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.