Day 2

Today brought the second day of teaching for both teams. One team member (myself) came down with a bout of something (and is blogging from the bed), but everyone picked up my slack, including bringing me back dinner to my room. Apparently the love ends there, because I still was not granted a pass on my turn of blogging.

Today in Bahati we got to know the students and their ideas a bit more. Our students are very strong and motivated. Most have formulated business ideas, but there remains the challenge of matching the ideas with resources needed. Our challenge will be to help them to turn their plans into something with a lower cost structure. This is doubly important because the financers here are reluctant to loan large amounts. Big dreams are common the world over, but some students have proposed considerably smaller scale operations that are quickly moving towards the competitive advantage needed for success.

Eye-opening to me at the site were the comments of 2 students. One student has been asking us about scholarships to study in Canada. He grew up with neither a mother nor a father in the house, and for a period of time raised his brother by himself. While there are a number of excellent international students at UBC from Kenya, they disproportionably come from private schools and homes that can afford to pay international tuition. Even studying here comes at a cost that is prohibitive for some of our students. Access to education is something that we take for granted living where we do. How many of us go to school because it was better than getting a job? This student had a thirst for knowledge that perhaps we have lost in North America.

Another student was looking for ways to generate income for her non-profit company. I mentioned that in North America, people donate their clothes and furniture that they no longer have use for to organizations like the Salvation Army or the SPCA, who then sell those goods second-hand. She immediately indicated that such an idea would have no chance in much of Kenya because most people are already buying second hand clothes, and when they are at the point that people no longer have use for them, they would be worn out to the point that no one would pay for them.

On another note, there have been at least 2 earthquakes today. I would have been much more afraid of my first earthquake experience had I not been barely conscious in bed. While it has made the paper as of late, apparently there is only a small chance that any earthquakes will be serious in this area. It is easy to forget that there is a much greater chance of a serious tremor in the Vancouver area, so we’ll be fine.