| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (25 min. 42 sec.) ; 155294885 bytes |
| Summary |
An entrepreneurial culture is flourishing in the grim slums of India. Lives are being changed by an Australian enterprise that provides jobs as well as clean energy to some of the poorest people on the planet. In the slums of Bangalore, South Asia correspondent Stephanie March finds that from little things, big things can grow.India's economy is hurtling along even faster than China's, yet a third of its population - about 400 million people - still live without electricity. So, in the absence of power, every night in the sprawling shanty-towns of India's cities, the air fills with the dense smoke of kerosene used for lighting and cooking.For the slum-dwellers, the smoke is a killer - equivalent to consuming up to two packs of cigarettes a day. But now a small group of Australians have ventured into the slums to offer what they say is a safe and simple solution - portable solar-powered lights."We basically decided that if we wanted to solve this huge problem it had to be a business solution. You just can't give away 400 million lights." - Kat Kimmorely, Pollinate Energy Co-founderThe lights sold by Australia's Pollinate Energy don't come cheap by Indian standards. But they're proving popular. Rag-picker Abdul bought a solar light to help him find valuable scraps in the great piles of rubbish generated in Bangalore. The light helps him work longer hours - and possibly earn extra money to get his children educated.The idea is not just about providing destitute families with a safe and sustainable alternative to kerosene. It's also about jobs. Latha is one of a small army of sales reps or "pollinators" who work the slums and earn commissions on every light they sell. The income gives her confidence and respect from her relatives. "My status has increased. My life has changed." - Latha, Pollinate saleswomanPollinate Energy aims to be self-sustaining, ploughing back profits to expand the business and attract future investors. If all goes to plan the Australian solar light enterprise could be part of the solution to a far bigger problem. In a few years from now about 900 million people are expected to be living in slums across the world. In India the cities will double in size in two decades. "If we can be across the world providing sustainable energy solutions and sustainable energy products to people at the bottom of the pyramid everywhere, that is a world I would like to live in." - Kat Kimmorley |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2015-05-26 at 20:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: NC |
| Subject |
Pollinators.
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Poor -- Conduct of life.
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Poverty -- Indian states.
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Solar access rights.
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India.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
March, Stephanie, reporter
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Kimmorley, Kat, contributor
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Mckeon, Richard, contributor
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