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Reyhan grew up in a rural village in Azerbaijan where rain often caused temporary power blackouts. She witnessed how difficult it was for people to live and work in areas where the power supply was unreliable. Eager to help so that no one had to go through this hardship, Reyhan came up with an idea. She started designing and creating a device that produces energy from rainwater. Aware that doing things as a team usually works better than doing them alone, Reyhan joined forces with a friend, Zahra Gasimzade, along with her physics teachers. They spent three months drawing, calculating and testing different prototypes. Four days before presenting their best prototype to a national competition, where they had hoped to get funding, the generator they had built burnt to ashes in front of their eyes. The team turned to two of the country’s leading engineers to ask for help to rebuild the prototype. But they rejected them, saying it was impossible to do in such a short time.
Reyhan wanted to quit. She felt disappointed and overwhelmed. How could the team rebuild what they had done in three months in just four days? But Reyhan realised if it were easy it wouldn’t be worth it. She gathered her team together, staring into their tired, bloodshot eyes and gave the most motivating speech of her life. She powerfully reminded them of how far they had come and how close they were.
As a result, the team decided to rebuild the prototype. They worked for four full days without sleeping and finished the prototype just in time! Their hard work was rewarded when they won the ‘Audience Favourite Startup’ award. RainEnergy is now a real, working product. Reyhan believes in the power of little things, she hopes to ‘light one house up at a time.’
