The COVID-19 pandemic has moved many things. Above all, it has forced projects, businesses, ventures, and companies to reinvent themselves, to find new ways of operating within a different world scheme. Sistema.bio has not been an exception.
Our purpose has always been to reach small and medium farmers from all over the world and invite them to be part of the change, a mission that would not be possible without the countless alliances that we have achieved over the years. These have been difficult times for millions of people, and yet we have managed to continue working on our passion: resilience, energetic autonomy, innovation. An example of this is the alliance we have created with Negawatt.
Negawatt is a solar energy company led by Sébastien Bourgeois and based in Guatemala. We met Sébastien in Kenya when he ventured into a small home biodigester project before learning about our work. Upon arriving in Guatemala and creating Negawatt, Sébastien contacted us to join forces in promoting renewable energy in the region.
In October 2019, this important alliance began to take shape. The first biodigesters arrived in Guatemala in early March, a week before the borders closed. This represented a challenge for us since we couldn’t travel to Guatemala to train the Negawatt team. Fortunately, Sistema.bio is all about overcoming challenges and finding solutions.
In a matter of days, Camilo Arias, director of Sistema.bio Colombia and responsible for all alliances in Latin America provided online training for the team in Guatemala. Since Negawatt is our distribution partner, the training ranged from the basics of biodigestion to our sales strategies and installation and maintenance processes.
Unlike our first 100% remote training in Cambodia, on this occasion we had the opportunity of participating in the building of a new team. That is, Sistema.bio advised Negawatt in the process of selecting the technicians and sales agents that would work in the field. The Colombia team accompanied and guided the new technicians via video calls. After several accompaniment and training sessions during installation, the Negawatt team is already working more independently in the field, culminating in various negotiations to sell and install other systems in Guatemala.
This process has been very gratifying for us, not only for the opportunity to work with farmers in a new territory but also for the experience of guiding a new team in such a remote-yet-close way, demonstrating that even in the most adverse scenarios, there are ways to adapt and continue working.
From the beginning, Sistema.bio has been lucky enough to have the best minds, a proactive team with a passion for understanding problems and finding solutions. Now, in the face of this crisis, we are more grateful than ever for the hard work of each and every one of our clients, our employees, and our allies.
At Sistema.bio we work hard because farmers work hard every day. And we will continue to work with them to create a more sustainable, just, and resilient world.
