April Update: Busy Times!

It’s been a while since my loquacious expressions (some may call it pontification, I prefer to think of it as enthusiasm) have graced the pages of this blog…not that I haven’t been talking myself blue in the face about SunPower Afrique, Togo and solar to anyone who will listen over the past few months.

I’d like to take a few moments to send out a quick update and document SunPower Afrique’s, and my, recent progress. As usual, there is never enough room in cyberspace...

Most of my time these days is spent working in the exhilarating, frustrating and fast-moving PA solar industry. SunPower Builders has grown exponentially over the past year and we expect to see that trend continue. We have hired new installers and office staff, and are well poised for the solar boom…if it ever arrives in full force…The solar industry in PA struggles, and has historically struggled, by being a policy-driven one. If legislature exists that subsidizes solar, bringing down the cost for the average consumer, the solar industry flourishes (à la Jimmy Carter) – when these subsidies, such as tax credits and rebates, are removed (à la Ronald Reagan), the industry screeches to a halt. We are thankfully returning to the former’s policies, thanks in great part to the new administration (as well as rising energy costs and decreasing costs of solar modules.)

I and SunPower Builders have been featured twice in the past week in the Philadelphia Inquirer, highlighting our efforts to push legislation through the bureaucracy of Harrisburg so that we can start installing systems and creating green jobs! An enthusiastic reporter has given great recent attention to our industry and the issues that it faces, which has been quite exciting. My work as Secretary of MSEIA (Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association) has also kept me right at the center of policy development and advocacy for solar in PA, which I surprisingly enjoy, considering the fact that I left the UN thinking I would never touch anything with the word “policy” in it again with a 10 foot pole. If you are interested, you can find more information about this work on SunPower Builders’ blog I post information on PA solar policy and SunPower’s place in it. The link is: http://www.sunpowerbuilders.blogspot.com/

In my “free time” I continue to live and breathe SunPower Afrique…I take every opportunity to speak about the organization and its goals, and get its name out there to whomever will listen. I recently gave a talk at the Free Library in Philadelphia which was quite well attended and gave me the opportunity to stand in front of a room full of people, most of whom were NOT familiar with my project, and explain my passion for it as well as make it accessible. I also gave a presentation a few Saturday's ago at an event called "Girls Exploring Tomorrow's Technology", where I talked about my project to groups of high school girls, parents and teachers - I now have a 16-year-old who wants to intern with me this summer! I have also joined the Rotary Club of Collegeville (yes, really and no, I am not a 74 year old man) where I hope to garner support for my project through Rotary International and other fundraising mechanisms. Any chance I get, I put a small article in a local newsletter or other PR/outreach network, hoping that the right person will pick it up…

…and give me $100 thousand dollars :)

No really, the fundraising is ongoing! We ARE raising money, little by little, un peu et un peu as my Togolese counterparts would say, and that’s the way it should be. I am re-learning the value of patience, which I seem to have forgotten quite quickly now that both feet are firmly back on US soil.

Our tanking economy and new tax policies (under which charitable donations by the extremely wealthy actually get less of a deduction than they used to…I love you Obama but you are killing me…) are making fundraising quite challenging but I remain optimistic! In light of the circumstances, I understand that I will have to search outside the easiest fundraising channels and focus on grant-writing and other, more burdensome initiatives such as investment solicitations and the like. All of which I see truly as a blessing in disguise, as it is forcing me to write and re-write business, strategic and operational plans, re-think the sustainability of my financial model and otherwise perpetually improve upon why I believe people should donate money to SunPower Afrique. All of which is quite useful.

However, I miss Togo…it has been far too long since my nose has been filled with scent of burning plastic, my mouth and tummy full of fufu and grain alcohol, and I am even starting to long for the squads of yovo-shrieking tots.

While I do not anticipate raising the full budget for the pilot project by this summer, I will to return to Togo in July or August, to see Inno, cultivate my network on the ground and maintain my motivation and optimism. If one spends too long away, one loses sight of what is real and what we are truly working towards.

Thanks to all who have supported me thus far, please keep it coming! Please also be in touch if you have any ideas for me in regard to fundraising, business development or otherwise. You know I’ll be happy to chat with you :)

Until then –
K

PS - A quick shout out to my dear friend and mentor Rhoda, who always always read to the bottom on this blog. I will miss you and your brilliant, insightful commentary.

The New SunPower Afrique.org!

I am so pleased and proud to announce the launch of the brand new, improved and quite magnificent (if I do say so myself...) www.sunpowerafrique.org !

The site features all new text and content, is much more user friendly and accesible and, importantly, hosts a unique and effective contribution page.

The "Gallery" section includes photo galleries from my time spent in Togo, highlighting our Togolese partners and friends, as well as photos of the microfinance clients who will benefit from SunPower Afrique's programs. The site also includes a link to this blog, which I will continue to update frequently.

A heartfelt thank you to the hugely talented and motivated Peg and Mather at Web-Wis-Dom, who went above and beyond our initial scope of work to create this fantastic website.

In other news, I am applying for a Volunteer Service Grant through Rotary International, to return to Togo this summer to continue SunPower Afrique's project planning.

Merci et a bientot!

K

The 501(c)(3) Saga Draws to a Close...

Today SunPower Afrique filed its 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status Application with the IRS! With 501(c)(3) status, all donations made to SunPower Afrique will be tax-exempt.

This is a very exciting day, and my lawyers have informed me that we should hear from the IRS within a few months. We have worked long and hard on this application and are confident that we will get a favorable determination.

HOWEVER, all donations made to the organization at this time are tax-deductible since we submitted the application within 27 months of the date of incorporation (as long as we submit it within 27 months and the organization is eventually granted 501(c)(3) status, regardless of how long it takes for that to come through, deductibility is retroactive to the date of incorporation.)

In other developments, I have created a Facebook page for SunPower Afrique and, as soon as we are granted our 501(c)(3) status, we can start raising money on the Facebook! This is a great opportunity for both fundraising and networking.

You can find it here:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1397320930&ref=name#/pages/SunPower-Afrique/52677941699?ref=ts

You should all go and become fans!

I am also working with web designers on revamping the SunPower Afrique website and should have the new and improved site up within a month or so.

Stay tuned...

For once I'll let the pictures tell a thousand words...

12 Dec - Myeadogo

I leave for Lomé tomorrow morning. I have 2 final meetings scheduled in the afternoon and Inno will meet me in the evening at his frère's house. My flight is Saturday (of course at 4AM, as the rest of the world does not consider Togo when planning international airline plans and there is always one flight per day at some ung-dly hour)

It's as if I closed my eyes, opened them to a riot of color, smiles, pagnes and palms, and then, upon blinking a second time, a month has gone by...

I now live simultaneously in two distinct and comprehensive worlds, separated not only by an ocean but by many immeasurable miles of cultural complexity. One day I will understand the reconciliation of the two, but for now, I will just revel in the beauty of both places and the people that live in each one, and try to imagine how lucky I am to have the chance to inhabit both.

It is not easy.

Stay tuned for the next season of the Yovo Show, when SunPower Afrique moves from inspiration, research and planning, to realisation and execution.

6 Dec – December Rain

6 Dec – December Rain

The other night, Inno turns to me and says, I have been thinking about something since early this afternoon and I want to talk to you about it. I immediately started racking my brain for my most recent social blunder, or waiting to hear about his second wife and child waiting for him in the North…he must have seen the confusion in my face because he said, no no don’t worry, ce n’est pas mal.

“Have you ever heard of African mysticism?”

I think before responding, a bit surprised that he is bringing this up…yes, I say, I have heard of it, but I have never seen it with my own eyes. Adding a tone of skepticism to my voice I say, do you believe in that stuff? He nods his head from side to side, not saying yes, but not saying no.

“Kira,” he says, “This is Africa. Mysticism is not something to believe in or not believe in. You may not be able to understand this, but I am going to try to tell you anyway…that here, in Africa, it is real.”

Several people have spoken to me about mystics, sorcerers and superstitions during my time spent in Togo. So and so’s brother in law was narcissistic ever since he got that new job, that’s why he died in his sleep one night…so and so’s mother? Oh she was so vain and self-absorbed after winning the lottery, that’s why she was in that accident and died. In all instances, the mysterious deaths are tied to an individual’s success, achievement or improved status in life, and their behavior as a result of the experience.

I have always taken these stories with a grain of salt, knowing that, from my suburban American education and approach towards problem solving, that there is a scientific or rational explanation for nearly everything. However, it is here that I have learned the significance of nearly everything. As our conversation goes on, I learn that it is this element of mysticism, the relationship of cause and effect between one’s behavior, others’ intentions, and good and evil, that Innocent is most interested in speaking to me about.

Benin, less than 100km away, is the voodoo center of West Africa, if not all of Africa. Although I have never been there, an almost fearful reverence for the power of Beninoise voodoo has permeated my perception of the country. Every Beninoise I have met has made some mention of fortune, chance and spirituality, and, while it less prevalent here in Togo, it is a sharp reality for many.

Innocent says, Kira, you know me, I would not place my fortune in the hands of a sage, but have you ever noticed that the reason that Africa doesn’t evolve like the rest of the world is because people are always jealous of each other? No one can be happy for one another when they are better off than their neighbor. Instead, evil brews, and no one advances. (Sidenote: I asked him then, where does economic development and corrupt governance fit it? What about those explanations for poverty and lack of progress? Je ne te refuse pas, he said, those are also justifications for Africa’s problems, but trust me, they are only part of the game.)

Mensah and Akpene have both mentioned this underlying element of jealousy in African society to me as well, from the very beginning – cautioning me to be wary of any trinkets anyone might give me, open drinks or food whose source is unknown. Mensah says they could sabotage my project with some kind of herbal potion in my beverage – I will no longer be able to think clearly about my ideas and SunPower Afrique will fall apart. Akpene says that they could convince me to unknowingly carry around an evil talisman, and when I arrive back in the US, I will forget all about Innocent and how I feel about him. “You can be sitting together, laughing and chatting,” Mensah says, “With your closest friends…but no one is happy. Everyone is hiding something. Everyone is jealous, resentful and plotting. You must always be careful.”

Now –

a) I find this very hard to believe about my dear friends here in Kpalimé, and I think that there is both a level of exaggeration and also a difference between coveting thy Togolese neighbor and coveting thy yovo.

b) One would think that this is quite a precarious environment for someone like me, with a relentless case of verbal diarrhea and lack of self-consciousness. But I have learned quickly and, while maintaining my personality of sincerity and trustfulness, I have indeed changed my level of openness with others about my private life. In many ways I am still as naïve as I used to be, some things about me will never change and I actually grateful for that, but I know now how to be just as observant and direct in my interactions, yet protective. I am not in Kansas anymore.

I ask Innocent how he knows that mysticism is real. He says, “Do you know why I am still here in Togo?” I shake me head and he continues, “If my father was still alive, I would have gone to university in Europe. I would never have met you.”

“My father was a member of the National Assembly. He was moving up in the world. And someone didn’t like it. My father was killed by an evil spirit.” I try not to roll my eyes and ask him how his father died. He tells me that he had an accident – he was walking in the sand by the side of the road, fell down and died. With a raised eyebrow, I ask him how he knows that this was a spell of malice that killed him…Inno insists that there were no rocks, no branches, no weapons in sight – he fell, seemingly out of nowhere, in the middle of a pile of sand, and died. I ask Innocent if he saw it happen and he says no, no one did. I tell him then, Inno, your father must have had a seizure, an aneurism, must have fallen in a position that caused his spine to contort just so, that it killed him. “No,” he refuses, “You will say that and you will think that, but it is not true. You don’t understand.” I will tell you another story, he says.

A frère, in Lomé, married a European woman. He lived with her in Europe and once, came back to Togo with a new car. He drove all around the city, showing off his fancy automobile, swanky clothing and shiny watches, disrespecting his friends and neighbors. That night, he was driving home and went to cross the railroad tracks when his car suddenly stalled. The frère couldn’t re-start the car and when he tried to get out, the doors were all jammed in the locked position. He also couldn’t break open the windows. The train hit his car and the frère died. Final Destination anyone?

I tried for about 10 minutes to explain to him that this was impossible. Perhaps there was an electrical malfunction with the doors’ locks, perhaps he committed suicide. There are several gaps in this story – a) Inno did not see it happen. He claims that he saw the smashed car the next day. b) By the time Innocent would have been old enough to understand or witness such an event, the train system in Togo was gaté.

I don’t buy it. Inno and I argued for a few minutes about the implausibility of his story and in the end, agreed to disagree.

But…

I wonder if the chill I sometimes feel, looking deep into the tall reeds and baobabs of the plains between Aventonou and Kpalimé, is simply some romanticized perception of shadows in the darkness of the African night or if truly, there is a third level of existence – one of ancient spirits and whispered history, bearing both powerful malevolence and incomprehensible compassion – that radiates out of Africa.

Is this third level of existence somehow related to Africans’ intense sensibility of the patterns of the natural world? There is a heightened level of consciousness of weather, seasons and temperature. As if there is a spirit or overlying energy governing us all and the world around us – untouchable and uncontrollable by humans, yet as reliable as the sun rising every day. These are the things one can depend on, because the essence of this force will always exist and will always ensure our existence. There is no room for scientific, biological, yovo explanations for cold fronts, global warming or fluctuating jet streams…

Everyone I know in Togo in a tizzy right now because it is December and it has rained 3 days in a row – Athanase said to me yesterday, staring out at the sky, perplexed, “Il ne pleut pas en decembre. En Decembre c’est l’Harmattan.” It is as simple as that – in December it does not rain. It is the Harmattan Winds. Period.

So I believe, on one hand, that there is a heightened sense of spirituality and general experience here in Africa. I do. I love it here because there is something about this place that does not exist in the states – whether it is the simplicity and openness of the people here, the optimism and resilience that permeates the meaning of life, the complexity of a third level of spiritual existence, or a combination of all of the above, I am still not sure. But it is here, and you can’t find it elsewhere. And you can’t find it here after one week, not even after 3 months…I didn’t truly sense it until this trip, and I won’t claim to fully understand it. No one really does – part of its magnetism and strength is its impalpability…

However, I am still a yovo, I am still Kira Costanza, and although I have been strangely convinced to keep my life as private as possible to prevent someone from slotting any evil intentions towards Innocent (why I somehow believe that is possible I could not tell you,) I still have not heard a story, from anyone, that I truly believe to be the result of mysticism.

Evil spells do not exist, and accidents do happen, even in Africa.

SunPower Afrique Update - Synopsis

For all of you that are indeed interested in the evolution of SunPower Afrique but don't have the time to read my rambling blogs (I understand entirely), I hope that this will be of interest to you...

SunPower Afrique is moving forward fantastically in Togo. I have been doing lots of research on materials and our workforce, and have found our team of technicians that will be trained during the pilot installation. They are a great bunch - young, motivated and forward-thinking. I have met community organizers, entrepreneurs and individuals who are interested in being involved and am developing a widespread network on the ground. All the while, I am learning how to keep my cards close to my chest and being very careful not to get taken advantage of - this is a very complex and difficult task and I learn much every day.

I have met with the head of the National Microfinance Committee and the country's renewable energy experts, who have all expressed high levels of support for the project and shared important advice, political and technical, with me. Things are all falling into place...

I have been working out the details of the 'Solar Loan,' which will be offered by FECECAV (and eventually other MFIs) after their solar installation is complete. For me, this is one of the most exciting parts of the project because it truly means the expansion of the use and knowledge of solar in Togo.

I have also been preparing my application to do business in Togo, with the help of my FECECAV colleagues, which we will submit next week tothe Minister of the Interior.

Everyone anxiously awaits the pilot installation and, for those who haven't already, the arrival of Mister Jon, who has become somewhat of a hero in Kpalime and beyond, in the spring of 2009.

I see more and more every day the impact this project is going to have on this country and I continue to fall more and more in love with Togo...

I look forward to sharing more when I return mid-December. Please be in touch and thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your interest and support.

All my best,
Kira