Since July of 2007, the Green Store (Tienda Verde) has been open for business to offer the Solar Women of Totogalpa a reward for their hard work and visionary commitment to the future of their solar community.

The Green Store contains donated goods and items made in the Solar Culture Courses, such as solar cookers and solar panels.  It offers goods in exchange not for córdobas, but for “Green” Hours,” a currency derived from work contributed by the women to the sustainable community development model they are bringing to life.  In this way, Grupo Fenix is not only imparting the skills of constructing and using solar technologies, but also teaching the principles of investment, savings, and work in exchange for valuable currency, encouraging the community to earn its way instead of becoming dependent on donations.  The women can justifiably take pride in what they have earned for their hard work for the betterment of their community. 

On the second Saturday of every month, between 9am and 1pm, or at other times decided by the solar women at their weekly “reunions,” the Green Store opens at the Solar Center. The women, arriving with their Green Hours bankbook in hand, first receive a deposit of the Green Hours they earned the previous month, and then begin their shopping. Because the store is dependant on donations, and thus has a limited supply of goods, the women can choose a maximum of three things paid for in Green Hours, and another three which they may buy with córdobas. The córdobas that the Green Store takes in are used to buy special goods for the green store.  This keeps things exciting and gives the women something to look forward to after their hard work in the hot Nicaraguan sun.

There has been a surge in morale and dedication among the women in part due to the incentives and reward systems that have been put into place, the green store among them.  The Solar Women of Totogalpa worked for many months to construct their first building at the Solar Center and to prepare the ground and plant fruit trees and vines, vegetables and medicinal plants.  The women made each adobe brick for the Solar Center’s first building and planted and cared for each tree.  Their dedication has been inspiring, not only because the work is hard, but because all of that work is unpaid, and has to be juggled with the all consuming work of keeping a home, taking care of children, often without a spouse, and attending to the never ending job of growing and preparing enough food to feed their families, washing clothes by hand, carrying water from wells, and the myriad details of life in the countryside that are necessary just to survive.  Their work to build their solar community is all the more admirable because it is based entirely on their faith in and vision  for the future. 

In support of their sense of ownership over there work and the future businesses they hope will grow out of their efforts, they began keeping track of their work hours. A certain number of hours are counted as a percentage of "stock" in the Solar Center. After their initial investment of hours, additional accumulated hours can be spent in the Green Store.  The challenge of creating a successful, functioning alternative currency lies in generating the trust and desire of community members to spend it as they would legal tender, to save it in the interest of future security, and to work in order to have more of it. The Solar Women have clearly demonstrated their interest in earning "green hours" by continuing to work to realize their dreams and are proudly adding up their green hours in the ledger for future opportunities.  The Green Store is a perfect way to make a link between those who want to donate to the Solar Women and the Grupo Fenix approach to development, which places responsibility, decisionmaking, and leadership in the hands of community members. This approach resolves the problem of well-intended donations creating a sense of dependency, while at the same time providing an incentive for the women to continue their hard work to realize their vision for the future.

We welcome your donations to the Green Store. Every donation helps advance the goals of sustainably growing the women's solar businesses and the community. 

Please email us at thegrupofenix@gmail.com for information on how you can contribute to the Green Store.