Easy Solar

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; SIERRA LEONE

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Easy Solar provides pay-as-you-go solar-powered lighting and charging systems to people with no electricity access in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Easy Solar’s vision is to make energy, financial services and life improving products, affordable and accessible for all. They offer a range of products including solar lanterns, home lighting systems, appliances and cookstoves on affordable financing plans. All of their products are of the highest quality and come with a two-year warranty. Easy Solar is a social enterprise, which employs over 500 people to date, selling its products in Sierra Leone and Liberia. In these two West African countries, Easy Solar has installed solar devices in over 50,000 homes, providing access to electricity to more than 450,000 people. The company’s efforts have been recognized by the Schwab Foundation, which awarded Easy Solar the Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019).

Co-Founder Nthabiseng Mosia made the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list in 2019, in the category of “game-changers” in technology. She says, “We started as an energy company but four years later, I now know what we really are, is a people company. Day by day, we are realizing more that our mission of ‘lighting up lives’ goes beyond providing access to energy. At Easy Solar, we care about and seek to make a positive impact with the people in our local communities.”

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 800 customers within the pilot phase

• Create 5 jobs within the pilot phase

• Reach 1,400 customers at the end of year 1

• Create 24 jobs by the end of year 1

• Reach 10,000 customers by the end of year 2

• Create 50 jobs by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

• Nthabiseng Mosia - Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer

• Alexandre Tourre - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

• Eric Silverman - Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer

 

TextDirect

PATIENT IDENTIFICATION CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

TextDirect will introduce an automated system that sends mobile phone text messages reminders to patients. 

Learn more about the Patient Identification Challenge and why identifying individuals in need of treatment suffering from health conditions such as obstetric fistula, cervical cancer, club foot, and cataracts which can be corrected with cost-effective interventions, could save lives. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Low adherence to antimalarial therapy jeopardizes the efficacy of treatment, leading to loss of productivity, higher mortality, and spread of the disease. By creating a mobile phone system through which health workers can register their patients for free reminders, we can scale this technology to clinics around the country. 

The project will operate in Uganda, the country with the third-highest malaria morality rate in the world, and will target patients receiving Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) which the World Health Organization recommends as the most effective treatment for malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although the course of medication is fairly straightforward (typically three to four pills for three days), many patients fail to follow through due to perceived cure after the first dose. Inadequate use of ACT means that patients remain infected, increasing the risk of transmission to others while contributing to the appearance of drug resistant strains. 

Setting up the project will consist of two main phases: establishing the text message system and operationalizing the program. TextDirect will activate a toll-free number, set up a database with two primary tables (health workers and patients), collect contact and medical information of malaria patients, and disseminate short text reminders to patients at the time when they are supposed to take their ACT dosage. Health workers will be incentivized with phone credit to sign up patients.

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Grow from 15 to 45 participating health workers during the 3 months of the pilot 
• Increase the number of patients receiving text massages from 150 to 1,150 during the pilot 
• By year 1, over 84,000 patients will receive text messages and 324 health workers will sign up new patients 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Shashank Iyer - Executive Director 

Nitsan Shakked - Chief Operating Officer 

Anudeep Yegireddi - Chief Technology Officer 

Siago Sanfelice - Chief Financial Officer

Zero Violencia

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; PARAGUAY

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Life skills programming for children. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Statistics on violence in Paraguay are alarming. Studies have shown that 60% of children experience abuse at home, 20% of women are victims of domestic violence, and 70% of victims do not report the issue. Teachers report concerning levels of bullying and physical aggression even at elementary schools and one study has reported that 42% of violent episodes reported were related to sexual violence. These numbers do not capture long-term consequences of violent incidents like post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, depression, or violent behavior. 

Zero Violencia will develop a curriculum designed to foster WHO's 10 essential life skills: problem solving, critical thinking, effective communication, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills, self-awareness building, empathy, and comping with stress and emotions. They will incorporate lessons that have successfully engaged youth in Paraguay in the past. 

Distribution will begin in Coronel Oviedo, a city of 110,000 people that has been ignored by NGOs despite extremely high poverty levels. Their distribution plan includes four steps: build local partnerships, recruit and train facilitators, launch programs, and conduct evaluation. 

 

PILOT and scaling GOALS

• Reach 800+ children during the pilot 

• Reach 1140 children by the end of year 1 

• Reach 2880 children by the end of year 2 

• Reach another 4320 younger children by the end of year 2 through associated tutoring and games for a total of 7200 students. 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Estee Katcoff - Founder and CEO

Maria Martinez - Program Manager 

Genaro Cardozo - Community Organizer

Laura Lopez - Youth Organizer 

Kumwe Logistics

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; RWANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Technologies and services used for logistics services and freight. Kumwe will stimulate the transporter network by building a platform to easily connect the organizations and individuals in need of transport with transporters. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions. 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Freight transportation costs 60% more than in developed countries, which has a crippling effect on economic development. Kumwe is lowering these costs by connecting shippers and truck owners via an online marketplace. By working with Kumwe, shippers gain access to a larger network of price-competitive transporters, and these transporters gain access to more jobs. Kumwe started operation in Rwanda in August 2016 with 23 completed transports in the first month, and is expanding its operations into Uganda in early 2017.

Kumwe will establish a mobile-based freight brokerage system, Kumwe. Instead of searching for trucks through countless channels, you send one request to a freight broker, either through an online portal or directly through a person. You specify the load details - time, pick-up, drop-off, size, cargo type, etc. - and immediately receive quotes from several carriers. You then select one carrier, considering both the price and past service levels which the broker carefully tracks. Any issues with the transporter are reported back to the broker. 

On the back end, the broker is primarily a digital platform. Drivers and their trucks are kept in a database; when a request for transport comes in, it is forwarded via mobile phone to carriers that meet the order needs. Drivers then use their mobile phones to bid on or ignore the request. Once you select a driver, the deal is confirmed and payment held by the broker. Upon completion of the job, drivers are rated by the customer based on metrics like on-time pickup, on-time delivery, cargo damage or shrinkage. After confirming there are no major issues, funds are released to the driver. 

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Register 20 independent truck driers and freight companies

• Establish 1-2 main partners to build volume backbone 

• Offer free trial period to get sticky with user base 

• Register 100 drivers and freight companies by the end of year 1 

• 150+ transactions per day by year 2 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Cyril Khamsi

Chris Creyts

Nora Weisskopf

Charles Dokmo

Emily Gooding

REACH

FLIPPED CLASSROOM CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Flip the classroom intervention, providing schools with low-cost and sustainable learning materials and innovative instruction methods. 

Learn more about the Flipped Classroom Challenge and why new education models, like flipping the classroom or deskilling a class curriculum, offer a solution to the vast teacher shortages in the developing world. 

 

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

1. Provide students with government-approved textbooks with which they learn the lesson materials before coming to class each day. 

2. Train teachers on how to facilitate engaging activities that use low-cost and easily accessible materials in order to further students' understanding of the topics studied at home. These materials are drawn from Bridge International's hands-on primary education tools. 

For the pilot, the team identified Grade 6 as a critical year for intervening in the classroom and maintaining students' interest in school with the potential to significantly improve their learning outcomes and increase primary school completion rates. By focusing on Mathematics, they aim to enable all students to develop the quantitative skills required for them to succeed at Primary Leaving Examinations (Grade 7) and complete primary school. REACH will work in collaboration with education officers and schools in Uganda to create strategic partnerships to expand and strengthen the model. 

Books donated during the implementation will be kept by each school and can be used by new student cohorts the following years. The team will build on the expertise of current teachers - who remain in one school for an average of 10 years - to ensure the quality and continuity of the project. The team will work closely with education officers and Center Coordinating Tutors to help supervise and scale the program. Teachers who have gone through the training and program will be able to join the REACH Fellowship Network. 

 

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Target 30 out of 256 public primary schools in Wakiso, the largest district in Uganda based on population. 
• Benefit 15 teachers 
• Reach between 1,500 and 1,800 students 
• 2017: train an additional 120 teachers 
• 2018: train an additional 300 teachers, reach 56,550 students 

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Clara Bicalho- Operations Manager

David Kafambe- Training and External Relations Manager

Eduardo Campillo - M&E Manager 

Angelina Micha Djaja- Finance and Logistics Manager