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First Person
USAID program provides
solar lighting and helps
improve the lives of a
business owner and his
community
Powering a Small Business
Photo: IRG Ltd.
Be Honest Fishery proprietor, David
Gbanwulue in Sinoe County
“The lights help all my
neighbors. People come
to read, to do their hair, to
charge their phones. It’s
very black out here at night
and the light frightens away
criminals,” said fishery
proprietor David Gbanwulue
of his solar lighting system
provided by USAID.
Be Honest Fishery lies in a tiny hamlet just outside coastal
Greenville in Sinoe County where proprietor David Gbanwulue says
he wants to attract customers with the name of his business, his
personal motto.
The modernity of the solar street lamp and panels visible on the roof
that generate light for his workshop and adjoining living space are a
vivid contrast to the traditional village setting of the community.
Gbanwulue received a solar-powered system and a solar lantern
along with other business development support from USAID in
exchange for training a group of apprentices.
The availability of light generated by the solar-powered system
allows him to operate longer hours from before dawn to after dark,
to prepare the nets, carry his engine and equipment to his skiff, and
to distribute the fresh fish to dryers and sellers who don’t have to
wait for daylight to commute safely.
The solar lantern allows Gbanwulue to retrieve fish caught in the net
and to fi sh at night adding variety to the types of fish he supplies.
As a result of his expanded business hours and more expansive
fishing practices, Gbanwulue, who used to plead with schools to
pay fees in installments for his 8 children, now employs 5 assistants
and several market women full time. His assistants help him fish
and the market women dry and sell the fish. Dried fish, because it
lasts longer without spoiling, is also sold to customers from towns
further inland.
Gbanwulue has expanded his living space and his younger
children who used to walk 30 minutes to school now go by bicycle.
Gbanwulue dreams of expanding his solar–powered system to be
able to make ice to take on the boat to preserve catches, stay out
longer, and save on engine fuel. For now, he is content with the
benefi ts the lights have brought to himself and his community.
“The lights help all my neighbors. People come to read, to do their
hair, to charge their phones. It’s very black out here at night and the
light frightens away criminals,” Gbanwulue said.
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