Hope in Kenya as of Sept. 2008
Despite the turmoil during and after the elections in late
2007 and early 2008, Nairobi and Central Kenya seem to have returned
to stability. Tourism, so key to the Kenyan economy, still has a long way to
return to the 2007 level, though on the surface,
the animals and facilities in Lewa Conservancy seem untouched, as you can see
below. However, our friends and colleagues
pointed out that there are still many internally displaced people and double the
number of Ministers in government to accommodate
the totally, joint-party government. But TechnoServe seems to have
returned or maintained its clients on the path to
economic sustainability based on my 2 visits (also below). See below the
pictures for more on Paul and Jacqui's stories.
Also see the webpage of our friends
Anna and Greg's Wedding
on Lamu Island
| Lewa Conservancy | TechnoServe Client: Cecilia Katungwa | ||||
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Our flight from Nairobi to Lewa
was on a 10-seater (Above L). We turned south over Kibera slum (Above C) which is supposedly the largest in Africa with 1 million people, before turning north to Nanyuki airstrip near Mt. Kenya then on to Lewa Camp (Above R). Rick and I stayed in the same tent as we did a year ago with our family and friends. |
TechnoServe Client: Bioplast Industries |
TechnoServe Client: Language Solutions |
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Unlike leopards who are loners,
cheetahs hunt in small groups like the 3 brothers (Above L). (Above C) This cheetah looks fierce but is actually yawning and his brother (Above R) is just bored even though our safari van is 10 feet away...thanks goodness! |
(Above) Yvonne, a Kenyan colleague, introduced me to a client , Paul, who owns/runs Bioplast Industries. |
The grand prize winner of 2007 Kenya business plan competition was Language Solutions (Above), a translation and language-teaching service. |
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Lewa Conservancy has incorporated
a neighboring rhino sanctuary which hosts about 100 rhinos in total, to eventually reintroduce them into post-conflict Africa. What is the difference between a black rhino (Above L) and white rhino (Above C & R)? Except for moms and their babies, black rhinos travel alone and shyly stay hidden in bushes. They have smaller heads, a hooked upper lip to browse in low shrubs, and seem even crankier than their white cousins who do hang out together. |
Bioplast manufactures medical devices (Above) for sale to local labs as well as regional government agencies. |
Jacqui (Above) founded Language Solutions which she has expended with TechnoServe's prize money and guidance. |
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Hyenas (Above L) generally travel
alone but hunt in small packs, hoping to find leftovers from other animals or vulnerable baby animals. A giraffe (Above C) would just kick a hyena like a football. A Cory Bustard bird (Above R) would sniff and fly away with dignity. |
The machinery (Above) was partially bought with funds the owner won during TechnoServe's business plan competition. |
(Above) Her 2nd business site houses classrooms, translations facilities, conference rooms, and other new capacities. |
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Guess where the
beautifully-horned waterbucks (Above L) can be found: near water if you can find them at all. The Helmeted Guinea Fowl (Above C) is decorated with stripes and polka dots. The young lion (Above R) is calmly waiting for his friend to go hunting this evening, though eventually they may fight to the death over a female. |
However, all sorting, labeling, and packaging is done by hand (Above). |
(Above) Jacqui has incredible enthusiasm and also vision for how she wants to expand her company regionally and internationally. |
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On our last morning at Lewa, our
guide Johnson (Above L) showed us an old Masaai gaming spot: a rock where the "cups" for a bao were carved. He also took our picture (Above C) on the hill where we posed a year ago with our family. As we drive to the Lewa airstrip, we say good-bye to an elephant and his zebra pals. |
The owner (Above) explains how TechnoServe is helping him to expand his business. |
To
allow herself time to focus on her vision, she has partnered with Jane (Above) to run daily operations and add other business-oriented classes, e.g., finance. |
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Entrepreneur #1
In mid-2004 Jacqueline founded Language Solutions and Business Communications in Hurlingham, an upscale suburb of Nairobi, Kenya. Starting with one language teacher, she sought clients who wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese. She then expanded to other language classes, interpretation, and related training activities so that by 2005, Jacqui and a staff of 2 moved to a bigger nearby facility. When TechnoServe’s national business plan competition was announced in March 2007, Jacqui recognized an opportunity to open a second facility. This would help her achieve more impact, particularly to meet alumni’s needs for improved financial skills in their lives and at work. Jacqui’s business expansion plan not only qualified for the top 300 semi-finalists among nearly 6,000 Believe Begin Become (BBB) applications but eventually she qualified for the top 100 finalists in the business plan competition. Her grit and determination are best demonstrated by her preparation for the final judging. Her 99 other colleagues and she arrived at a conference site on the outskirts of Nairobi on a Sunday evening. By Monday evening, Jacqui was in a great deal of stomach pain so went to a Nairobi emergency room on Tuesday morning to find that she needed an appendectomy. She returned to the BBB conference site on Wednesday night, against doctors’ orders, finalized her preparation for judging on Friday, and was awarded the competition’s Grand Prize of $15,000 on Saturday. Because of Believe Begin Become, Jacqui has appeared in Kenyan media as well as been featured in Lenovo laptops’ internationally published ads and a documentary. She envisions growing nationally, regionally and even internationally, already achieving Ksh. 6 million annual turnover (almost $100,000) and 19 employees in 2008. “I have no choice! I make it or I make it!” declares Jacqui. With her drive, savvy and persistence, she is well on her way to making great impact on Kenya’s economy.
Entrepreneur #2
Paul became a certified medical lab technician in 2000 then worked in a medical laboratory for several years. During that experience, he noticed that many doctors use inefficient, poorly designed testing containers. Paul launched Bioplast Industries packaging business in early 2006 to gain manufacturing, retailing, and production knowledge. After building hands-on experience with a non-medical product, he switched back to his medical knowledge base. He computer-designed a special capped tube with a spoon-like device inside for use as a patient-friendly, sanitary stool collection container, which he calls “Easypot”. Using the Internet he managed to purchase a used plastic extruding machine then connected with a Hong Kong company to manufacture the mold to his specifications, in parallel testing the device with patients and doctors.
Most of Easypot sales were initially through medical device distributors, but soon Paul hired several sales people to have direct customer relationships, control of his revenues, and build a small but stable base of local doctors, labs, hospitals, etc. For larger opportunities, he advertises his website on eBay and Alibaba, an internet medical supply portal, as well as pays for an advantageous listing during a customer search for this type of device. In 2007 with 2 other employees, Paul designed, manufactured, and began selling his 2nd product—Specicari, a capped cup for sputum and urine specimens--into his same customer base. Then Bioplast was awarded major projects in Uganda and Nigeria which stretched production capacity. When he learned about Believe Begin Become, TechnoServe Kenya’s national business plan competition, Paul applied, qualified as one of the 300 semi-finalists; and with his new in-depth business training became a final 100 BBB competitor. In November 2007, Bioplast Industries was awarded a Believe Begin Become prize of $7,200 to add manufacturing capacity, invest in a 3rd product development, and expand his markets Paul believes Bioplast Industries has a bright future saying, "I started from scratch and now I’m growing profits, products and monies. It’s a beautiful thing!”