
I could try to describe it, but I feel pictures speak louder than words.
A charger customer showing off his new purchase
Bernard installing his charger on the wheel of a bicycle
Friends spinning the wheel of a bicycle to charge a mobile phone
And if you want the firsthand account, please go to Joe’s blog. More to come later!
Jodie – Tanzania
My other stop in southern Tanzania was in Iringa. I didn’t have any contacts in Iringa or any idea of what I would find. However, Iringa is a very active town, so I was very excited about setting to work there.
The first day, I stopped in for lunch at a cafe and the owner came up to me and started asking about my work. Andy (the owner) took a great interest in the sheller and started talking about all of his work. He runs a cafe and crafts center where he provides employment for deaf and physically disabled people in the area working on all manner of projects. He also knows lots of stakeholders in nearby villages and works with a lot of NGOs, churches and schools in the area. He was so impressed with what GCS does that he decided to set up a demonstration for us the following day.
The following morning, a small crowd gathered outside the cafe and offered bicycles for the demonstration. Throughout the setup, people were asking lots of questions and seemed very interested in the whole process. Sadly, we couldn’t find any maize (it’s still too early in the season) to run through the machine, but everyone developed a good sense of how it works. The most impressive part was that some of our most enthusiastic participants did not have use of one or both legs and couldn’t ride a bicycle, but they eagerly sat down next to it and pedalled with their hands. One woman (she was the first to arrive at the demonstration and the last to leave) was asking us if we could figure out a way that she could mount it on her hand-pedal wheelchair.
After that, I traveled to Riverside Camp, a small campground just outside of town, and met with the owner. She told me that she has lots of missionaries come for orientation at the campsite before traveling to far-flung regions of Tanzania. She was impressed with the sheller and the business model and invited us to come give a big demonstration when the harvest is closer. She also said she would give us some good word-of-mouth publicity.
It looks like the harvest will be in early June in southern Tanzania, so we will return there closer to that time. We will probably have a lot of work down there, but we are also expecting lots of sales.
–
Daniel | Tanzania
Bernard just got back from India with 100 chargers, and now our
chargers are out for intensive testing. It’s really exciting,
especially as our phone is ringing off the hook for these chargers.
People want to start businesses selling our chargers, interested in
ordering 100 at a time, especially with the challenges faced in the
villages with regards to electricity and water.
To explain a little bit more, in two villages just outside of Arusha,
they have no electricity, but over 70% of the families there own
bicycles and nearly all of them have a phone. Why the bicycle and
the phone? To fulfill their basic needs!
They need the bicycle to go to and from town to sell goods, the
bicycle to carry their daily water from the tap, and then the phone to
save them their unnecessary trips and to keep them in touch with their
family in other parts of the region. The problem is there is still no
access to electricity, at least in an affordable form (many often turn
off their cell phone to save the battery, as they often have to spend
a half day’s income each week to keep their phone with charge). We
can save them from the continuous expense of charging their phone and
allow them to be accessible at all times of day, especially if they
are day labourers, which is often the case.
As for other things, we’ve already set up three CNFA-trained
agro-dealers with our display bicycles, and we’ll soon be reaching out
to set up our micro-entrepreneurs and salesmen. We just await the
season, which will be small as farmers harvest their maize early so
that they may plant in time for the major rainy season. It’s
definitely going to be a challenge, as this small season is also
filled with large expenses….school fees and then seed for the major
harvest.
Stay posted to on how things go this weekend, as GCS will be setting
up a tent at the Kilimanjaro Marathon, where over 4000 people will be
in attendance. We’re excited, for sure.
–
Jodie | Tanzania
