Solar Street Lamps

So the main project that we are focusing on right now is solar street lamps for the city of Makeni. In looking at the three projects that I came back from Sierra Leone with this one seems to be the most attainable at this point.  Granted there is an awful lot to do between now and instalation, including sorting through Sierra Leone's entire governmental apparatus.  But as it is, right now it really looks to be the most feasible.  The brick project requires a lot in terms of expertise, local business infrastructure, and time in country.  It is also a commitment for a longer term production process.  The solar street lamp project on the other hand is a one-off endeavor with a definite start, end, and result.  This I think is best for setting up this business endeavor in Sierra Leone.  Lessons will of course be learned during the process that could easily be used to set up a better production scenario in our other endeavors.  It also can be a solid revenue generator in a shorter fixed term.  Source the lamps, ship them, install them, done.  It's obviously much more complicated, but not like the brick project's open-ended scenario including local production facilities, local sales teams, local distribution networks, local management, and permanent staff.  It is a huge commitment that needs time and planning.  By focusing on the lamps, we can work through the planning of the bricks at the same time without as much risk.

The Lamps are an intricate process as well though.  We have to source the lamps and the poles and ship them to Sierra Leone, where they will have to pass through customs and the entire African shipping process.  From there we have to arrange transport to Makeni and storage for them.  Local labor and materials will be needed for the installation and setup.  The lights themselves are easy to assemble and put up, but the poles would be more difficult as getting them set permanently in the ground brings challenges in a city that still shows some of the effects of war. 

All this is coupled with the governmental aspect of the project.  This would be an open bid through the governments procurement process.  Which I would imagine is a road that will have its share of winding turns...  Also financing the project will be quite delicate.  There would be some advanced governmental payment for the contract.  This would then need to be balanced with the down payments and extensions of credit negotiated with suppliers.  We may need to stagger the delivery and installation of the lamps in order to be able to balance the whole project.  This of course is not the way we'd want to do it as it would cost more on the whole in both money and time, but if this is what allows us to get the contract done, then it would be worth it to establish the company and its credit.  If we do a good job, there will be more cities looking for lights.  Have to start somewhere.  We will see...

But on the whole it seems like a good place to start.  Straight forward, one-off, deliverable project, with a good revenue upside.  With this one done, we could fund the brick making project, an internet/office facility in Sierra Leone, and set up Newburgh so we could run the diaspora funding network from there and then some local programs as well.  Giddie up!!    

Different world

So I wanted to touch on a few things from yesterday's meeting that illuminate business here. Obviously it was difficult to carry on a meeting with one person, and the oldest most senior one, sleeping. More important though were the differences in his business ideology and that of the others as well.

Firstly, there was a lot of respect for the laborers - hard work. Obviously in Western business culture education, experience, and management are valued more wage wise. Kevin showed a lot of respect for diggers, and brick carriers, and Kaps didn't think a supervisor should be paid more than the machine operator. This is refreshing to see as we in the West seem to have lost sight of the value of manual labor in our lives. Kaps actually didn't even really see the value of a supervisor. "Why should you pay someone to just stand around and watch everyone?" There is a logical sense to that statement. But it was as if the concept of a site supervisor made no sense. I had to spend a good 10 minutes explaining why a supervisor would be needed. There would be 17 workers to supervise on site with only one machine running, and this would increase with more machines. Digging, sieving, mixing, moving, operating the machine, dealing with supplies, curing bricks, loading/unloading, shipping, a cook for lunch, etc. It is not a simple process, and someone needs to know how to do it all, they need to know all about bricks, they need to be able to organize it all in their head, and to motivate people to work at a high level. Every minute we would not be producing is 4 bricks missed. A lag here, a lag there, mixed soil isn't ready, whatever, and production would be way down. It all has to run fluidly. But having a person to make all this function smoothly didn't make a whole lot of sense to him.

He also wanted to cut out workers. The company that makes these machines has a specific tried and tested method for producing the maximum number of bricks. They work in over 50 countries, and have a brand to uphold. They WANT anyone producing there products to be giving them a good name. Kaps had little interest in their well tested staffing, he wanted to just cut down workers. Hire less pay more. I started to get feelings of hierarchical thinking, jealousy perhaps at the wages. There are no salaries yet for board members, only workers... He just didn't seem to like anything he was hearing. He thought we were going to pay to much. He wanted to pay 5000 Leone a day - $1.25. According to Yapo, minimum wage is 15000. Now I know everyone isn't paying that, and there does seem to be a lot of variance in "minimum wage" concepts here, but I want to do things legally. I also wanted to pay taxes, and into workers social security funds, etc. This saw apprehension from him for the most part.

He also struggled with the concept and way of running a business. He wanted to be able to give away, or sell bricks below cost. I said, we can't do that, we can only give from excess revenues (profits). We can use our donations in terms of bricks if we wish, but we can't be a brick charity. It was as if the entire concept of running a business to make more than we spend - and to do it meticulously - was a completely foreign concept.

This is going to be a tricky situation, we have to be able to be sustainable. And our costs after this exercise may not even make the project feasible. I will have to crunch the numbers today if a computer is functional. But Kaps didn't think we could charge for each brick what we would need to cover our costs of production. That is partially because he seemed to value these specialty bricks little more than hand made clay bricks. Yapo saw it completely differently and thought we could charge a premium. But it is a struggle amongst them.

The result today though is that we will have to stall signing any kind of agreement and look much more directly into the numbers and what the market will bear. I knew it!! But I just couldn't get them all to see the value of making a list and sitting down and going through every number. For two and a half weeks I have been trying to get the list I gave them filled out with costs, and to all sit down, but nothing. In today's meeting, we started to talk about the equipment and still had no figures. Yapo made one call, left for maybe 15-20 minutes, and came back with a list!?!? Over two weeks of telling me it was done, was being done, some things weren't here in Makeni, blah, blah, blah, and then in 20 minutes they get one done. This is the way it is here, this is what we're up against... :-/

Ugh

What a day. So after two weeks of trying (and the day before we should go back to the council and probably sign the MOU) we finally all got together for a costing meeting. Not what I had hoped for. 9am start was 10, not a problem at all... But the palm wine came out right away and Kaps was head down asleep by 10:45. I was very disappointed.

We have an opportunity here for a serious endeavor to help a lot of people and it just flat out didn't seem to be of much interest to him. Fair enough if it was at 2pm but barely 45 minutes into it?! And not just that part, he was in and out in general, there was a disconnect there.

I of course want/need to take a step back and think culturally about how it was handled and how I lead it all. I went into business manager mode and was trying to hash out decisions - but decisions amongst us all, not by me but them telling me the best way forward. I felt like the disconnect was more between old school Kaps and new school Yapo, who I tended to side with.

I've made mistakes with cultural scenarios before. I know what they look like. But there were four people there, Yapo was completely game, and Kevin soldiered on giving good input. Kaps just didn't seem to like where it was going, or maybe that he was not the man in charge. Even if he didn't like where it was, he was asleep at the table before we got anywhere. And even once we did, he was half obstructionist, half confrontational, half in and out of sleep. I know things are different here, life functions differently, and I like that part of it all. But you could see desire in the others.

After about two and a half hours they were all lower in their chairs, tired of talking about the cost of a trowel and a laborer's wage. This seemed more than what they are used to, a full on planning meeting of this type, 100% on, no long introductions, no real pleasantries in the beginning, just down to work, 100% focused. Like I said though Yapo and Kevin managed, Kaps... not so much.

The meeting itself was very helpful though. All along they have been costing in their heads and telling me about it, and despite knowing better, I listened to it. But with it on paper there is no faking it. A wise man I know regularly says: liars figure, but figures never lie!! And our figures are not ideal at this point. I have to recheck the concrete needed, but the cost of it as we have it written now, may be debilitating. We would have to charge a lot for these bricks.

You know, I knew better than to go along with it all, especially when the chairman said he couldn't get for profit companies to come in and do it. I knew right then... Why not? Why wouldn't they do it? But I listened and I figured it all in. Maybe it can work, but not as they've been telling me.

There was more to it all, more on a cultural level with the meeting, but enough for now. Gonna close the chapter on the day. Start again tomorrow... Disappointed that Africa makes more sense to me now...

Production?

Maybe. I feel like I got a lot done today. The chairman liked the agreement we wrote, just has to be ok'd by the rest of council then we're off!! We also agreed on a 50/50 split. It's so much easier to negotiate when both sides objectives are NOT solely for themselves or their company, but for the greater good. As Eric said, what does the percentage matter, all 100% will go to development!! Some in community projects, some to generate jobs. Both are needed.

Why must the world be so selfish?? If this project means anything, I think that is it... a model that shows two business people putting others in front of themselves and making deals - COOPERATION!! Everyone wins... We will show them that this can be done!! Show the world!!

I also finally got some pictures up on the website here, on picassa, and a link on facebook to them. Somehow seems like the most fulfilling thing I've done yet since being here. Sad that it would seem so, but a connection to home keeps me moving. I am doing this as much for everyone there as for me. And words only go so far... Did you see those rural schools? Benchs under a tree?! Wow!! I'll work at taking more pictures now that I can get them up. That is one drawback of the phone/camera as one though. It's perfect, except the battery lasts only about half a day!! Lol!! Stupidest "smart" phone ever!!

Pause... Big occurrence here, they turned on the generator and then PUT A LIGHT BULB IN MY ROOM!! We've got light!! Seems like such a pleasant thing right now, like a huge weight just got removed from me, from the perma-squint on my forehead. Usually home is a sanctuary from the craziness of a day. Here it is the opposite. Lots of people, someone else's house, culture, holed up under the mosquito net once darkness comes. Light just seems to bring freedom to my head, eyes and mind. I can see what's around me, relax. Odd how such a simple thing for us in the west is such a luxury here. Light!!

I also keep teaching the kids hello and goodbye in other languages. It seems so fascinating to them. They're so interested, yet so sheltered. I have never seen children so keen to learn. We take it for granted in the west because we always have it, and we can always find a way to survive, a school to get into, a second chance. Here, education is a very scarce commodity and is sought be everyone...

So I'll take my leave as I listen to them try to pronounce "arivadercci", and "ni hau"!! I obviously can't spell them, but isn't that all the fun of it!? ;)

good day...

Back to Work - Africa style

So today got a late start due to rain, seems they use it a bit like a snow delay in the US (or so the fable goes). It certainly seemed to work today. I've been trying to get some concrete answers. Actually, I'm trying to get some concrete output. That's where Africa style is still waiting to meet up with me. I keep hearing wonderful things, but I need results. The chairman (Eric) is having us write the memorandum of understanding (mou), which is great. We define the written agreement.

There seem to be structural issues with the productivity of the council though. Eric is an elected official and in charge, but the administrators and the head admin are employees who apparently have no thoughts of either working or being let go. They are rarely at the office, nevermind working. The head admin has been suspended once already. Not that the top helps; to meet with Eric himself today we had to go to his house after waiting an hour at the office (12:30-1:30).

This is not to take anything away from Eric, he is very much in tune with things and has a very good mind for development. One of my favorite quotations though is "it is not the consciousness of men that creates their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness." How can one function outside of the only world they know? My pathway must lie in trying to navigate both his and my worlds...

We talked about some other very good ideas. And my crew here came up with some other one's following the meeting. More on that in time. But the goal is to get the MOU and copies of the proposals for the the brick machines and diaspora donation network asap. From there we can take these documents to possible donors here and in the US. We are looking to approach other NGOs and the Ministry of Finance here for support. It would be great to get the bricks up and running on funds from here. We will see.

I want to give this process two weeks. Then I aim to get out onto the trails, delegate the ground work to the team here, and get back to learning. I'll always be within just a few hours of Makeni if need be, and I need to get the trip back to where it intended to be. The more I see, the more ideas we'll all have to work with!!

A New Partnership

So I went back to the council today, hammered out the final aspects of the partnership with the them. They are going to pay for all aspects of the machines and the trainer coming here. We are responsible for running the training, managing the company and brickmaking, and putting what portions of any profits are not reinvested into the development of the company towards the development council's development projects. All the money will stay with us in trust until a project is ready to break ground. I don't know about you, but I am quite happy about that deal, should it all come to pass as agreed.

We also registered a company today. "aibia". It is first registered as a CBO (community based organization). This makes us able to provide services for the council here locally, while not forcing us to undertake all the difficulties and monetary constraints of full NGO incorporation. Once we are in a position to do that, then we can simply change the designation and keep all the assets with the company. We filed the cbo registry today, will pick it up tomorrow. 24 hour company registration (and only because the 2nd administrator that must sign it was out today).

I also have offered Yapo a position as the local manager of this organization. Everything is happening very fast, and it may seem impulsive. (I keep waiting for "the catch", but it hasn't come yet). This decision about Yapo though is something I have thought about. I feel that I can work with him, and that he can do a good job. He is a young guy, training to be a lawyer, but he has a good business sense. He is currently managing some projects for a few local NGOs, he has worked as a supervisor for a more traditional brick making operation, and also worked for the same development council that we are working with now. He understands their side, he understands a bit about bricks, and he understands the local environment. I feel that he will be a good fit.

I have yet to talk to Kaps about this, but he and Kevin are very much focused on ChildHelp. The track will give them a great opportunity. They are very committed to their work and I see them as being on the board of directors for aibia, and handling a good deal of the community projects we will undertake. I couldn't have gotten here without them, they are special people to me. I have to make the right business decisions. I am not sure how to handle this culturally, or if I should even be worried about it. I hope they didn't want to manage it. They are both very good facilitators. I think their strengths are perhaps more in aid and charity work then construction management though. But I will discuss it with them this afternoon and make sure we are clear.

Now to write a letter of introduction for this new company: aibia

They haven't eaten all day...

Hhmmm... Can't figure out what to write for the title. I'm hungry. But not as much as these kids I'm staying with must be. I came home and usually there is food cooking or ready. Not today. No money was left for food today, so no food was to be had. They havn't eaten all day. They needed 7000 leones, $1.75 for all ten of us to eat. I gave them 10000, and it was like the alarm at the firestation had just rang. They all scatered, some for water, some for food, some to get the fire started. They were hungry, but with no complaints. This is life, their life. As the one person here said, we eat when there is food. Up to now there has been plenty, but not today... And now as I write this, it is raining. They cook outside over a fire, now they cook outside in the rain... Insult to injury...

It seems wrong to write about the other worries of my day now, but I will as it is one of the main things i'm here to do. Oh.. And pouring now!!

So I started early this morning. Straight to reading how bricks are made. Fun stuff!! ;) but whether I like bricks or not, I want to help, I want to rebuild, and this makes me a brick man for now!! I went over to the expat hangout again today. Its the only place with power, and I can blend in as if I'm a hotel guest. Pretty much only white contract workers there - to expensive for everyone else.

I spent the day reading about this machine we will hopefully get and taking this information and turning it into a business plan/costing sheet for Kaps and Kevin to research this week. We've got to get someone in here that knows how to make bricks though. It all has to be just right. They seem to think we can just make it happen, but we need expertise. And that is exactly what it is all about with this type of thing, its not whether you can do it, but whether you can get people together that can. I'm trying.

Otherwise it was like little England today. I was surrounded by bright white brits baking by the pool, and english premier league football (soccer). I wish I was surrounded by american football!! No such luck.

Very interesting these expats. Always talking about how great the "package" is. Here for short high paid stints. Not for a cause, not to help - at least much more than themselves. Not all, but virtually all. And not all brits here, but virtually all.

Africa minerals is building a single use train line from their Tonkolili iron mine (aparently will be the biggest iron mine in the world) straight to Freetown. No one else will use the train, only them. And it's immense. Looks like they are building a full interstate highway. And that's actually what the locals think. They think they'll get to use it. Nope. It is strictly so Africa Minerals can take down an entire mountain set, cart it to port, and ship it off to the highest bidder.

They've brought in workers from all over the world, even others from Africa, but don't seem to be using much from Sierra Leone. Rumor has it they will provide 11000 jobs, but I see few so far, I'm sure they will come. They will pay laborers to mine for 5000 leones a day - $1.25 - and then they will sell the iron for billions and make lots of people in the UK and wherever very rich. Taking Sierra Leone's resources and leaving only a few dollars behind for the people while they watch football and drink imported beer. There is something wrong with this, at least to me...

I am going to make this happen!

So yesterday was a very productive day. I got up early and headed out to see another brick factory a little ways outside of Makeni with Yapo. He's a quality young guy, in university for law, long way to go, but working hard. He used to work at the development council so knows a lot of the ideas and people.

But anyway, we went out and saw a dilapidated, run down facility that obviously hadn't been used for months. Yapo says its about bad management. Given what the council chair said, I would agree. Sounds like bricks are a hot commodity. That factory had 1.5 million Leones in bricks rotting away unsold (3000 bricks). Roof falling down, machine rusted. Sad. Money and investment just sitting there wasting away.

So from there we went and bounced around till we could find computer facilities to write up an official letter of introduction for the Bombali Development Council. We went in to hand deliver the letter to the chairmen. I must say, he and I have developed a good repore. As he said, there arn't a lot of people out there like me... Business minded people looking at development from a not profit place. We have the same goals.

So it is from this point that we moved forward. First thing he did was to bring up a plan he had been working on for the Sierra Leone diaspora living in Europe and the US to make small donations back to the country. They have been working on a website to allow people to see exactly what their village has or does not have and allow for fully transparent donations. Names, amounts, earmarks, etc all visible online. What he wants from me is someone that is not here, not african, to manage it. He wants it so that when a project is ready to start, only then does the exact amount get sent to SL. Very interesting to hear a man of his stature saying such a telling statement. He trusts me more than his countrymen.

Anyway, we did not get much further than saying I would be interested, but he and I will get back into it Monday. Monday, is now the day that I will be registering a company here in Sierra Leone. Maybe walking lion, maybe something else I'm working on. The weekend will tell. But the company will be opened to build bricks and then expand from there. And the $45k machine is actually 5 machines. Much more to get started, but such a good opportuntiy. Can't pass it up.

The arrangement that we have come to in conversation is that 50% of the profits will go to development projects and 50% to reinvest in the company. Now I will have to get into the specifics of it all as in the beginning we may need more for the business than we will in the longer term. And this is just for the bricks, if we expand from there into other endeavors we then can use the money as we see fit, but which is along the same lines anyway. But I will say that I am a bit nervous about a preconceived split as some control is lost. We will have to establish that the business must be sound first and foremost. Then, we can give back.

All that being said though, the gist of what has happened here is that I have walked into a man's office who is in a position of power, and he's liked what I have to say. He wants to work with me. But the key to all of this, is that not only does he "get it", but he is the President of Sierra Leone's uncle. Yes, uncle, and he wants to introduce me to the president. He has already told him about me. Wow!?! This is a great deal of pressure all of a sudden. I H.A.V.E to get it done. I am now on record. It is to late to turn back... and it is also everything I want to do. I AM going to make this happen, there is no other option. ;)

On the Radio!

So today was an interesting one. I spent the day at the internet cafe - and it was actually working!! So got some research in. Looking for a name for our company. Gotta set up an ngo here for implementation and in the US for donations. The government needs a proper company to partner with on the bricks. Anyone interested in being a part of it...?? ;) Lookin to put together a team!!

Anyway, the machine we'd be looking at is from a South African company called hyrdaform(.com). They make portable machines for the developing world. Makes the set up and use so easy. You can move them from site to site if you want, use the clay there, produce bricks there, build it there. No transport costs of bricks if you don't want. Good machine to start with and build from. Getting some manuals and will go from there.

Its not exactly what I came here to do, or would say my lot in life was - building bricks - but I did come here to make a difference by seeing what people want, and they want buildings, houses, schools, etc. And they don't have enough bricks to build them with. How do you rebuild a country with no finished building materials? Its a foot in the door and would be a big push from the local government. Plus I won't be running the machine, just making sure the right people do. This I can certainly do.

Otherwise, I was on sports radio here today talking about building the track. No turning back now, national broadcast!!

And on a side note- bit by mosquito this morning!! ;) Lets see what comes of it in two weeks time!! :p

Building materials

Umm.. So the district council just tentatively offered to partner with us making building materials and to give us a $45,000 machine to produce 3000 bricks a day (one school).. !!!!