I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I joined DelAgua! What an amazing year for us, so much has happened, all good things mind you! We have grown both locally and internationally. We have seen an unprecedented interest from investors and Governments in our innovative approach which differentiates us in our sector. We have also seen the devastating effects of climate change around the world. This makes us more determined to provide our solution to as many communities as possible.
After 10 plus years of persistence in building a financial model that works for rural communities, DelAgua is finally reaping the rewards. We are now able to provide an improved cookstove with integrated education and support, free of charge to over 2 million rural households in Rwanda which will change their lives, and, we hope, change it forever.
This month, we will be celebrating a huge milestone for the Tubeho Neza project: we will be distributing our 1 millionth cookstove. These stoves open up a whole range of possibilities to a rural household and these include better health, education for their children, economic growth and a cleaner and safer environment. We also know that this stove provides the household with the vital transition to clean cooking, allowing them to ascend the ladder of modern, energy efficient cooking.
This year, our team has grown from 29 to 90 people. We have been able to source a stove manufacturer within East Africa which makes our supply chain easier to manage. These stoves are also currently the most efficient stoves worldwide so not only are we supporting the East African region to thrive, but we are also giving our customers (rural communities) the best rocket stove in the world. I could not imagine this when I started at DelAgua. We have grown from providing 100k stoves a year to 500k stoves a year.
However, like all good things, all this growth has come with its own challenges. Tripling the size of the team and getting them job ready was one of those challenges. Another challenge has been the changing weather. In Rwanda now we no longer have set weather cycles as it was in the past, so it rains and shines at any time, making planning the distribution of our stoves difficult to do. But we have persevered and we will be distributing our 1 millionth stove this month!
We could not be more proud. Here’s to more……
“TRANSFORMING LIVES AND NATURE THROUGH ENTERPRISE”
