Kopernik

This Month's Stories

Lighting Up Rural Philippines!

GIYF-FFS staff introducing d.light products to a rural Filipino household

Kopernik is expanding its reach to remote areas in the Philippines! This month, in partnership with Gelacio I. Yason Foundation Family Farm School (GIYF-FFS), we are getting ready to distribute 144 units of d.light S250 and 260 units of d.light S10 to households in rural Oriental Mindoro. To help support this operation, we have recruited and sent a talented Fellow, Emily McQualter, to monitor the implementation of the project as well as to conduct an impact assessment of the technologies. She has written her first blog post from the field here. For the next four months, we will keep receiving updates from Emily so tune in regularly to our blog to follow the progress of this project!

Where in the World are Our Co-Founders?

Ewa and Toshi will be busy making appearances in various events across the globe in the next two weeks. Here’s a list of the places they will be, and we hope that you will be able to catch them if they happen to be in your city:

• April 20, Boston, USA – Ewa will be presenting at MIT’s International Development Initiative
• April 25 - 29, Wales, UK – Toshi is a speaker at The Do Lectures Spring 2012 
• May 1, Paris, FR – Toshi will challenge MakeSense social business innovators to come up with solutions for communities in the last mile in this workshop

Tech of the Month: d.light S10

The d.light S10 is a bright, high-quality solar LED lantern and a durable replacement for kerosene lanterns. It provides even space lighting for the home, workplace, or on the go, for up to 8 hours on a full battery. With an integrated solar panel and multiple-setting handle, the d.light S10 is extremely flexible and convenient to use. Though it does not have the mobile phone charging capability like other d.light products, at only about 10 USD per unit, the S10 is as cost-effective as it gets. 

d.light S10 lighting up a temporary shelter during the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake in 2011

Through Kopernik’s work, people in Timor-Leste, India, China and Japan have used the S10 lights as their household’s main lighting source, as light for necessary travel by foot or bicycle at night, or in times of emergency. In all the communities where Kopernik has distributed the S10, the lights received highly positive user feedback on the reportssubmitted by our local partners. This gives us confidence to distribute even more of them to other places in need. 

If you’d like to learn more about d.light design, the new Inventor Story on our website about Sam Goldman and Ned Tozun, the co-founders behind this social enterprise, is a good place to start. 

More Products, More Proposals, More Potential!

Just some of the new products we’ve added to our catalog of technologies for the developing world   

When was the last time you checked out our proposals on the website? There are currently 19 projects in 10 different countries that need funding, four of which were recently added in the last month. With your contribution, we will be able to support young Kenyan girls to run their own micro-franchising business of d.light solar lights, equip Nigerian survivors of trafficking cases with fuel-efficient and health-improving biomass stoves, bring clean and bright lights to 12 unelectrified riverside villages in Northern Bangladesh, and more. So we hope you will join our cause and get others on board! 

In the past, we’ve had supporters organize parties and events to fundraise and promote Kopernik. If you are interested in doing the same in your city, click here for more info. If you have other ideas for spreading the word about our projects, or simply want to share your thoughts with us, we’d love to hear from you!  

What They're Saying About the Water Filter

We have been accumulating feedback (and they're very positive) about the Nazava water filters that are being distributed in multiple locations in Indonesia. Here are a couple:

Ibu Iriyanti, Ibu Sudawati, and Ibu Rukinah with a new Nazava water filter 

★★★★★ 

Very economical. I used to boil water all the time but now I no longer need to. Drinking clean water has never been easier. I have one at home and one at the food kiosk I run with some friends at a high school. 

Ibu Rukinah from Batu Kumbung village in Lombok Island 

★★★★★ 

Compared to the namebrand gallon bottled water, which costs 11,000 IDR every time you exchange with an empty bottle, this is much more economical. Imagine, you go through one gallon per week – that’s nearly 50,000 IDR per month, not including the transportation cost of getting it from a store. With Nazava, now I can just take tap water from my house and save a lot of money.

Ibu Sudawati from Batu Kumbung village in Lombok Island

You can read other responses from users in Lombok as well as in Bojonegoro here. We are absolutely thrilled at these responses and can relate with these users; our office kitchen has recently acquired an XL-sized Nazava water filter, and we all love it! 

For Your Information

Join us

A Kopernik fellowship provides a unique opportunity for entrepreneurial individuals of the highest caliber and potential to work with our partner NGOs and assist with the implementation and monitoring of projects disseminating appropriate technology. We are currently seeking fellows for Kenya, Timor-Leste, and Indonesia to assist with projects distributing the Q Drum, water purifiers, and solar lights. We are also looking for a Video Production Fellow for Indonesia to capture the stories of our local partners and technology end-users there.

Please contact us at kopernik@kopernik.info for more information.

Stay connected

Join us on Facebook and share our news with your friends. 

Follow us on Twitter @thekopernikto stay updated on our whereabouts.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for videos from the field.

Read more about the reach and impact of our projects on our blog Kopernik in Action.

Stay abreast with advancements in the fields of appropriate technology and international development, one article synopsis at a time, with K-lab Weekly.

The Tipping Point Campaign

Sign up to give a small gift each month and we'll put it towards the project closest to completion. By joining our Tipping Point Campaign and donating $25 each month, you can make sure projects are fully funded and out the door quickly--the easiest and most effective way to improve lives through technology.

This month your donation will support the distribution of Give Safe, Drinking Water to Rural Nigerians.

Requests for technologies featured on the newsletter

$30 will enable us to support a household with one unit of d.light S250 in the following projects:

• Make Rural Uganda Shine!
• Light Up Homes and Schools in Cote D'voire
• Protect the Cross River Gorilla from Extinction

$10 will enable us to support a household with one unit of d.light S10 in the following projects:

• Switch on a Brighter Future for Burkina Faso's School Children
• Reduce Poverty Among Papua's Indigenous Communities

$14 will enable us to support a household with one unit of Nazava water filter in the following project:

• Drinks are on me!