Solar power - sunshine is free

It was with great relief I spoke to Sean Conway today. Sean is attempting to break the record for cycling round the world and raise £100,000 for our work in Zambia.

As you may of read on his social media feed he was hit by a truck on his USA leg of his epic journey a few days ago. He is currently in Arkansas.

Sean is in good hands and is being looked after by some extraordinary American hospitality.

However the bike is a write off.

Sean is clearly made of stronger stuff.

When I called him he was inspecting the remainder of his bike to see what parts he can rescue – in particular the valuable hub or gear system.

Thankfully Sean is not in any pain. He initially thought he might have a compression fracture in his spine but he thinks this is possibly an old injury. He does however have some torn leg tendons.

But that isn’t stopping him. He is determined to get back on a bike and carry on.

If you follow Sean on Facebook or Twitter you will see he has been offered all sorts of help to get him back on the road. In Sean’s words everyone has been “super supportive”.

Sean is speaking to Guinness to find out whether he can continue his attempt. The rules say he can stop the clock when he comes across an “impassable barrier”. A truck sounds like a pretty impassable barrier to me. Before the crash Sean was level pegging with race leaders.  

Here at SolarAid we admire Sean because he, like SolarAid, has set himself a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG). Ours is to banish the kerosene lamp from Africa by the end of the decade. Sean’s BHAG is to break the world record for cycling round the world (in about 100 days). We won’t forget the lesson - despite what happens - don’t give up.

Sean has raised over ten thousand pounds so far to help provide solar light for schools and families in Africa – to send a message of support and donate go to http://www.justgiving.com/bike12 

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Regional Finals of the Hult Global Case Challenge in Boston. It was an extraordinary experience. The concept is simple : three social causes, pitch their biggest challenges and business students from all over the world pitch their solutions - with a purse of $1 million to make it happen. 

SolarAid was one of those chosen. So my role was to take part as a judge ( X-Factor style).

As well as big picture solutions the presentations were packed with gems of ideas  ranging from: new look business cards for our social enterprise, SunnyMoney, a radio advert in Africa, and a fantastic word of mouth marketing campaign to name a few.

So much energy went into the thinking by each team. No doubt many will have felt deflated at not going through to the final ( I know I always did when I lost a pitch  working for a marketing agency). Unfortunately we could only choose one winner to go to the New York Final (I would like to have taken all of the teams back home to the UK with me).

But it occurred to me doesn’t have to end. Those gems still exist. And the passion of the students presenting to me has planted so many ideas in my head. If these ideas help us on our mission it would be great to make them happen.

A lot of dedication, time, and commitment went into understanding SolarAid’s issues by all of the teams that reached this stage of the competition.  I truly hope, those who took part in the Hult Global Case Challenge will continue to engage with us (and tell others about what we are trying to achieve).

After all we are not going to solve the big hairy audacious goal of banishing the kerosene lamp from Africa on our own.

I’ve had to sign so many thank you letters to our Christmas Appeal for SolarAid my fountain pen has run out of ink. A good sign!