Support solar lights

With the help of her employer Susanne Ewenstein, Ndebele has developed her entrepreneurial skills.

Her employer, Ewenstein is a volunteer for a Berlin-based social enterprise called Little Sun, which distributes solar lights all over the world with the dual aim of providing solar-powered lights to the millions across the globe who do not have access to electricity, and to create empowerment through entrepreneurship.

The Little Sun solar lights run entirely on solar energy. When the panel is charged for five hours, the device can produce up to four hours of bright light or ten hours of dim light.

Ewenstein co-ordinates an informal group of domestic workers in and around the Parkview area, offering them the chance to be micro-entrepreneurs through this initiative.

Emphasising that, due to the aim of the social enterprise, the solar lights are sold at two different price streams.

“For more affluent areas, the lights are sold for about R220 to R260, but when they are sold to lower-income buyers or in off-grid areas they are priced at R130,” said Ewenstein.

Ndebele has sold up to 300 lights, “I try sell them to as many people [as possible]. I tell them if you keep buying paraffin candles it will be very expensive, but if you buy one solar light you can use it for up to three years at that price”, she said.

Noting that many people who buy from her send their lights home to the rural areas, having paid for her driver’s license with the extra money earned, Ndebele wants to encourage other people to take on selling these lights for themselves.

Little Sun lights are currently on sale via consignment at Croft & Co. on Tyrone Avenue in Parkview. Owner Grant Ravenscroft states that the product is also apt for affluent areas considering the recent power outages.

Ndebele and Ewenstien will also be hosting a stall at the Parkview Christmas Market, which takes place on 28 to 30 November at George Hay Park.

Details: www.littlesun.com