July 2012 Trip - Post 6

Some pics from earlier in the trip...the village trip and one-on-one business plan reviews with young entrepreneurs.

July 2012 Trip - Post 5

Tuesday 7.24.12

The past two days gave us perspective on where the young African entrepreneurs come from – the village and the city slums. Today we met with existing businesses that have been mentored or funded by WFL in the past couple of years. 

First we met with Morris and his team who provide outsourced technical support – traditional local IT support, pc and network break/fix services, and software/customer support internationally. It was refreshing to see a vibrate business competing on the global stage. Morris’s employees are on pay for performance plans that can make them 1.5 MM UGX monthly ($20/day), which solidly puts them in the middle class. Contrast that with the next business we visited, an egg business, they pay their employees 50,000 UGX monthly (less than a $1/day). A 30x wage gap is a simple reminder that education and skill development is a must for progress.

Next we met with Alice and Winnie, who used their 11MM (~$4,500) UGX loan to buy 700 chicks and grew them to full sized egg laying hens in 8 months and have been producing 10-12 trays (30 eggs per tray) for the past 7 months resulting in profit of 1.4 MM UGX ($600) monthly, which will be a good income for the 2 business owners once the debt service has been retired. In this case the loan is working - giving two people more money, but not making a bigger impact.

Education, skill development, and commerce works. 

July 2012 Trip - Post 4

Monday 7.23.12

Fresh showers and a good night sleep did wonders for the soul.  Today was a full day.  It hit right in the face, taking a taxi to the Owino, the largest marketing in Kampla.  At times it’s an open market (as open as 10,000 vendors jammed into a large parking can be) and other times it’s a maze of cardboard and merchandise.  You could easily get lost.  So, we split up in teams and shopped for clothes, food (including a live chicken), and extras with 100,000 UGX ($40) per team.  Dax and Victor got the best deals but Dave, Bo, and Alan did find Dave a nice pair of green jeans for less than a $1.  Mission accomplished, we know what it means to set up a retail store. Have a much better perspective when review business plans.

Then in the afternoon we had two home visits of two current choir children – Moses and Samantha.    Sunday we learned how the kids from the village lived; now it’s time to experience how the kids from the city (slums) lived. The families were content, proud of their children, and smiles that were warm and welcoming.  It was a humble experience to be in their house, to speak to them to see how they lived.  We live in such an extreme - wealth, talent, and future.  How should we respond?  The pictures can’t describe it.  Families of 7 lives in a dirt floor “house” the size of my closet.  Children sleep with parents or on the floor.  It’s eye opening. 

 

July 2012 Trip - Post 3

Sunday 7.22.12

Finally arrived in Uganda, walked off the plane directly onto the tarmac – it’s hard to describe the feeling but you can tell you’re somewhere new, somewhere different, you can smell it, it’s exciting.  And we’re ready for the adventure to begin and ready to keep adapting.  Not often do you get to take two redeyes back to back and then lose your luggage in a foreign country.  Luckily Scott Lambie has extra clothes and we packed a little extra on the carry-on bags.

With 2 days of travel in the same clothes, not sure Daniel was ready for a bunch of smelly Americans, but he greeted us with a smile and heart felt hug in Entebbe and drove us to Kampala where we met with Victor (team member who came in earlier) and Scott (host family).  Then Morris and Barnet took us to see where Morris grew up and for us to experience village life.  It’s part of our cultural immersion to better understand where the young entrepreneurs are coming from.   It’s like stepping back in time, just a mile off the highway and you’re transported back in time 100 years.  On one hand it’s like the Garden of Eden - you can drop a seed and a plant grows instantly.  Life is abundant.  Plus, the rolling hills and vistas are beautiful and pristine.  You can see yourself walking with God in the cool of the night here. On the other hand it’s a difficult life – no water, electricity, health care, education; like the pioneer days.  I couldn’t survive like this.

July 2012 Trip - Post 2

Saturday 7.21.12

We arrived in Brussels and quickly adapted after missing our flight to Uganda from the Chicago delay.  We made the most of our 5 hour layover in Brussels by venturing into town, then with a quick hop to London and a 4 hour layover we caught our flight to Uganda, Ambient and lights.  

July 2012 Trip - Post 1

Friday 7.20.12

At high noon, Dax, Bo, and Alan were sent off by the Beasley family from the Austin airport to Chicago to Brussels to Uganda.  Nerves were high but nothing a plate of Maudies couldn’t solve.  Soon we found ourselves in Chicago delayed to Brussels, but we found Dave and had few Chicago dog’s.   See the theme?  I doubt we’ll lose any weight on this trip.

March 2012 Trip: Day 6

One week ago today, we boarded a plane in Austin on our way to Africa. Since then, a lifetime of memories has piled up as we’ve plowed headlong into a culture that has alternately surprised, perplexed and amazed us.

It will take a while to process all we’ve experienced, but we hope that the processing and re-entry into American culture doesn’t wash away the lessons, the insights and the desire to make a difference.

Today, the Work for Life routine kicked into overdrive as we gathered in a classroom in the Music For Life headquarters and joined 28 young Africans in listening to hours of instruction on business principles from WFL’s founder, Robert Beasley.

With his Power Point presentation projected onto the yellow wall to his left and the sounds of Afro-beat music pulsing into the windows from the shop across the street, Robert plowed through the basics from writing a business plan to conducting a cash flow analysis.

This wasn’t the first time many in the audience had heard this presentation as there was a mix of first-timers and established business owners present.

However, the attention level was high and the questions came in waves as Robert taught.

After lunch and a presentation from a local micro-lending organization, the class broke into smaller groups and took part in brainstorming sessions, dreaming of businesses that could be started in answer to problems afflicting the country, the city and the neighborhood.

The session ended with the class and our team enjoying a dinner of pork, chicken, rice, matoke, Irish potatoes and shredded cabbage to the sounds of music selected by one of the students.

It was a full day, but a great exchange of ideas that are setting the stage for tomorrow’ s closeout session and our return to Texas.