Project - Specific Updates

Actionnel Fleurisima is very happy to have the enterprise here at OFCB. It employs Charles who in turn supports his wife and child, his brother and his brother’s family. Downstream Actionnel hope to grow the business so that others may be employed. People love the lights. During the initial deployment there was concern that the lights were a fad that people wanted to be like their neighbors. But after three months, during which most people have paid consistently, there is obvious value found in the lights.

Some users have cut the wires in an attempt to power other devices. Other people cut the wires in an attempt to avoid paying Charles for a re-charge. After speaking with Actionnel, I went with Charles and an interpreter to take the lights and batteries back from these people. Some customers were upset that the batteries didn’t do more. We discussed what had upset them and how we could improve the home units for future iterations. Many people wanted the battery to power other devices. I explained that we were working on that aspect. I explained that if they cut the wires or tried to connect the batteries to other devices they could damage both the battery and the other device. I asked Charles to refund their money and we took the lights back.

There were a few people who were in errors for their accounts. We visited four of these people. Two hadn’t paid for all three months, and hadn’t come back for a re-charge. Again with Actionnel’s consul, I asked them start from the visit date forward with the new user fee amount. With a handshake and promise they agreed. Most users wanted to keep the lights and promised to pay for the amount expected starting from my visit date. All in all these people were in the minority. I spoke to Charles and asked that in the future he take a more proactive role in caring for his customers. He agreed that he would try harder to accommodate them.

Bayonnais operations used to charge cell phones for about $.40 each. However, the cost was too little for the amount of effort required from Charles and he decided to stop this practice.

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