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Pollinate Energy Fellowship
Simon Liley
Pollinate Energy Fellowship
Story
Pollinate Energy is a small Australian/Indian social enterprise making a big difference to eleviate energy poverty in Bangalore, India. They train and support local entrepreneurs to supply small solar cell/battery/lamp units to the predominately migrant worker populations living in slums around the city. These units are manufactured locally and ethically in Bangalore by disabled women, and are sold at the same price as the fuel currently used for lighting.
Around 300 million people in India live without electricity, this lack impacts heavily on health and opportunity, as people are forced to use kerosene lamps for lighting. The UN estimates that 800,000 children die each year from inhaling kerosene fumes indoors. Additionally, the poor light produced by these lamps restricts opportunities to study and run businesses into the night. This, along with the high fire risk posed by the open flame lamps, make them a terrible choice.
I have been selected as one of ten Australian Pollinate Energy Fellows for July 2013. In that capacity I will be going to India in July to help train and support new local 'Pollinators'. A component of the fellowship is fundraising. The money raised in this campaign will go directly to cover the start up costs of a local entrepreneur, while also supporting Pollinate Energy's operational costs as it grows and expands its impact on the ground in India.
If you would like more information on Pollinate Energy, please visit: http://pollinateenergy.org/
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Pollinate Energy Ltd
On July 31st 2012 India experienced the world’s largest blackout. 600 million people were plunged into darkness. But what wasn’t reported is that every night in India there are 292 million people still in the dark.
Why is it that mobile phones are no longer a luxury in India, but electricity is?
Pollinate Energy is a non-for-profit startup co-founded by 5 Australians, designed to develop the next generation of leaders and social entrepreneurs while bringing renewable energy to people living in poverty. We work on India with a focus on urban slums – homeless families who live in poverty, in tents. There are 20,000 of these people in our base of Bangalore alone.
These families don’t have electricity – so their kids can’t study at night, and they can’t work, store food, or access information.
What these families do have however, en masse, is drive and determination.
Pollinate Energy taps into this entrepreneurial spirit, using locally manufactured solar systems to provide light to families living in poverty. These renewable systems are designed to cost no more than what these families spend on energy at the moment. We train local entrepreneurs – teaching them how to sell, finance, install and maintain systems.
What these local entrepreneurs need is help to set up these businesses. They need capital, training and most importantly, moral support.
Through a student Fellowship program, Pollinate Energy will help to provide this support, while training the next generation of social entrepreneurs
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