Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Tuesday 18 May
I guess I really have lost weight. I put on my fancy dress this evening. Dress shirt with tie, sport jacket, my pants even had a crease. This was the first time I have worn a tie and jacket since our induction ceremony at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam last November. It certainly felt strange to ride downtown crowded like a sardine in the daladala wearing this outfit which must have been every bit as exotic as the Massai in their red robes, expanded earlobes and automobile-tire sandals. The outfit I was wearing used to feel quite good, but now it just kind of hangs. My shirt collar felt loose, my pants sort of bunched up at my waist, and my jacket felt a size and a half too large.
The cause of all this sartorial splendor was my invitation to talk to the Mwanza Rotary Club tonight about our ideas for starting a Life Opportunity Club to empower out-of-school kids to be self-reliant and give them some of the skills to start small businesses. The Rotary meets at the fancy – in relative terms – New Mwanza Hotel on Tuesday nights. It has about 20 members and is a rather clubby group that enjoys getting together for a beer and a meal and to tease each other. And they also try to do some good works from time to time. They gave a report on a little girl who the Rotary had transported to Albany NY for a heart operation. Apparently a US Rotary footed the airline bill, but the Mwanza Club did get her to the airport on time, and gave her a rousing welcome when she returned.
The only other necktie to be seen was worn by my host, Mr. Sridhar, branch manager of the EXIM Bank, and even he did not wear a jacket. Still, better to be overdressed than underdressed and it was an enjoyable change to wear such formal attire although I am glad that I don’t need to dress like this every day.
The Club was quite receptive to my little presentation. I didn’t talk very much about our plans, I used a handout to give information on that. Instead, I talked about my view that there is a need to help the kids who are dropped by their schools to get a start in life, and how this comes together with my view that there is no information available here to support anyone who wants to start a small business. How only 27% of the students make it from middle school to high school, and only 25% of the kids who are dropped can find jobs. How St. Augustine University, specializing in economics and accounting, has no books – nada, zero – books in their library about starting or running a small business.
Then I talked a little about the resources that are available to present such a program. The two St. Augustine University graduates who will be the instructors. The other organizations I intend to visit in Dar es Salaam for ideas and, hopefully, materials. The contribution of housing for the instructors at no cost by the University. And I shared with them how all the teachers I talk to about the program immediately want to know how they can take the program themselves and how encouraging everyone has been.
I ended by saying that of course we need money, not too much, or some help in knowing where to go for money but that I think our biggest need is to identify people who might serve on a Board of Directors or Advisors to oversee activities and guide development of the project and give it sustainability. If our program is successful, do we expand it to include those eager teachers? Target other groups of young people? Farmers? See if a micro-loan organization will work with us to make money available for good ideas? Try a satellite program in Musoma? Is there a way to make the program pay for itself?
This gave the guy beside me an opportunity to say how he wanted to do much the same kind of thing, which he discussed for about as long as my own presentation had been. He pointed out that these would be difficult kids to work with but that it was important to try. Not to expect grand results. But in the end he was in favor of what I had presented. There was a smattering of other comments and some helpful suggestions. Nobody was jumping up and down, but it had their interest.
The President said that they elect new leadership in June and that the current leaders would discuss the project with the incoming leaders. He felt sure that the Rotary would want to talk with me about how to develop the project, and said that a committee would visit me soon to explore that. Several members mentioned that next year is the Centennial Year for the Rotary, and this might become their Centennial Project.
Afterwards, Sridhar and another Rotarian drove me back to Nsumba. He was a thin, wiry guy with an easy smile who never stopped talking for the whole 12 km ride. He said he has been in Africa for fifteen years and rattled off a long list of countries in which he worked before coming to Tanzania three years ago. He is a computer and communications expert, and his company is getting a shipment of computers some time soon, one of which he said he would make available to us. Assuming that this comes to pass, it reduces the amount of money we need by about a third.
One of the members also suggested that Kulianas, an NGO that works with street kids and has a large facility close to the center of town, could likely provide the space for our meetings. I’ve already talked with Kulianas during my survey of potential organizations for Myrna when she comes and they do seem like a logical group to work with on a project like this one.
This is good stuff to report back with to Peter and Samwel tomorrow night.
I guess I really have lost weight. I put on my fancy dress this evening. Dress shirt with tie, sport jacket, my pants even had a crease. This was the first time I have worn a tie and jacket since our induction ceremony at the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam last November. It certainly felt strange to ride downtown crowded like a sardine in the daladala wearing this outfit which must have been every bit as exotic as the Massai in their red robes, expanded earlobes and automobile-tire sandals. The outfit I was wearing used to feel quite good, but now it just kind of hangs. My shirt collar felt loose, my pants sort of bunched up at my waist, and my jacket felt a size and a half too large.
The cause of all this sartorial splendor was my invitation to talk to the Mwanza Rotary Club tonight about our ideas for starting a Life Opportunity Club to empower out-of-school kids to be self-reliant and give them some of the skills to start small businesses. The Rotary meets at the fancy – in relative terms – New Mwanza Hotel on Tuesday nights. It has about 20 members and is a rather clubby group that enjoys getting together for a beer and a meal and to tease each other. And they also try to do some good works from time to time. They gave a report on a little girl who the Rotary had transported to Albany NY for a heart operation. Apparently a US Rotary footed the airline bill, but the Mwanza Club did get her to the airport on time, and gave her a rousing welcome when she returned.
The only other necktie to be seen was worn by my host, Mr. Sridhar, branch manager of the EXIM Bank, and even he did not wear a jacket. Still, better to be overdressed than underdressed and it was an enjoyable change to wear such formal attire although I am glad that I don’t need to dress like this every day.
The Club was quite receptive to my little presentation. I didn’t talk very much about our plans, I used a handout to give information on that. Instead, I talked about my view that there is a need to help the kids who are dropped by their schools to get a start in life, and how this comes together with my view that there is no information available here to support anyone who wants to start a small business. How only 27% of the students make it from middle school to high school, and only 25% of the kids who are dropped can find jobs. How St. Augustine University, specializing in economics and accounting, has no books – nada, zero – books in their library about starting or running a small business.
Then I talked a little about the resources that are available to present such a program. The two St. Augustine University graduates who will be the instructors. The other organizations I intend to visit in Dar es Salaam for ideas and, hopefully, materials. The contribution of housing for the instructors at no cost by the University. And I shared with them how all the teachers I talk to about the program immediately want to know how they can take the program themselves and how encouraging everyone has been.
I ended by saying that of course we need money, not too much, or some help in knowing where to go for money but that I think our biggest need is to identify people who might serve on a Board of Directors or Advisors to oversee activities and guide development of the project and give it sustainability. If our program is successful, do we expand it to include those eager teachers? Target other groups of young people? Farmers? See if a micro-loan organization will work with us to make money available for good ideas? Try a satellite program in Musoma? Is there a way to make the program pay for itself?
This gave the guy beside me an opportunity to say how he wanted to do much the same kind of thing, which he discussed for about as long as my own presentation had been. He pointed out that these would be difficult kids to work with but that it was important to try. Not to expect grand results. But in the end he was in favor of what I had presented. There was a smattering of other comments and some helpful suggestions. Nobody was jumping up and down, but it had their interest.
The President said that they elect new leadership in June and that the current leaders would discuss the project with the incoming leaders. He felt sure that the Rotary would want to talk with me about how to develop the project, and said that a committee would visit me soon to explore that. Several members mentioned that next year is the Centennial Year for the Rotary, and this might become their Centennial Project.
Afterwards, Sridhar and another Rotarian drove me back to Nsumba. He was a thin, wiry guy with an easy smile who never stopped talking for the whole 12 km ride. He said he has been in Africa for fifteen years and rattled off a long list of countries in which he worked before coming to Tanzania three years ago. He is a computer and communications expert, and his company is getting a shipment of computers some time soon, one of which he said he would make available to us. Assuming that this comes to pass, it reduces the amount of money we need by about a third.
One of the members also suggested that Kulianas, an NGO that works with street kids and has a large facility close to the center of town, could likely provide the space for our meetings. I’ve already talked with Kulianas during my survey of potential organizations for Myrna when she comes and they do seem like a logical group to work with on a project like this one.
This is good stuff to report back with to Peter and Samwel tomorrow night.
