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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body bgcolor=white lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Dear Friends<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>This deserves support.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>From Philip Lloyd:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“As they developed sources of income, they bought a Real Coal Stove, a cast-iron appliance of 19<sup>th</sup> century design which enabled you to cook, boil water, burn refuse, heat the home, and provide a social focus for family and friends. The cost was around $2000, and there was local microfinance to make it “affordable”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“Affordability is a poor measure of utility.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>The term we use is ‘access’ not ‘affordability’. Access to be able to buy something is not quite the same as ‘affordability’ as assessed by an outsider. It is the loan from the furniture shop that makes the stove ‘affordable’ meaning ‘accessible to the low-salaried’. Yes it is not accessible to the destitute. That cannot be a surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>In theory a cell phone of the ‘smart’ variety is not ‘affordable’ to a huge portion of people in Africa who own one. How they got it is a different matter from their ability to manage to own one. Often it is purchased by family and given to them to cut drastically the cost of communication to rural areas. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>I am reminded of a solar panel-powered borehole pump demonstration in Kenya when a villager straggled over to ask what they were doing. The water experts were ooh-ing and ahh-ing around the pump which was entirely powered by the sun. They explained to the villager that it was a sun-powered electric pump and needed no gasoline for fuel to make it work. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“How much does it cost?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“Oh it is very expensive.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“How much?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“$20,000. As I said it is really expensive – not the sort of thing that would be affordable in the villages, we are just demonstrating it to show it can work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“Huh.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>The village straggled back towards the village. A few minutes later he straggled back and handed the water expert $20,000 in cash.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“Deal?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>“Uh-h….OK.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Don’t tell people (or even assume) what they can and cannot afford. Make them an offer that is too good to refuse. They might take it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-ZA style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>