First stop: Nairobi!

First stop: Nairobi!  Nairobi, Kenya is city I wanted to visit immediately upon graduation from college, but the opportunity to study communication there fell through. I was excited to finally get to this place after so long!

Amazing people in ordinary places.

One of the amazing things about travel to Africa is the number of amazing people I meet on the way.  I arrived at O'Hare airport's International terminal, and immediately began meeting amazing people.

I approached the nearly empty ticket counter for KLM.  A smartly uniformed young woman motioned for me to come over to the ticketing kiosk by which she stood. "I will help you, sir...may I see your passport?"  Within minutes of that welcome offer to provide assistance, I had, without any request on my part, been re-assigned to an exit aisle seat. "You are amazing!" I told her as I walked away.  This was starting out to be a great trip.

While packing for the trip to Southern Sudan, I learned about this opportunity!

The Sudan Challenge is Global Business Assist's campaign to start empowerment programs in Southern Sudan -- efforts that enable Sudanese families to have sustainable income through small businesses.  These next two weeks, I am going to be in Sudan helping set up the first micro-finance project in Bar El Ghazal (see map)

The publishers of PARADE magazine, along with the Facebook Causes, have started a giving challenge, which will grant $50,000 to the charity that can log the most donation transactions between now and midnight, November 6.

weaving friendship

Monday morning we drove out to Nsuta to visit Mama Rose's school; this would be my second visit, and I was returning almost one year later to the day.  I paid little attention to the countryside as the driver sped along at 50 mph on an unmarked road lined with pedestrians on either side.

Sunday at Domsesre

Sunday morning I was invited to drive out into "the bush." Domsesre is a small village about an hour from Sunyani -- an hour because the last few miles are traveled upon an unpaved, pot-hole (sink hole!) road with the foilage crowding in on it. The little mid 90s Hyundai bottomed-out frequently.

rockin Nkwabeng North

And I thought spending Valentine's day in Africa would be...well, quiet.

I was wrong! In the neighborhood of Nkwabeng North (pronounce it phonetically and you'll be pretty close), the Donkors and friends had quite the Valentine's evening celebration going in the local church building.

I'd say about 50 to 75 people were there -- and it was loud, hot, fun and colorful. I felt a bit under-dressed, but Doris and I had worked in the office previewing loan documents to be transferred into MIFOS (more on that later.)

Off to the elephant post

  From Accra, I took a small turbo prop to Sunyani. Sunyani is about a 45 minute flight away. The plane was scorching hot for the first 20 minutes, and in spite of the fact that the sandwiches offered (turkey, tuna, or chicken) looked great, I decided to pass and took the apple juice instead.

Getting there is half the fun?

I'm not sure who came up with that expression, but they may have been half right. Once I found my passport, I thought things would be fairly smooth, and so they were. I tried to remember if I had ever been to JFK, and I decided that if I had, it was characteristically forgetable. The flight to New York was uneventful. The gate at which I arrived was on one end, and the departure gate was at the other. For those of you in Chicago, imagine going from the United terminal (1) to the International Terminal (5) on foot. I did not feel any rush, as I had 90 minutes between flights.

The gate for the flight to Accra is beyond the glitz of the duty-free shopping. I went all the way to the end -- the very end. I turned left down a narrow hallway so tight that two people carrying bags could not pass at the same time. There, at the end, was the gate. I was embarassed. It was definitely the least updated gate in the airport. Were they deliberately trying to make this gate look like the gate at the other end of the trip? If so, they succeeded.

My attempt to get an exit row failed. My hopes the flight would be lightly filled evaporated about 30 minutes before flight time (scheduled flight time). I could not find room for my overhead bag until I shouted out to the other passengers deep in the economy section of this 767: "who want's to watch my cookies for me?". That immediately resulted in space becoming available for my bags.

Amazingly, the gentleman I was sitting next to (I had the window seat, he was on the aisle) is a life-long friend of my host family here in Sunyani, Ghana (though he had not seen them in years)! I had some pictures of them from my visit last year, and he transferred family pics from his camera to my laptop to share.

I tried to sleep during the 10.5 hour flight, and managed about 5 hours (thanks to Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, and friends!)

Taking Off

This hasn't been an easy week. I started out Saturday thinking I had lost my passport, and then discovered I had indeed stored it in a 'safe place'. On Monday, gba President Doug Mann spoke with (divine!) insight...and at his suggestion I looked in the gba office safe. There it was! I still don't remember puting it there. :) I am now waiting for a slightly delayed flight to take me on the fiirst leg...to JFK. I am already pumped about my opportunity to 'oil the gears' so to speak -- to help our Ghana partners increase their capacity to help families create sustainable income through business! I think I can wipe that frown off my face now!

The Sudan Challenge: What's Ghana got to do got to do with it??

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Back to Ghana -- in the first phase of this year's activities in the Sudan Challenge. Wait a minute! Ghana? Sudan? Sure, they're both in Africa, but what does going to Ghana have to do with Bhar el Ghazal in Southern Sudan? The link is the launch of GBA's HelpLink -- a unique way to empower local organizations to create and grow successful microfinance programs.

During 2008, Global Business Assist volunteers configured loan administration software that has been made available by the Grameen Foundation. My trip to Ghana is to start the implementation of this project in Ghana -- where a successful micro-finance operation is already running. By automating the administration of the loans, the Ghana program will be able to expand the program to include the hundreds who are waiting to get in.

Later, we hope to take these Ghanian loan administrators to Southern Sudan, to help set up the same system there. That's the connection!

All of this is possible because of the hard work of volunteers like Stephen K., who has worked on the configuration for months -- and the runners who raised money while participating in the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Last year, about this time....

The training was intense at times. In all, approximately forty hours of concentrated classroom teaching from Monday morning, February 18th through Friday, February 22nd. However, the forty-three students from the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana attentively engaged in GBA’s first course in Ghana, “The Values-Driven Entrepreneur”.

Most of the students had been looking forward to this seminar for months. These were farmers, tailors, retail and wholesale merchants, salespeople, educators, tradespeople. They were individuals who already owned small businesses and who left those businesses for a full week to invest their time and forfeited income in order to take their enterprise to the next level. Others, still dreaming of owning their own business, took time off from their jobs to learn.

Their investment was applauded by Minister Mr. Ignatious Baffour-Awuah,Ghanaian President John Kufuor’s personal appointee to govern the Brong-Ahafo region, who opened the training seminar with both praise for the students and a challenge to them. Mr. Baffour-Awuah reminded them that their successful participation in this GBA seminar would not only improve their business, but also transform them into desperately-needed agents of change in their communities, the region and the nation. Speaking not only to the students, but also to a national audience via network television, radio, and print media reporters, Mr. Baffour-Awuah praised GBA and its pioneering approach to Enterprise Relief, a cutting-edge approach the minister said was just what Ghana, and all of Africa, needs to move forward and become less dependent on crisis aid.

During the week, students studied everything from basic bookkeeping, budgeting and cash-flow management to marketing, selling, people management and business planning. Students took the challenge to operate their businesses based on core values such as honesty, integrity and service; traits sorely needed in businesses around the globe. Teams of students participated in hands-on workshops, visiting and evaluating community businesses, and then presenting insights and recommendations to the rest of the class.

Four (Ad)venture Capitalists took more than a week away from their families and businesses to make this first part of our Enterprise Relief project in Ghana become a reality. But the success of the Sunyani, Ghana seminar will be complete only with your help – (Ad)venture Capitalists who will invest directly into lives and businesses of Ghanaian entrepreneurs.

One of the students, James, posted this on the gba.org website immediately after the class: “(I am writing to) inform you (of) my appreciation of the opportunity you’ve given to me to feed myself the rest of my years. I must say this study has helped me a lot.”

At the end of the class, GBA and our local partner, Africa Assistance Plan, challenged the students to apply what they had learned and prepare a business plan to identify strategic capital investment they need to grow to the next level. For most students, this was the part of the week for which they had been waiting – the chance to see their business idea come to life in the form of a real plan!

a bit about Ghana

Ghana, located in West Africa, is bordered by the Ivory Coast to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east. Ghana gained its independence from the UK in 1957, and the modern name is a reflection of pre-colonial history, when the Empire of Ghana engulfed most of West Africa.

Today, Ghana is ruled by a parliamentary government -- but since independence it has had a series of military and civilian governments. There are 10 regions in the country, each headed by an administrator (the administrator of the region we are visiting will participate in the opening session of our training).

Ghana has recently begun to exploit oil discoveries off its coast, and exports palm oil, gold, timber, cocoa and other minerals. The currency is the Ghana Cedi, roughly equivalent to a dollar during our trip. The country just recently re-denominated its currency, which can be confusing when people and signs refer to 90,000 and they really mean 90 of the new units.

Ghana ranks about 91 of 157 in the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom, and about 29 out of 168 in the Reporters Without Borders index of freedom of the press.

CIA Factbook

connecting with Ghana: first thoughts in Accra

When we arrived at Kotoka International Airport, we were greeted by far too many people.  What I mean is this -- there were a small number of people assigned to greet us, and a larger number -- including some who opportunistically assigned themselves--met us as we came out the doors.  Since Doug was in charge of navigating who was, and who was not, legitimately our transport to the hotel, I simply watched with some amusement.

These men were enterprising, and knew that service was the key.  I actually felt bad about not letting them help me with my luggage!

At the hotel dining room, we learn that this level of service is not universal.  In fact, we unanimously agreed that night that the process of preparing and delivering food to a table of four restaurant customers would be the ideal project management scenario for Fuzz to use in his sessions.  I've lost track of the gap of time between when we sat down and our order was taken, or the longer gap between then and when the first of us received a portion of our order.  It totaled more than 90 minutes.

Our orders were simple: spring rolls, toast, chicken and rice -- dishes that were to become our eating-out staple for the week.  Again, I'm thinking about how we will make the business concepts we've prepared relevant to this culture.  We are participating in globalization, at a micro level.  What will the impact be?  That's a question best revisited after some sleep.  It's been a long 20+ hours of travel and this very firm bed is calling me.

On KLM flight 590

We're on our way! This (in flight somewhere over Canada) is probably a good time to introduce the team of (ad)venture capitalists. I'll include photos as I get them.

Stephen is the most experienced (ad)venture capitalist on the team. This is his fourth trip, and he is the team leader in many respects. To describe Stephen as a genius is probably inadequate, but it's a good starting point. I've known him for about 10 years -- although we've not had a lot of close encounters like the one we're on now. He's an executive at a large, publicly traded firm in the graphic arts industry, where he is responsible for a wide variety of things. He has a disarming smile, a gentle spirit, and a wit that I'm still trying to figure out. And - he knows something about everything. He doesn't flaunt that -- just subtly engages in every topic with a steadily and slowly revealed depth of knowledge.

A genius!

It was in a conversation about weather that I realized just how geeky he really is (and as a geek myself, I use that term with the ultimate of affection and respect!). When checking the weather reports -- Stephen let us know that Chicago would have a lot of precipitation because the Omega Zone -- or was it Omega Field? -- had all the right characteristics.

Doug quipped that Tom Skillings was his source for reliable weather -- and TOM had never mentioned the Omega thing. But, sure enough, it's a real thing up there over our heads. Who'd know? Stephen!

Fuzz is the newest (ad)venture capitalist, and new to me as well. A professional journalist (Chicago bureau chief with one of the largest cable news networks), Fuzz has a rich baritone voice that would easily win him a spot on radio or TV as an anchor. He will be teaching the classes on project management and constructing a business plan. He's also keeping a blog of the trip, which is probably going to be a better reporting of the facts than mine will be. Although an experienced traveler, this is Fuzz's first trip to Africa I think -- and he shares some of my ambiguity about what to expect.

Doug Mann of course, is the "father" of all (ad)venture capitalists.  The founder and president of global business assist, Doug is certainly the most experienced traveler among us.  (He immediately reminded me that I am NOT supposed to take pictures at security areas!) Doug made the initial connections to  set up this training when he first met the leaders of Africa Assistance Plan in 2007.  AAP operates a variety of projects in Ghana, including bore hole drilling, schools, and a highly successful micro-financing program.

Then there's me -- but you know about me, don't you?  A man with too many revenue sources to give a job description! As we boarded the plane, we somehow got on a conversation about how servers could serve both decaf and regular coffee at once if they only had a two-chambered coffee carafe. As everyone (except Doug!) engaged in the conversation during boarding, I noticed that the fellow behind me and the one beside me were a little TOO interested. Turns out they are both engineers.  If you see a Mr. Coffee Twin coming out soon -- remember from whom they stole the idea!

what is an (Ad)venture capitalist? -- a new definition

In the early 1990's, Jim Rogers popularized the term Adventure Capitalist through his book of the same name: a travelogue combined with investment advice, globetrotting, world economic and political commentary -- all focused on the idea of investing in opportunities around the world for personal gain and ROI.

At about the same time, a bit more quietly, Doug Mann of Global Business Assist began developing the concept of adventure capitalist with a decidedly different approach.  For Mann, who was involved first-hand in the humanitarian relief efforts in the Balkans during that period of ethnic cleansing and political-economic chaos, adventure capitalism meant something quite different.

Mann observed that humanitarian efforts that appropriately distributed physical aid in times of crises, were not the right types of efforts for development: people need more than a hand out, they need a hand up.

The gba model is to connect western entrepreneurs and business professionals with entrepreneurs in developing areas of the world -- in ways that empower these emerging entrepreneurs to create sustainable businesses that will not only feed their families, but also contribute to the economic development of their communities, and ultimately their regions & countries.  Western business professionals participate in this vital connection not only through donations to specific empowering projects, including microfinancing and business grants, but also more directly through business training seminars.

In these seminars, western professionals instruct and coach entrepreneurs in everything from bookkeeping to sales, promotion, leadership, and principles of becoming benevolent stewards of economic success.

My journey as an adventure capitalist begins with this kind of seminar -- taught in Sunyani, Ghana.

the (ad)venture of reaching across cultures

I am not really sure what to expect upon arrival in Ghana.  The west African country, a British colony as recently as 50 years ago is a country that is for the most part stable prolifically and economically.

The gba project in Ghana is to train about 40 owners of SME (small-to-medium enterprise) businesses.  The question in my mind, and that I can't seem to find a solid answer for is -- what does a Ghanian SME look like?  At what point does a micro-business (a label that I have seen applied to the owner/operators of marketplace stands selling fruit, vegetables, cloth, etc.) become an SME?  I suppose I will have to find that out once I meet the program participants. :) This uncertainty contributes to some ambiguity as I sit here with the training materials in front of me.  In these next few weeks, we will finalize the reviewing and revising of the material to ensure that we have right-sized it and removed cultural artifacts, jargon, dialectics and metaphors that only an American would understand.  My usual starting place is to consider my audience -- and that is where I am stuck.

The scope of our training is fairly broad.  Before me I have content on basic values that motivate what someone is bound to call a "benevolent entrepreneur".  At the core of the gba training are core values of integrity, honesty, fairness, honoring customers, employees and business partners with respect and love, community services, and acknowledging God's dominion.

Based on these values, the training covers the basics of accounting and cash flow management, budgeting, inventory control, selling, promotion, project management and people management.  Wow.  I am now feeling a bit overwhelmed -- and particularly non-plussed as to how to state these in relevant ways across language, culture and types of business.  I have a feeling I am going to stare at it for a while longer.