Founded in 2007, HAI is a cocoa exporting firm that links an association of 11,000 organically certified cocoa farmers to international markets.  Its mission is to improve the Tanzanian cocoa sector and support the farmers while promoting social and environmental responsibility.   It assists farmers implement techniques to efficiently cultivate cocoa, buys the cocoa from the farmers, transports and ships the cocoa, and enters into contracts with international cocoa buyers.

Honeycare Tanzania (HCAT) intervenes at all levels of the value chain for both honey and beeswax: it collects, transports, processes, promotes, packages and sells honey and beeswax. It mainly exports in bulk to Europe and the US but also serves the retail Tanzanian market. Going forward, HCAT plans to expand its range of products to reduce its dependence on honey, whose output is weather-dependent. Bee-candy, pollination services and comb foundations are the next value-added products, some of which are already being introduced.

I’ve been in Nairobi for almost two weeks, working with K-Rep Development Agency (KDA), whose mission is “…to build the field of microfinance through the development of appropriate microfinance products and services to create economic opportunities for low- income people and contribute to eliminating poverty.” The agency works to achieve this mission by developing and piloting innovativ e micro-finance products designed to reach marginalized niches across Kenya. Current K-Rep pilot programs are reaching people infected with HIV/AIDS, young urban entrepreneurs, women, bee-keepers, tree farmers, dairy farmers, and more.

Go Girl is a former KDA pilot project that launched in 2006 and was just recently absorbed by K-Rep Bank. Go Girl reaches more than 600 girls living in poverty, age 10 – 18, and offers a safe and encouraging environment where social and economic issues are explored. And of course, the girls are counseled on the importance of saving!

I was invited to a Go Girl Savings Club meeting over the weekend which took place in Kibera, the largest slum in Nairobi. Kibera is home to more than one million people, accounting for nearly a third of the city’s population. The girls meet every Saturday afternoon at a Women’s Development Center in their neighborhood. This week was a special meeting. In addition to collecting weekly savings deposits, each active member received a Piggy Bank, a Go Girl T-shirt, sanitary napkins (for those over age 15), a bottle of soda, and biscuits.

The meeting room was lively with movement and activity all afternoon, approximately 200 girls in attendance. I assisted K-Rep staff Jillo, Christine, and Edna in tracking attendance, distributing items, and taking photographs.  I am excited to see that organizations such as KDA are not only focused on micro-lending for the working poor, but also recognize the importance of reaching out to youth to make an impact early on - by providing education, support, and opportunity to deposit small savings in group or individual accounts.

As an honorary Go Girl (I was issued a T-shirt too!) I look forward to participating in another meeting soon.

Looking for the sweetness of life, he found his passion of art at Streetwires and his dreams for a better life relies on the quality of the products and the prosperity of the company.

His current duties as a Quality Controller are, to make sure “we produce products which will meet our client’s needs and expectations and to make sure the production meets the size, shape and color of the samples”. Godza is trying to make quality a habit for every artist at the company, hence maintain it’s reputation of high quality products in the world business.

Godza believes that “the hands are very powerful” and make possible the creation of such quality products that one cannot think they are handmade. He is sure that there is still room to improve. According to him in order to approach the demanding markets the company should “not always do the usual products, we should look for perfection and new design always”.

It has been a real pleasure to spend some time every week with Godza and talk about different ways of improving quality and at the end how to achieve a better life. His welcoming smile and courtesy are really one think that I am going to take with me the moment I will end my assignment in South Africa.

You can fine more information about Godza and the compnay at:

http://www.streetwires.co.za or

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20680575431

]]> http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/30/taking-quality-control-seriously/feed/ http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/09/report-from-south-africa/ http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/09/report-from-south-africa/#comments Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:12:20 +0000 Gonzalo http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/?p=239

Gonzalo Aramayo, MBAs Without Borders Volunteer, Project in South Africa 2008 (garamayo@hotmail.com)

On July 2008, Gonzalo started to work with three craft companies in South Africa; Streetwires (www.streetwires.co.za), Kunye (www.kunye.org), and Mielie (www.mielie.com). During his assignment, he has been helping these companies on different issues related to the business and marketing. He helped the owners and managers of these companies to draft their Marketing Strategy Plan that helped the companies to focus their businesses on the markets needs identifying their strengths and weakness. His activities included the review of the different systems, evaluate their consistency and accuracy, and advising on upgrades and changes. He advised the business on costing and pricing of the different product ranges and suggest changes and updates to their current websites.

It is a well-known fact that unemployment leads to numerous other social ills like crime, poverty and the hampering of community growth and development. South Africa has been striving to reduce unemployment for years, yet despite the new government’s efforts, the situation has not improved significantly since 1994. A few South African businesses like Streetwires, Kunye and Mielie, started to create job opportunities in the craft area, mixing innovation, creativity, marketing, and enthusiasm. The main objective of these companies is to create sustainable, meaningful long-term employment for as many unemployed and needy South Africans as possible. The companies provide craft artists with permanent employment, a sense of purpose, and access to resources such as skills training and personal development. This enables the artists to channel their natural creative abilities into rewarding and fulfilling work.

The dreams and wishes of hundreds of artist are behind these hand made products, the hope for a better future and prosperity is enclosed in each one of the raw materials (beads, wire, recycled tins, paper and plastic, and recalled fabrics) of the products, and that create a whole and wonderful product.

These visionaries are demonstrating that business can do amazing things…

Streetwires (www.streetwires.co.za)

Streetwires is based in the center of Cape Town. Streetwires started in 2000 with two artists and three founders. Streetwires is a business with a social mission that is, generate secure and sustainable employment for disadvantage people. The focus of this unique company is the production of high quality bead and wire products. The product range includes animals, creatures, key rings, gifts, and house ware. The company has 80 staff working at the studio/shop of Cape Town.

Streetwires introduced the idea of producing wire and bead products and has generated a growing industry using the core tenets of upliftment, sustainability and innovation as their guide. Streetwires is seeking to bringing their diverse skills together and working to build its future and the future of South Africa.

Streetwires currently exports to 15 countries and supplies several large retailers and established corporate companies domestically and internationally. Streetwire art, unique to Southern Africa and largely unavailable beyond the borders, is a living testimony to the industriousness and creative spirit of their people. Born in the shanty towns and dusty back roads and baptized on the streets, today this genre is a thriving and legitimate art form in its own right, with many ‘wiremasters’ making a living selling their creations not only on street corners and at craft markets, but also in upmarket shops and galleries around the world.

Like their people, each hand-crafted piece is special in its own way, and each one has its own story to tell, while the scope for training, development and upliftment is enormous. In addition, most wire art lends itself readily to being branded, thereby increasing the appeal of these products for promotional purposes and corporate gifts, an area that Streetwires has pioneered.

Kunye (www.kunye.org)

Kunye is based in Cape Town and was started in 1995 by Alison Coutras as a personal contribution to combating unemployment. Kunye is Xhosa (South Africa native language) for “forward together” and communicates happiness and joy in doing things together. Alison’s training in landscape design and environmental resource management made her acutely aware of sustainability and the need to protect the environment.

Kunye trains and provides work to groups and individuals who handcraft products, using recycled materials as raw materials. During the last 10 years Kunye has built a reputation both locally and internationally for it’s innovative designs and the quiality of it’s products. Kunye has won a number of awards. Kunye offer custom-made product ranges to corporate clients. Trade shows also form part of the existing Marketing strategy.

Mielie (www.mielie.com)

Mielie is a handcraft business, based at the Montebello Design Centre in Newlands, Cape Town. Mielie is Afrikaans for corn, the staple diet of most South Africans, and probably the first item on most of the weaver’s shopping list. Mielie was started by Adri Schütz (owner and designer) in June 2002, working with a group of people who work from their homes in the greater Cape Town area. The company currently works with 70 women, who once a week meet at Mielie’s to deliver the completed products, work on refining some faulty items, check and control quality of products, and get new orders.

Mielie’s product range is varied and includes one best product, the hooked handbags. These handbags have been designed by Adri Schütz and produced utilizing reclaimed materials, these bags are handmade therefore creates many jobs for the women at Khayelitsha (a Township nearby Cape Town).

Gonzalo Aramayo’s Bio

Gonzalo Aramayo began his career working in the US and Bolivia for small and multinational companies in the area of strategic planning, product and services development, sales & marketing, real estate and banking, and Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D).  He has since developed consultancies in the areas of telecommunications, marketing, e-marketing, project management, knowledge management, and ICT4D for international organizations such as ALADI, WB/DGF, IICD, and UNDP.

Gonzalo Aramayo holds a Degree in Economics from Arizona State University and received his MBA from THUNDERBIRD (Global School of International Management) focused on International Management and Marketing.

]]> http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/09/report-from-south-africa/feed/ http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/05/amashishini-can-do-mangalisayo-things-a-visit-to-the-xhosa-culture/ http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/2009/01/05/amashishini-can-do-mangalisayo-things-a-visit-to-the-xhosa-culture/#comments Mon, 05 Jan 2009 09:48:01 +0000 Gonzalo http://mbaswithoutborders.org/borderless/?p=238 Amashishini (Business) can do mangalisayo (amazing) things: A visit to the Xhosa Culture

I had the opportunity to meet a woman that is making amazing things for her community, promoting the Xhosa culture of South Africa. Xhosa is one of the native groups in South Africa (Nelson Mandela comes from the Xhosa region) and is also one of the eleven official languages in the country. The language uses different clicking sounds and one could identify a Xhosa from the different clicking on their speaking. There are thousands of Xhosa villages in Transkei or the Wild Coast of South Africa. One of these villages is Ngxingxolo, home of Mama Tofu, a remarkable 90 year old woman who conducts a tour to show travelers a part of the Xhosa culture. She came to Ngxingxolo because she married here. She has 10 children and 21 grand and great-grand children (last time she counted them, she said). Now she hosts groups, to tell about herself, her culture and the Xhosa people.

In Ngxingxolo, we were welcomed by a group of women and children who played a drum and sang a song to greet us. Then we spent the next two hours with a magical woman. Mama Tofu explained us the culture and all the different customs, rituals, beliefs and folklore of their culture. She shared with us the different special moments of their own family, like the death of her husband and son, and the special ritual that was made for them. She told us of sacrificing ox - done only whenever a man in the family dies, and showed us the leather ropes from the 2 ox she’s had to sacrifice: one for her husband in 1984 and one for her son. She explained us the coming-of-age traditions for both genders, when the girls spend weeks in a hut guarded by an auntie and the boys have circumcision rituals that make them men. The boys spend weeks on the woods by themselves, in order to demonstrate that they could survive and support their family. One can see them roaming the roads painted in white and walking towards the woods. She told us about the marriage customs and that the way the Xhosa people measure richness is through cows and daughters: when a couple is to get married, the man must pay a labola to the woman’s family - usually about 8 cows. She explained also that if a boy has pre-marital sex with one of the girls his family needs to pay the girls family 5 cows.

Mama Tofu took us into different huts: one where girls would stay when coming-to-age, others used for homes. She explained us how the buildings are made from clay and grass, similar to the ones that are used in the rural areas of Bolivia. The staple food of the Xhosa people is mielie (corn) and they use a grinding stone to convert it on a power. We tried to traditional dishes that were cooked for us during the visit. We learned many things from Mama Tofu. But really, it was simply being in her presence that was so impacting and inspiring. She started this tourism business 7 years ago, and she is helping not only her family but the whole community bringing tourist from the cities to the rural areas. Mama Tofu is keen that people should learn about their culture, and the small income derived from travelers helps to provide much needed revenue to fund village improvements. We had the chance to purchase beadwork from the women and children of the village. Traditional Xhosa products that you can purchase directly form the producers knowing that it will help them to improve their lives.

Mama Tofu’s business provides a very worthwhile opportunity to take a look at the life of a Xhosa African village. She makes everything on her hands to manage this unique business to show travelers something of the Xhosa culture in a form they can understand, maintaining their traditions and rituals as natural as can be achieved. Mama Tofu is showing with her example that “Business can do amazing things”.