The Virtual VillagePump is business model that can be copied by any rural community in Africa. It shows how the traditional development approach can be made more effective by re-arranging actions, reshuffling available resources and re-defining the main goals of the initiator of a project.
Our approach increases local commitment, shows alternative routes towards the goal and identifies ways to reduce the need for hard to get external capital if there are insufficient guarantees. # Visit our Demo village, Bunabumali, in Eastern Uganda. The Virtual VillagePump is business model that can be copied by any rural community in Africa. It shows how the traditional development approach can be made more effective by re-arranging actions, reshuffling available resources and re-defining the main goals of the initiator of a project. Our approach increases local commitment, shows alternative routes towards the goal and identifies ways to reduce the need for hard to get external capital if there are insufficient guarantees. More Search # Twitter you can put twitter code here # Flickr you can put flickr code here # About us The Bunabumali Good Samaritan & Needy School project an initiative from Emmanuel Norman Nakhokho who contacted VillageTalk in search for creative solutions to get school items, and other highly necessary equipment into Bunabumali, Mbale Province, Eastern Uganda. Meet the team. # Blogroll
Lighting Malawian homes gives a great example of what can be dione with next to nothing
The components needed to make a solar powered LED light cost about £4. Once assembled, the final product can be sold for up to £7. This is cheaper than in other countries, as materials are cheaper in Malawi.
Thiis might be an interesting solution to provide power to the houses
The Virtual Village Pump Project.
The virtual village Talk pump project is based on hundreds of hours of talking to African students which has led to a unique combination of local experience, grassroots commitment as well as the power and knowledge of a global network of private and corporate sponsors.
Village Talk is building a clever, ultra low cost distribution network that is of benefit of all the organisations that are in the position to solve many of the challenges identified in the Millennium Development Goals, without the huge amounts of cash these goals are based upon, as that cash is either not at hand or buried in complicated plans or stuck in corruption.
During our research we have learned that is next to impossible for Africans living at the bottom of the pyramid to communicate with the organizations that are trying to improve the lives of the people in development countries.
Our program does not count on massive financial support, but builds upon local capacity, redirection of available money into the usage of smarter and cleaner ways of running the daily household which frees up a part of the budget to pay for utilities, owned by the community, clean water and clean energy. Less health risks and a steady, higher average daily income for the community.
Centrepiece of the solution is the Naiade system.
To the people in Africa Naiade is a water container linked to a solar panel and a battery storing energy. As far as water purification is concerned there’s a clever filter solution. The 3 basic components however could be the start of a company in rural areas, provided we find more ways of using the hardware than just purifying contaminated water.
Here’s my vision.
There are many solutions on micro levels, demanding attention from many different organisations. Since all these micro solutions are isolated islands, it’s next to impossible to convince the development industry of their importance. This can only be done by incorporating as many micro solutions as possible to solve a few major challenges.
Each solution provider always focuses on it’s own unique benefits and at the same time each NGO will focus on it’s own cause, leaving the total challenge per community in the middle of a logistical nightmare and a lot of wasted energy due to lack of cooperation of stakeholders.
Folks working for development companies have to follow their corporate vision. Presenting practical solutions will damage their future, so in many cases they will not want to cooperate.
The Virtual Village Pump project addresses this problem by showing people how they can help themselves, and create a better basis for communication with development initiatives and micro finance solution, by building their own micro finance model. That way they no longer have to beg for charity, but offer potential sponsors a business opportunity that will open doors that have been closed for ages.
When I showed the Naide to my friend Norman in Bunabumali, his first response was, I want a solar panel, as that will solve many of the problems of our community (2000 people) We our now developing a business model that incorporates Naides features to be part of the new bakery, the education centre, the school and many other projects.
Until now Naiade was marketed as a water purification system. The Village Talk model links the Naide to rural communities, providing the awareness campaign needed to convince villagers they already hold the power to change their future, without realizing it. By rethinking the options of the installation and adding some essential tools for development Village Talk helps with transition process and eliminate bottlenecks that are not solved by traditional development institutions.
Effectively Naide is a mini power generator capable of:
Once installed in Bunabumali, Uganda, this will have a huge impact and will be instrumental in reaching the goals Norman has set himself in 2001.
The VT model starts with building links with local communities, and creating a network of local people that support the idea. We currently have built connections in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya. Connections range from individuals at village level to University students who have used the internet to build strong private networks of national and international sponsors that are dedicated to help the communities move into the 21st century.
Interestingly very often the names emerge over many networks so effectively we have a very strong, committed group of people from all walks of life and each of them connected to other powerful networks. To get the VT concept up and running we basically requires one powerful message, a clever promotion campaign and a sound business model. From than on the community can take over.
The village pump Ltd.
This business model transforms charity based financing in a business opportunity for rural areas.
According to Norman replacing the 100 kerosene lamps with LED lamps, charged by Naiades Solar panel we can cover 60 %of the monthly lease fee of the Naiade plus additional infrastructure.Mini internet cafe based on PC, plus 4 workstations based on the using Ndiyo concept.
Cooking is now done on firewood, no energy saving stoves available. We are planning to build traditional pizza ovens to create a more energy efficient way of cooking. There are also plans to start a fruit juice company that requires efficient, free energy and increases the need for clean drinking water.
In the default setup Naiade only uses 25 % of the energy output of the solar panel and the car battery. Adding capacity to power the internet centre and LED installation is technically no problem.
The non water related services can be provided as an add on package, since all they need is one simple connection connecting to the solar panel/battery pack. If we add a simple eeepc as standard customer service unit, connected to the latest Nokia mobile phone we have the fundament of an internet cafe, all powered from one simple solar panel, in one self contained unit.
Communities & local contacts.
Bunabumali, Uganda
Masaka, Uganda
Mado Nigeria
Tamale, Ghana
If we set up loosely connected local distribution networks we have enough demand to install 100 Naiades. Since this solves the off grid power issue, we have opened up a BOP market for other partners, more specifically, mobile phone operators and computer service providers. Chances are that by sharing resources amongst regional communities internal trade will increase. To fund the lease fee there are a number of options.
