Ever since I was a young girl, I wanted to travel all over the world. I wanted to explore the fashion in France, I wanted to see the rivers in Venice, I wanted to go to Africa, and I especially wanted to explore Greece. I always played pretend and imagined I was in all of these different places. I not only wanted to visit these places, but I also wanted a chance to change the world. These dreams I had as a little girl finally started to become a reality yesterday evening when I read an email that almost made me cry.
About two weeks ago I was asked to listen to a conference call about Saha Global. The professor that I work for at my college wanted me to listen to the conference call and learn some things about the organization to see if it would be something that students should get involved in. I started the conference call hoping that I wouldn’t fall asleep during it and just aimlessly wrote down notes, but as the call continued I found myself becoming excited about the next thing the presenter would say. These are just a few things I learned about Saha Global and what they do.
Saha Global is a non-profit organization that works in the Northern Region of Ghana to help provide fresh water and solar power to the people in this area. The organization works with the women in these areas to help them start a business out of the solar power or water purification. They look for hardworking, energetic people to be the field representatives. These are the individuals who go and provide services and advice to get the businesses up and running.
The reason the fresh water business is so important is because only 40 percent of people in this area have access to clean water. The effect of this lack of clean water is that many people contract water-borne diseases. In fact, water-borne diseases are the leading cause of death in kids under the age of five in Ghana. In terms of solar power, most households spend 40 percent of their income to buy kerosene to get lighting in their homes. But, kerosene emits a substance called black carbon, which is detrimental to the environment and is quite expensive. Many of these homes have old flip-phones, which they use to communicate, but many times they have to walk for a few hours when the phones needed to be charged again.
Since 2008, Saha Global has empowered 234 women entrepreneurs who have launched 93 clean water businesses and 26 solar electricity businesses. All of these businesses are still up and running, which is quite an accomplishment. Their 93 water businesses provide access to clean drinking water to 46,520 people, and the 26 solar businesses give electricity to 9,910 people.
Saha Global offers these three-week programs twice a year -- once in December to January and the other in May. The field representatives partner with a community and work to build a water business or solar power business. A team of four representatives along with their translator will train for four days, then meet the community they will be working in, present a business plan, and put it to work. Since Saha Global is a non-profit organization, it costs the field representatives almost $3,000 to provide for the food, emergency insurance, finances for the business venture and other associated costs.
At the end of this presentation, I went straight to their website to learn more about how to apply. Something about the presentation made me feel compelled to apply. I wanted to be one of the field representatives who got to change the lives of the people in this community. As a marketing major, I would also be able to gain valuable experience in business start-ups and communication with the consumers.
I submitted my application a few days later, and a few days after that I was asked for a phone interview. I was so excited for that interview and it was so nice to hear someone else talk about their experiences and ask me why I had applied. It was a laid back interview and it was not intimidating whatsoever, although I love interviewing so my opinion may be biased.
They told me at the end of the interview that I would find out sometime next week. So I started waiting patiently. Well, maybe not so patiently… but it turns out that I wouldn’t have to wait for too long because last night, I found out that I was chosen to be a field representative for a water program in Ghana for their winter program.
I get to work for a non-profit organization in Northern Ghana over my Christmas break, and I couldn’t be more excited. I also will be spending my birthday and the New Year in a different country and that makes me so happy. This trip is going to test me in ways that I can’t even begin to imagine, and I am even excited for how hard it is going to be.
My first obstacle will be fundraising enough money to go on this trip. I have about two months to do so, but somehow and some way it will happen. I want to raise awareness about this organization so that more people can donate to field representatives and that more people will apply for this program.
While I may not be changing the world during this trip, I’ll get the chance to change the world of the people in this area by assisting them in providing fresh drinking water. One thing the presenter said was that “we believe that young leaders already have the skills required to change the world. All they need is an opportunity to use them.” I am so glad that I have been given a chance to use my skills and to change the world for some of these people. I also cannot wait to see how the people from Saha Global, my teammates and the people in Ghana will change my world.
