d.light-ing Schools in Kano

latest - d.light S1

Late October, I had a chance to observe a series of activation events d.light was doing in Kano  in Northern part of Nigeria.  We were focusing a lot on consumer engagement because affordable solar lantern is such a foreign concept, most people either don't know about it or are skeptical.  In Nigeria, especially, there are so many cheap, crappy Chinese LED lights in the market, people are just very wary of another product promising to be the best thing since the sliced bread!  Our latest launch is an ultra-affordable light, it is created to make solar light even more affordable for people at the bottom of the pyramid, and we're focusing on getting these lights to schools so kids can use them to study.  Currently children either don't get a chance to study at night because their ration of kerosene is reserved for "income-producing" tasks OR they study under the dim light of kerosene lantern, which is dangerous, bad for their health (with the fume), and screws up their eyes.  Imagine going through schools only to ruin your eyes and unable to afford a pair of glasses!

d.light much brighter than kerosene lantern

There are also studies that showed introducing solar lanterns increase study time and improves exam passing rates, so we want to focus on reaching students at the critical annual exam time when they need to study the most in order to get to secondary schools and universities, and help them at that tipping point in life.

Kano is an interesting town...also densely populated and lots of trucks are passing by shipping products for exports.  It's one of the cities in Nigeria with the least electrification, and is also one of the poorest place.  When the night falls, everything really stops.  The only one left are the police on their street by the roadblocks (given recent terrorist bombings), and a little bit of street vendors.


I visited 4 schools all together, as expected, the drive there was crazy, but a piece of cake compare to Lagos.

The minute I arrive at the school, I stick out like a sore thumb! All the kids went crazy and were trying to get my attention.  It's funny to see the kids' curiosity, and given the huge distraction I've brought into the classroom, I have to say our marketing team did a pretty good job engaging them and teaching them about solar lanterns.  In Africa, marketing to kids doesn't seem as taboo as it is in the US.  Companies like Unilever does it all the time for various products.  For example, dettol (anti-bacterial soap) and UNICEF has a hand-washing campaign in schools, and Kiwi show shine has a schools program teaching kids about grooming so they could "shine" (like their shoes after polishing with Kiwi products, a bit of a stretch, I know, but it's been successful).  I am just amazed by the simplicity of people here and how easily marketing messages get through to people. In general, people believe what they hear on TV or on the radio!  Compare to the cynicism in the US that I had to deal with as a marketer in the last few years, I just couldn't believe how easy it is! (ok, now I sounds like an evil marketer, but at least I have a good and truthful message to spread)

Here are some photos from the activation, I just adore the kids:

Happy JS3 (~9th grade) kid who just won a free d.light

A glimpse into the teacher's lounge... male and female teachers stay in separate rooms..and the male teachers slacks off definitely much more than the female ones

 

Girl school, these girls are so fun and beautiful!  but definitely overcrowded, each class had over 50 students and many were just sitting on the floor.  Since Kano is in Hausa-land and primarily Muslim, quite a few of these girls are actually already engaged or married by age 13-14

Christian school girls and boys were much less disciplined than the Muslim kids...they were poking me, taking to me, vs. the other schools, they just stare and smile and maybe gesturing to me that they want to get a "snap" (photo)

Other random things from Kano:

Gold market...stall to the right are all real golds...there's a "private" security system in place apparently

God is #1 priority in Hausa-land, and then it's survival, so  sending kids to school aren't people's priority up Northern Nigeria, many of these kids are in markets, on highways, selling water and other things

 

Emir of Kano...he has 40 wives I heard, and when I arrived Kano, our activation team there immediately began plotting to make me his next wife... I wonder how many d.light solar lantern he'll buy in exchange for wedding me...