Archive | April, 2012

Learnings about business and demonstration projects

29 Apr

Doing things at scale: One Acre Fund now supports over 125,000 farmers, and plans to expand to 180,000 over the next 2 years.

I am learning to respect the salesman who tells you the drawbacks of his products. There are always drawbacks, whether you are told about them or not.

I am learning that maybe it is okay to be told by a salesman that there are things that can’t be done. It means they are focusing on the things that can be done.

I am learning also however, to respect the salesman who focuses on the positives.

In the projects I am working on there is always a focus on how the product will “prevent harm”. How it will reduce disease, save time, save money. Like these failed strategies to sell condoms in the Congo.

What I am learning is that in any type of business (and, perhaps, in life), it is better to focus on how the product will give people the life that they want.

I am learning that things often end up costing more than you’d planned. I am learning things often end up taking longer than you’d hope. But I am also learning that people are more used to this than you’d think.

I am learning it takes a lot of effort to care. I am learning to take note when someone does. I am learning that it is rare to find.

I am learning that many people who are working on small projects call them “demonstration” projects. “We want to show other people how things could be done at scale.”

I am learning that it is actually really hard to take an idea to scale.

I am learning is to ask people working on small projects: Why not show people how it is really done and take it to scale yourself?

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<3 of the week: How to: (a) get your candidate into the World Bank Presidency, (b) save a rainforest, (c) change yourself.

28 Apr

Spiderlings in Yasuni National Park, Ecuador

  • “Kim is smart and qualified, and there are many good reasons not to have a business-as-usual Bank President, even one in health. But if you find yourself supporting his candidacy on such substantive grounds: congratulations, you have successfully succumbed to Obama’s strategy for maintaining imperial control of one the world’s most influential institutions. A sympathetic and noble candidate is not a coincidence. It is a red herring.” That was  from Chris Blattmanon the recent appointment of Dr Jim Kim to the presidency.
  • Yasuni National Park in Ecuador is considered to be one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the world. The Ecuadorian Government decided to put a call out. The would temporarily protect the rainforest from oil mining if they could raise 50% of the  income they would raise from mining. What is described as a “An odd alliance of governments, film stars, Japanese businesses, Russian institutions, and soft drink companies” came forward and the money was raised.
  • “The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.” That is the most highlighted sentence in Kindle from Ben Casnocha’s The Start Up of You.

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Image: Some rights reserved by ggallice

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The space between us

23 Apr

The more countries I work in, the more I think the differences between us are smaller than we’d think.

Yes, there are different ways of showing respect in difference cultures, but the point is there is still a need to show respect.

Yes, there are difference ways of initiating and maintaining a relationship, but the point is that there are relationships.

Yes, everyone has different tastes in music, but the point is that there are tastes in music.

We tend to see ourselves as points on the huge human scale. With Chopin lovers at this end and Ciara lovers at that end.

But, then I think about the magnitude of the universe and the diversity of options that must be out there.  Ben Casnocha recently posted this epiphany of the astronaut Edgar Mitchell, when he saw earth from space:

“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.””

Yes there is diversity in the human race. But this diversity is but a small dot in the universe, and the space on either side is infinite.

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Image: Some rights reserved by IronRodArt – Royce Bair (NightScapes on Thursdays)

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<3 of the week: Electricity in Nepal, Grameen’s Progress out of Poverty Index and Obama’s views on Jay-Z vs Kayne

22 Apr
 
Climate Action Campaign in Jhapa, Nepal
  • I think the electricity situation here in Nepal deserves a mention. The bustling town of Birtamode (pop 28,000) where I am currently located gets 6 hours of electricity a day. The National Electricity Authority of Nepal actually has an official load shedding schedule - at the moment we are on 11am-2pm and 11pm-2am. The regional office I am working in works off batteries whenever power is down, but the branch offices just have to wait until the electricity comes back on. I don’t know how to fully describe to you what this means, other than to say that dinners here are either by candle light or buzzing generator and the streets are very dark because there is no electricity for street lighting.
  • I just spend the better part of the week learning about Grameen’s “Progress out of Poverty Index” (PPI) here in Nepal. The tool is very clever in that it uses national census data to develop a list of 10 simple questions which most likely indicate poverty in that country. This works because each person in the census is characterised as above or below the poverty line. Then is just a simple case of taking the questions those below the poverty line were most likely to answer “yes” to. You can then get an accurate measurement of poverty levels amongst groups and individuals. The tool isn’t subjective (i.e we think poor people have no land); it is objective (i.e. the census shows that people below the poverty line almost always report having a thatched roof). Good Return are hoping to support all our partners in adopting the index. This will mean that they will get a much better understanding as to how many of their members are below the poverty line.

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Image:  Some rights reserved by 350.org

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Ode to Borneo

16 Apr

To the daily runs along rivers, through farms, through jungles,

To the swirling leaves on the path ahead, right before the rain came,

To the dengue fever I haven’t got yet.

 

To the rock star reception,

The endless facebook friends, photos, TV and radio interviews.

 

To the laughter while I tried to farm rubber, rice, vegetables;

While I tried to speak English or speak Bahasa, or speak anything.

 

To the motorbike adventures –

Along paths I would barely walk.

 

To the eye of electrical storm which woke me at 3am,

The one that made the sky so bright it hurt my eyes.

 

To the priest who came good with the purple Fanta, right when it was needed.

To the other priest who spoke with so much passion,

And so much Italian.

 

To the man who joked around with the products I was selling,

Hanging one of them over his ear like jewellery.

 

To the man who told me: “life is life, sometimes it is good, sometimes it bad”,

And the others who taught me about “jurhut”,

To pour out one’s heart like a teapot.

 

To Borneo, for pouring your heart out,

And for listening to mine.

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<3 of the week: Starting your own business

15 Apr

Kayaking in Patagonia with Paddle Patagonia

This week I was inspired by Hong Kong to share a few start ups which friends are involved with. Hong Kong has such a strong entrepreneurial spirit, much more than anywhere else I’ve seen. They may be better off for it – a recent international happiness report indicated that starting your own business, at least in the developed world, can be an indicator of happiness.
  • When my primary school friend Kashish Hemnani was working in the fashion industry, she realised how easy it would be for her to design and market her own handbags. So she started doing it on the side, eventually realising she could turn it into a full time job. I spent an afternoon with her and was fascinated to catch a glimpse of the designer world. Each of her pieces is bespoke and hand made – you can check out her beautiful line, called Laykh. 
  • An ex-work colleague/friend has just moved to Kyrgyzstan (seriously, Kyrgystan) to start an environmental policy research centre. Here he aims to provide independent research and analysis on environmental issues and hopefully influence policy decisions in the country. You can check out his blog on his adventures, the appropriately titled bobinayurt.com.
  • Finally, Julian Tisato has started a paddling company in Patagonia, which I was very excited to hear from him this week. I can definitely credit a good deal of my paddling ability to his instruction. Go Julian! I wish you all the best.
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A better way

12 Apr

If you are not sure –

It is better to laugh. To smile.

.

If you are not sure –

It is better to show up. To reach out.

.

If you are not sure –

It is better to show you care.

Actually, to show you love.

.

I am often not sure.

But I am sure,

that it is always,

always,

always,

a better way,

to put the effort in.

…..

Image: Some rights reserved by Aristocrats-hat

<3 of the week: Reason follows intuition and existential crises

5 Apr

Textures from the fashion collection "Outpost " by Jessica O'Connor

  • Sascha Dichter this week eloquently posts on how reason follows intuition. You will always, always, always find evidence to support your point of view, if that is what you are looking for. “This means that we make decisions and form opinions with our intuitive minds, and then use our power to reason to support our intuitive decisions.  In Jonathan’s words, the intuitive (or emotional) dog wags the rational tail.   This is why we find it so incomprehensible that people with different moral outlooks don’t “just respond to the facts.”  We think that people look at facts to make decisions, when in fact they make decisions and then look for facts that support those decisions.”
  • Anyone who knows me well knows I often in the midst of some existential crisis about my life – thinking about some big question that I will never be able to actually answer. It made me feel less alone to hear this from Robin Hilton on NPR’s Listeners Picks of 2011 about Fleet Foxes ”Helplessness Blues”: ”I love growing old… every year I’m glad that my 20s are behind me. My 20s were one long existential crisis - what is the meaning of anything, what is all this for, what does work matter, and this song is all about coming to the understanding that your life doesn’t have to be remarkable to be fulfilling. This song has the passion and urgency of someone in their 20s who wants to live an amazing life … but the narrator comes to the understanding that he wants to serve something greater, even if he’s a small part of whatever that is”. I also really liked Civilian by Wye Oak; their whole album is described as an ode to “the pursuit of a normal life, to be comfortable in your own skin”.
  • A good friend’s sister recently scored a fashion contract with the Australian store Sportsgirl. I previously posted about my reaction to her clothes  (mid-existential crisis). Amazing what someone can do with their university thesis. You can check out Jess’ collection “Outpost” here.

Image Credit: Sportsgirl

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There’s something about Mauritius

3 Apr

Mauritius: Not done just yet.

The most common question I get asked after “Do you get lonely?” is “Of all the places you’ve been, where would you go back to live?”

I never know how to answer that question.

I always answer that I feel like I could live anywhere.

Anywhere that is, except Mauritius.

There were many, many things I loved about Mauritius. But two months was enough. It was way too small for a start – I drove around the entire country in a WEEKEND. It wasn’t challenging enough workwise. There wasn’t enough decent surfing. The traffic is awful. I got leered at in the street all the time. Bla bla bla.

Even the man that drove me to the airport said: “I don’t think we’ll be seeing you back here”.

“Yep,” I remember thinking, “I’m so done with this place.”

Except, that a year on, I don’t think Mauritius is quite done with me.

It was in Mauritius that I started this blog. I started meditating. I started yoga. I landed two dream jobs.

It was in Mauritius that I almost died – and thought that maybe I was spared because I still have work to do.

It was in Mauritius that I sat in a tiny anchored rowboat, bobbing in the ocean, and decided to chase love.

It was in Mauritius that I met two wonderful people who took me in and showed me what community really means. People who taught me things I still think about now. Lessons which have taken me a year to fully appreciate.

I once had a mentor that I hadn’t seen in six months. When I was asked why I hadn’t seen her in so long, all I could say was that I wasn’t ready yet.

I was still working on advice from the last visit.

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Image: Some rights reserved by Marianone

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