Tag: creating social value - page 5

My Perception of local communities vs. The Reality

By Rene Del Castillo | July 25, 2013

Coming into this experience, I had a picture in my head of a typical rural community. While some of my thoughts were confirmed—subsistence farming, simple eating, mainly isolated living—many were not. I would like to use this blog post to reveal the lack of communication that I found most surprising in the three villages I…

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With electricity comes consumption– Do providers have moral obligation to educate consumer?

By Rene Del Castillo | July 12, 2013

Hey all, One of the biggest demands that I have seen out in the field is for solar energy systems that can power televisions. For someone like me that does not watch a lot of television and can see the negative effects that marketing can have on people– in terms of shaping their needs and…

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The Importance of communication and Proper Planning

By Rene Del Castillo | July 11, 2013

As described in my past entries, I’m currently working on the launch of the Pay-as-you-go pilot. In a nutshell, people from communities will be able to purchase the use of the solar systems installed at their homes for a week, month, or day, (depending on their purchasing capabilities). A local store owner will act as…

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The pilot Experience

By Rene Del Castillo | July 7, 2013

Today, after a five hour car ride from Guatemala City, we just arrived to Coban, Guatemala. The reason we are here is to launch the new Pay as You Go model for the company. In this new Business model, instead of selling solar energy systems to the customers, Quetsol will install the systems in their…

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Kiva Project

By Rene Del Castillo | July 2, 2013

Quetsol, the company I am interning with, is looking to become a non-MFI partner with Kiva. Kiva is a non profit institution that allows individuals to lend money, whether it is to micro finance institutions or for-profit and non-profit organizations around the world that have a social impact. The Kiva program is ideal for lives…

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Living in Mano de Leon

By Rene Del Castillo | June 20, 2013

We went to live with a community off the grid (without electricity) for a few days. It was amazing to see my change in perception of what is substantial in life after living with these people for a short period of time. The families in Mano de Lon, Guatemala (the community we lived in) have…

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Helping Communities Develop

By Rene Del Castillo | June 7, 2013

It has been three days since I arrived to Guatemala. Since the plane ride down all you can see is green. The beautiful landscape is complemented with the nice and welcoming people. I have been spending time in Antigua and than visited the community Mando de Leon, where we are going to stay with its…

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