We visited Julio at TPS again and went to his village in Chimaltenango.
Our learnings from the day:
Value is placed on work/opinions of U.S. companies/universities
Engineers without Borders visited the village a while ago and said the water was safe to drink. This was something we picked up from various conversations—that people are wary of foreign influence, but also respect and trust "western" technological development.
On the product side
Discussion about selling it as a kit, having a flexible attachment for smaller sinks, having a label/guarantee and also pricing.
Early adopters + Difficulties in determining if a product will catch on
Julio believed that people in his village would buy the filter if it was priced well. He seemed to be a possible social entrepreneur that is a key part of David Bornstein's principles—an early adopter to show people a product works so they will buy it and also someone involved in the business and distribution.
However, we had doubts because he is the only one in his village with a dry-composting latrine and wasn't able to convince his neighbors of its merits.
Then we were really disappointed to see his stove—the kind he builds and sells, was pouring black smoke all over his kitchen. To see this in the home of the man who runs an organization that exists to better the health of the community was shocking.
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