Data is everywhere. In today’s highly digitized world, it’s easy for organizations to be overloaded with data and information, to the point where they become distracted from what’s really valuable to their mission. One way to add more value and insight to quantitative data is through storytelling. By refocusing our attention towards human communication, we build connections between people and ideas. Stories give shape to the raw data and make it come to life, conveying the culture, history, experiences, and values that give us a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of the people we work with.
Stories are the essential building block of empathy and human connection. Since the beginning of mankind, storytelling has been used to connect, engage, inspire, heal and create a brighter future. At Solar Sister, we experience the extraordinary power of storytelling through the narratives of women’s empowerment, struggle, joy, resilience, innovation, and sisterhood.
Nigerian author Chimimanda Ngozi Adichi warns us in her brilliant TED talk about relying on the ‘single story’ as an easy, but reductive, and therefore false, narrative of the complexity that is truth. She describes encountering the obliterating power of the false narrative when she first arrived in the United States for college,
“My roommate had a single story of Africa: a single story of catastrophe. In this single story, there was no possibility of Africans being similar to her in any way, no possibility of feelings more complex than pity, no possibility of a connection as human equals.”
That single story of Africa is far removed from the stories of Solar Sister Entrepreneurs. The power of Solar Sister is the power of the diversity and multi-storied experiences of our community. There is not just a single story of Solar Sister. There are as many stories as there are Solar Sister Entrepreneurs. Each story connects us to something profound and nuanced and important. Each one brings greater insight to the data and measurement that we too often look to as a complete valuation of impact. As Adichi says,
“Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.”
At Solar Sister, we actively seek out the many stories. We believe that each of us is a storyteller with a unique voice and a unique story to tell. To bring these stories to light, the Solar Sister Nigeria team held a staff story competition. Contestants submitted Solar Sister stories that inspire them, along with corresponding photos and quotes from last-mile entrepreneurs themselves. Each story is unique and wonderful. Follow along with stories of empowerment, as told by the story competition contestants.
What do Solar Sister Entrepreneurs Lilian Knlue Saliu, Keziah Simon, and Shamsiya Yunusa have in common? Resilience. Grit. Tenacity. All three of these women have used the power of entrepreneurship to surmount significant obstacles and realize their full potential. Each woman brings her own unique experience to these common themes, and shows the broad diversity of the power of women’s entrepreneurship.
Lilian Knlue Saliu is a 40-year old mother and clean energy entrepreneur from Rivers State, Nigeria. Prior to joining Solar Sister, Lilian owned a small school in her community…until the building she lived in collapsed. This tragedy led her school to shut down, and her family struggled to survive. When Lilian decided to join Solar Sister, her community members were scared of buying from her because they pitied her. But Lilian didn’t give up:
“‘They pity me now, but I will be back and stronger, and I will make Solar Sister known in the Aluu community,” Lilian said.
A few weeks later, Lilian’s community began to respect her and admire her hard work. Now, she is known as Solar Sister or Sister Solar in her community,
“The joy of being a Solar Sister Entrepreneur is that I have money to take care of myself. I am strong now and go beyond my community. People no longer look at me with pity. I pay for what I need, and my children are back to school.”
Lilian’s story of fortitude is one that resonates with other Solar Sister Entrepreneurs, each overcoming their own unique challenges to spread light, hope, and opportunity.
Keziah Simon is a mother of four, farmer and Solar Sister Entrepreneur. Keziah is the sole breadwinner in her family. In 2016, Keziah joined Solar Sister with the help of seed capital from a partnership with Mercy Corps. In December 2017, Keziah had her fourth child, who was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia, leading to frequent and costly hospital visits. Her child’s battle with sickle cell anemia exhausted her profit, savings, and business capital. This brought untold hardship to her household.
Keziah wasn’t ready to give up though. With the mentorship from her Business Development Associate, Jennifer Oiji, Keziah increased her customer base and revived her clean energy business. Within one year of relaunching her business, Keziah generated over $4,200 in sales. To date, she has reached over eight small communities close to her home with clean energy. With her profit, Keziah takes care of her family and has been able to put her children through school. She was even able to transfer one of her children from public to private school and one of her sons now attends university. Keziah is a self-motivated womanpreneur who understands the principles of profit reinvestment, network building, and restrategizing.
Women entrepreneurs break through myriad barriers, from illness and tragedy, to social and gender norms. Meet Shamsiya Yunusa, a 36-year old mother, farmer and clean energy entrepreneur. Shamsiya is married to the Imam of her community. For a religious leader’s wife to go out and start her own business is almost unheard of across rural Nigerian communities. However, Shamsiya dreamed of improving her family’s living conditions and her self-confidence.
Shamsiya’s husband was able to recognize her hard work and potential, so he supported her in kick starting her own Solar Sister clean energy business. Within six months, Shamsiya identified other small communities around her where she wanted to spread light. As a result of Shamsiya’s work, 40 users in another small off-grid village in Niger State have switched to clean energy alternatives. Shamsiya has shown women in her community that they should always dream big because the sky is not the limit. Her clean energy business has brought prestige to her community and skyrocketed her self-confidence.
These three stories demonstrate the unstoppable power of women entrepreneurs and we hope that they inspire you as much as they inspire all of us at Solar Sister!
Written by: Jesuseun Babafemi, Oisereime Lloyd, Katherine Lucey, Alicia Oberholzer, and Jennifer Oiji