Finally! More Photos from Chad

The charcoal production site:

The charcoal production team:

Here is the sack of manioc (also known as cassava or yuca).  The chunks in the picture are first pulverized into a flour and then flour is stirred into a big pot of boiling water until the mixture becomes a sticky paste.

The manioc paste is then mixed with carbonized agricultural material.  This material was left out in the rain and the team was trying to dry it out.

Pouring the prepared binder mix for another batch of briquettes:

The carbonized material is mixed with the binder and then pressed into these molds.  The team can produce about 1300 briquettes in a 7.5 hr workday.

Drying the briquettes on a tarp.  The thin plastic tarps costs about $50 each in Chad.

Quick!  Move the briquettes before the storm hits!  Deluge occurred minutes later...

Taking measurements of wood charcoal to compare with our briquettes.

Eating food cooked with the eco-briquettes.

Within sight of our charcoal production, locals passed by riding bicycles with huge bags of charcoal strapped to the back.  They smuggle charcoal into the city by dirt roads and paths to avoid the checkpoints on the main roads.

David talks business, management, and strategy with Aquilas, the Chadian National Coordinator.  The daily long conversations were critical for building relationships and talking through the challenges together.

David and Ghislain logging onto the new laptop donated to ENVODEV by a great friend in Boston.  Thanks Nate!

Studying the design of the rammed-earth mold.  We discovered several errors in the instructions.  Thankfully we were able to adapt.

Aquilas had previous experience ramming earth.  He put us all to shame!  My hands were covered in blisters after an hour of swapping turns packing the clay.

Some of the local kids thought I was Chinese.  The only non-Africans they had ever seen were the Chinese oil workers.

The finished rammed earth stove!  We finished this on the last day in Moundou.  Grateful to have finished one before we left!

ENVODEV's full-time staff: Ghislain, Aquilas, and David.

Ghislain and I posing for a picture in Moundou.  It was so great to get to be a part of the team!

Myanmar: Building Hope from Rubble

[p]Often times in development we talk about what projects need to succeed, which policies might best bring about a desired goal, or how to create access to some service. I’m surprised though how often we don’t talk about what mindset exists within the people who will be the primary recipients of development. This was brought home to me recently in a conversation with an elderly Burmese man whose thriving artisan glass factory was reduced to a sea of rubble and buried glassware after the 2008 Cyclone Nargis. The reality of crushing loss, trauma, and fatigue are hard to calibrate too and harder to overcome, when you don’t understand where someone is coming from psychologically.[/p]

[p]U Aung Zaw, whose business prior to April 2008 employed 43 workers and could produce anything that you could draw, from elaborately colored platters to wine decanters with cleverly placed pockets for cooling ice. A simple factory built from timber and sheet metal didn’t meet the standards of the 1st world, but served many businesses, organizations, embassies, and individual homes throughout Myanmar.  [/p]

[p]However after Nargis the plant was destroyed, there was little hope of rebuilding and zero support for small businesses or industries impacted by the disaster. The kiln which had been the centerpiece of the factory had been cracked in the storm and because of the building’s collapse, was almost beyond repair. Hundreds of shelves of finished and nearly finished products were scattered around more then an acre of jungle, itself now reduced to a chaotic jumble of branches, frawns, timber, and sheet metal. Charcoal, which had been the primary fuel source for the furnace, climbed rapidly in price to nearly 12 times the 2008 costs. And with no income most of the skilled glass workers quickly left the compound to work abroad.[/p]

  [p]In addition a larger problem looms with the remaining former employees. For families that didn’t leave, they took up residence on the factory’s property and have taken work at other businesses or work as day laborers. Having lost all paperwork in the cyclone, U Aung Zaw could not prove the title to his land, and faced both social and physical resistance when he voiced his resentment of the small shanty town that has taken over part of the old factory grounds.[/p]

[p]Small fights have broken out, and now as they come home former workers and their families will take items from the piles around the old compound to use or re-sell. U Aung Zaw refused to speak about the subject further given his fear of physical harm and retaliation, particularly if he were to push to rebuild the factory or to have the squatting homes removed.[/p]

 [p]As a testament to U Aung Zaw and his family’s ingenuity, it became apparent that slowly returning tourism might offer some small income. So to provide for the family’s income U Aung Zaw would allow visitors to wander the grounds of his compound, digging through deep piles of frawns and mud to unearth largely unbroken glassware. A literal treasure hunt would turn up anything that had been in production prior to the cyclone, and for those who are more creative, U Aung Zaw’s family would cut down, polish, and even fuse pieces of glass to make entirely new items.[/p]

[p]However, such income is still not enough, and as U Aung Zaw says, he is too old and too much time as passed.  Even recalling the story and the last five years leaves his sun worn face damp with controlled tears, and says he cannot bear to think about the prospect of rebuilding. [/p]

[p]Loans, as they exist today, are mostly out of the question, as U Aung Zaw cannot prove his land ownership, or the existence of a working business. Fuel costs continue to rise, and even if a switch were to be made to gas or some alternative source of energy, it would require hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction, and nothing less then the creation of a new factory business. Wealthy Myanmar donors for such a social project don’t exist, and rebuilding a small glass factory has no friends in the NGO community. And more crucially U Aung Zaw does not want to rebuild the factory. [/p]

[p]This leaves me asking a question I really don’t know how to answer: Regardless of funding or resources, how do you work through suffering, trauma, and loss? How do you find a way to support and assist when an internal desire has gone out?[/p]

[p]Many of you who know me are probably aware of how much I’ve considered this question of behavior and psychology to be of crucial value. I imagine that to make an impact in these situations it would need to be of central importance to any approach to provide support and must specifically begin with conversations and a lot of good listening. And still, sadly, at times it seems you just have to accept a result and mitigate pain and suffering by moving on. But where does that cut off exist?[/p]

[p]I’ll be visiting the former factory again with a local Burmese art gallery/social enterprise, and will update as the story unfolds.[/p]

A Village Stay in Burkina Faso

While I've been busy at work in Ouagadougou, capturing many of the interviews I conducted with beneficiaries of the Agricultural Development Project of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact with Burkina Faso, and writing reports from my field visits (more on this soon), I wanted to share with you all some photos from a recent visit to a village in western Burkina Faso. Last weekend, I had the good fortune of accompanying a co-worker to his village near Doudou, where he served during his time as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  Doudou is approx. 150 km from Ouagadougou, near Koudougou, the third largest city in Burkina Faso (after Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dialosso). ("Dougou", I recently learned, means "ville" or town).

While we only stayed a night, it felt like a long weekend, filled with special moments: sharing a meal with former counterparts, visiting different homes to pay our respects, inspecting a newly installed water pump, sleeping under the stars, and strolling through the market in Doudou on Sunday.

Sharing an incredible feast with my co-worker's former counterpart, Moises 

Visiting the local market in Doudou on Sunday (Photo credit: Chris) 

The local language, Lyele, was as enjoyable to learn as Wolof, and while I only was able to pick up a few phrases, I know fellow Star Wars fans would have been absolutely enchanted.

Me: "Aja?"

Woman in Market: "Jawane!"

Literally, this means, "Do you have the force?" and the response, "Yes, I have the force!"

Many come to the market on Sundays after church (usually a 3-4 hour service), and sit under the wooden stalls for some shade, drinking dolo, the local brew made from fermented millet, and catching up on the local gossip. The dominant ethnic group in the area is Gurunsi, of which most are Christian.

One of the best parts of our stay was our lodging. Traditional style homes are large adobe constructions that have a small wall around them. They can typically hold at least a dozen people, usually more. This particular encampement, is one of four in Burkina Faso, and is a community-organized and supported endeavor. Profits go towards local projects, such as a local primary school, an adult education center, and family planning classes for women. The manager of the compound also had a strong agro-ecological philosophy, detailing why many in the area were committed to organic compost and avoided using chemicals, as the community had already experienced the negative health side effects agrochemicals could cause if not properly applied.

Due to the heat, we placed our beds outside and it was a smart decision. The stars at night were absolutely incredible.

All in all, it was an incredibly enjoyable weekend, and a nice break from the bustle of Ouaga.

A few more photos from our village stay:

Exploring the entrepreneurship trail in Lima

Even before I set a foot in Lima I was warned not to expect to enjoy a sunny summer, that in fact the temperature was going to be constantly around 60°F (15°C) day and night and with a humidity of 85% or more. Unfortunately that was not a lie! Almost every day is cloudy and somewhat cold, nothing compared to Boston (of course), but still quite chilly.

However, I was never told about and was not really expecting to see, so many parks, full of flowers and with very well taken care lawns. Public spaces are a high priority for many municipalities in Lima and Peruvians (as well as Peruvians cats!!) do take advantage of these spaces. Internet is even offered for free not only in parks but also in metro stations and many cafeterias and restaurants.

I have been studying about the history of its public transportation because I have been helping to organize an event where understanding Lima’s future infrastructure plans is very relevant. Can you imagine a city of more than 8 million people with a single metro line that crosses the city from south to center? The center to north leg is not even completed yet (it is part of the second phase of the metro line number 1).

However, besides the unfinished metro they do have a modern BRT system, which is also only running south to north. In my experience, the BRT has proven to be very useful and fast. The city of Lima, similar to others in the world, has heavy traffic almost at any time of the day or night.

Infrastructure plays a very relevant role in the developing of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. My interest in understanding more about this particular ecosystem is what brought me here to Lima in the first place. So I was initially concerned about how is that an entrepreneurial spirit can flourish in a space that is not very well connected.

It did not took me long to be impressed about the Peruvian entrepreneurial spirit. It was first palpable in the quality and diversity of its cuisine (they even have made a fusion style between Peruvian and Chinese cuisine called “chifa”). Not only every dish I have tried is full of flavor but also it is admirable the care Peruvians put into the decoration and image of their restaurants, even at the small places that only offer set meals. Peruvians are very proud about their cuisine and are not shy to show it in every detail, the menu, the dish presentation and even the boxes or bags used for take away meals.

I am working now in learning how could this entrepreneurial spirit be spilled in other realms and not only in the food sector.

The people I am working with want to bring The Hub brand to Lima, because they believe there is urgency for a collaborative space that is able to offer mentorship and financial support for the new wave of social entrepreneurs that are starting to emerge.

This is a live project! I will let you more about it in a few more weeks!

Let me just share with you some amazing landscapes of the city of Lima.

This archeological site (Huaca Pucllana) is located in the middle of the city.

Myanmar: a few stories

[p]Since leaving Yangon we’ve had pretty poor internet access so uploading text, let alone photos, has been tricky - my apologies for these fits and starts in posting![/p]

[p]The research we’ve been conducting on financial habits in rural and urban communities has moved relatively smoothly despite several hang-ups, which I’ll describe in a later post.[/p]

[p]We’ve encountered some truly incredible people, and in every case our interviewees have been generous with their time and insights regarding how they approach finances in their lives.  As we’re not building a quantitative picture, instead relying on the personal observation and insight from individuals, we’ve had more work to do in sifting through our conversations and giving an order to what we’ve heard and learned.  Here are a few profiles of people we’ve talked to so far.[/p]

[p]Early on we spent time with Daw Boke who jointly operates an apartment rental service and a bus ticket sales business from her home with her husband. Aunty Boke, as she’s affectionately known, has slowly built up her business in downtown Yangon from the home she’s occupied for the last 40 years. As buildings grew out of the old traditional wooden homes – first bland socialist era apartments, and now glitzier structures built by Chinese, Thai, and Singaporean investors – she has grown extremely familiar with the property and apartment owners in the area.  In Myanmar it is still illegal for 100% foreign ownership of property, so she her business has been entirely with Burmese individuals.[/p]

[p]Over the last two years of the reform Aunty Boke’s business has grown rapidly. Over five years ago apartment turn over and rentals were relatively slow and she relied on her landline phone as a second source of income. Most homes don’t have phones so private phones that are set on the sidewalk on a small children’s table, or beside a front door effectively become public phones for a small fee and can bring in much needed extra money. However that business all but dried up for Aunty Boke over the last two years as cell phone use has grown rapidly.[/p]

[p]Now Aunty Boke’s apartment business provides the lion’s share of income by connecting individuals with apartment owner’s spaces. However her reputation and length of time working in this field has made her a familiar source for successful rentals thus allowing her to work directly with apartment owners, and earn a larger portion of the profit from a rental. Normally the renter's fee is divided between anyone who has interacted in the process of renting an apartment – for example if you unlock the door for a client or show them where the apartment is you get a certain percentage of the renter’s fee.  Interestingly too all transactions for rentals occur in cash. If Aunty Boke helps sell an apartment – at shockingly high prices now as the Myanmar real estate market has exploded – the buyer will meet the owner at the apartment with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, carried up dimly lit stairs in trash bags. This process is surprisingly easy and completely normal. Services exist for carting large volumes of cash around – a curb side pick up and drop off service. She told us stories of how people would forget bags of cash in taxis, or on curbs, would walk up to their apartment realize their error, and run back down to find the bags sitting in the same place, or the cab driver trying to find them to return the bag. This does not mean crime doesn’t occur – she noted that just several days prior a car was broken into on her street and emptied of its contents (though there were no bags of cash inside).[/p]

[p]Despite a high cash system of transacting in real estate, and the use of a bank, Aunty Boke confirmed a trend we’ve seen repeated in a wide range of economic segments -She invests in a friend's business (car parts manufacturing) just so she won’t have large volumes of cash in her home or in the bank account (which she only opened 3 months ago). While she does use banks, multiple economic crisis and the collapse of several former banks leaves her wary, so she prefers to bank with the government banks that have more state guarantees than the private ones.[/p]

[p]When looking at financial habits, after 60 years of military rule it's impossible not to run square into those who’ve suffered under that reign. Political prisoners have to transact, make money to survive, and try to live as best they can given a system stacked against them. But what is striking is the perseverance and generosity they demonstrate in overcoming years of imprisonment. In another encounter we met with a former political prisoner, Ko Kyaw Soe, who after his release from prison, worked as a taxi driver, and provides interest free loans to other former political prisoners to start small businesses.[/p]

[p]Ko Kyaw Soe is by no means rich. He lives in a small second floor apartment that over looks the street where he parks his car. Out of prison a year ago, he still must take time off from driving due to kidney injuries he sustained from torture by prison guards. But for this exact reason he and two other former political prisoners now use their incomes to provide loans to those still coming out of prison. By saving up the equivalent of a little more then $500 they are able to help the discharged political prisoner start a small business or place a rental down payment on a taxi. They then have a year to repay the amount.[/p]

[p]Cars, which have been notoriously expensive, still are commodities that most taxi drivers do not actually own.  However prices have come down significantly – only three years ago a basic Toyota that could cost $600,000 due to the import license and drivers permit, now are down to $100,000. Ko Kyaw Soe owns his own car but most of the prisoners starting out must pay for a daily rental fee, gas, and larger monthly costs to the car owner.[/p]

[p]Ko Kyaw Soe, given his political status, cannot directly transact in the bank account system. When arrested in 2007 he lost a large amount of his money to the government. Instead he keeps the cash in his car – safe compared to his home, which has seen frequent ‘visits’ by the police.  Here too, all of his transactions are made in cash from the rent of his house to providing funds to the other prisoners. Cash, though at risk of theft, is liquid and easy to transact in, which is crucial in a field that has a high cash turnover rate like the taxi business. Despite the risk, he hopes that by providing loan to other former political prisoners they will provide a leg up for those have been stigmatized by years of imprisonment.[/p]

[p]I’m hoping to post more profiles of people we’ve interviewed and some photos too if possible. Eventually we’ll have a few more concrete ideas about just what issues people face, how they adapt, and some factors unique to Myanmar’s context.[/p]

Chad's Wildlife

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Exploring, learning, overcoming...

At lot has happened here in this bustling city over the past 11 days. I’ve been able to see some of the local night life, to take in a bit of the somewhat bizarre expat lifestyle that exists here, and to experience the fear that almost suffocates all other senses. The latter is not meant to be sensationalist, but I don’t know how else to describe what I was feeling as I was thrown to the street… I’ll begin by talking about work before I dive into the details of my unfortunate run in with the desperation of Kinshasa. Work has really gotten off with a bang. As I explained in my previous post, the focus of my work here is trying to capture an idea of the consumption patterns of the clients currently being serviced. This translates into creating a sample from DRC’s 90,000 or more clients. It’s been a great exercise in recalling all the details of econometrics that I worried so much about for most of the last semester at Fletcher (thankfully, I seem to have retained many important aspects of those 48 hours of cramming!). In addition to that, I had been asked to give a presentation to the local marketing team on FINCA’s approach to research. I will be the first to tell you, as I told the team here in Kinshasa, I am not an experienced researcher. I am familiar with the generic process and how to approach a problem that I’d like to solve, but give a presentation about best practices? In French? To a team of presumably very experienced marketing professionals? Sure. Why not. This is a great example of how most of the development field works. I hate to be another cliché that could be discussed in Peter Uvin’s class, but I must confess that I played that role. I did my best, and all said I did a good job, but I just couldn’t help but feel that there was a class somewhere at Fletcher frowning down upon me from afar.

Besides my brief stint as a trainer, I do think I’ve been getting to do good work. My experience with project planning and management have helped a lot here in my attempts to juggle the various different departments that need to come together to help realize this research project. One of the more hands on activities that my colleague and I needed to accomplish last week was an investigation into local market prices for a list of food items that we’ve determined represent a relatively average combination of food items that households eat here in DRC. I absolutely loved getting back into an African market. I’ve missed so much the tanties and mamans who so precisely prepare their vegetables into small piles; their presentation perfectly displaying the pop of reds and greens, oranges and purples, even the rare fleck of silver from the fresh fish waiting to be turned into a delicious stew. These markets once again brought out the other persona that lives within me. If only I had been back in the grand marché of Bobo-Dioulasso; the joking, the bartering, the instant bonding. I miss living through the version of myself who came to be known as Siriki Sògòsii. The “tubabu” who carried himself like a true Julacè. But here I’m just another foreigner, often mistaken as Belgian or French, but definitely not one of the crowd. I miss that feeling of being able to break through the color of my skin by the simple act of stringing together a few simple words. It was such a rewarding feeling. The physical change in people’s faces that I could see as I kept chatting was something that helped make me feel like I really belonged. All the same, being back in the markets was a breath of fresh air compared to the “fancy” office setting I had been living in since arriving.

In stark contrast, the next weekend I was introduced to the expat lifestyle here in Kinshasa. It was so bizarre. I don’t know how exactly to describe the harsh dichotomy of stepping off the sand covered sidewalk so connected to the pulse of Kinshasa to entering into a compound that much more resembles the gated communities of Orange County. You feel guilty just being able to walk in there, or at least I did. How can you live a life that constantly reminds you of the enormously unequal distribution of wealth in the city/country where you live. Being completely honest at first I felt very special and quite enjoyed the feeling of stepping into an otherwise off limits neighborhood. But as the night continued, I began to feel more and more out of place and had an overwhelming sense of guilt. Guilty because I was able to take part in these nice restaurants and compounds and clubs, but even more guilty that I liked feeling like part of the upper crust. I believe it’s only natural for us to enjoy feeling special but I didn’t expect that I would like it so much. Luckily, I was quickly reminded that I am not part of that crowd when I was driven back to my apartment that again had no electricity or water. At last, I was home. Back to being one of the masses…but could I have just one more grey goose soda?

Unfortunately we’ve arrived to the other side of Kinshasa. The gritty and ugly reality that emerges in a country who’s weighed down by corruption, poverty, and constant struggle. I knew that in coming to Kinshasa I was exposing myself to many things: another new culture, a fairly pleasant dry season, a reprise of 75cl beers and skewered meats, but also to the dangers of a large city full of crime and danger. My first encounter with this less glamorous side of urban life was on a dully light afternoon last week. After having two wonderfully productive days of work and heart full of motivation and determination, I took a step out of the FINCA office and walked right into the arms of the complex and far reaching network of Kinshasa police. I was called over to a young man sitting in a plastic chair who was standing guard outside of the police courtyard. I was informed that I had broken a law and that I needed to go to the colonel and face the consequences. One can imagine my shock as I not only didn’t do anything, but I couldn’t even have a conversation with this man. Within seconds, like a group of sharks closing in on an unfortunate injured animal, other police men appeared and began adding their voices into the hurricane of noise that had begun to envelop me. I was taken by the group to their boss and made to listen to a confusing speech about the Bible and Europeans that left me more confused than before. The mess resulted in me handing over all my cash and walking away trembling like a leaf. Sadly, this wasn’t the end of it.

Walking home three days later from the grocery store I was attacked by three young men on the street, half a block from my apartment. It all happened so fast that I barely remember how my body went from vertical to flat against the pavement. I remember feeling like there were 20 different hands grabbing at all my pockets at once. I was confused and scared and clinging to these men with all my strength in an attempt to keep them too close to get a good swing at me. It’s hard not to panic when the months leading up to moving here all I heard were warnings of violent attacks and desperate youth. I had no idea to what extent they were going to take this attack. I couldn’t help but fear that this was going to end very badly. Luckily, after only a few punches and violent groping they broke free and fled with all my belongings. Somehow they weren’t able to remove my chucks, an amazing detail since they were only slip ons and I could feel them desperately trying to take them off. The affair ended when some police men drove back with two of the three assailants and my wallet. We drove together to the police station where they heard my story and interrogated the two men until they were able to locate my cell phone. I was driven back home and I sat in a state of shock on my bed. I closed my eyes and sat in silence. When I opened my eyes I was elbow deep in my suitcase; half my clothes had been packed and I was frantically pulling out other clothes from the closet. How did I get here? What am I doing? I was lost in a frenzy of fear, frustration, and a desperate desire to return home. I’ve ultimately chosen to stay in Kinshasa. I wavered back and forth, back and forth, over and over again. Should I stay? Should I go? Of course I should go, what the hell am I thinking? No calm down, take a step back. The continuous inner monologue was exhausting. I told everyone I knew and who knew about my internship what happened. I solicited advice from all involved parties. I’ve chosen to let this be a lesson rather than the conclusion to my time in Kinshasa. I’ve chosen to not let the desperation and lack of livelihoods be the lasting memory of Kinshasa. I’ve chosen to stay so that I can find the stories of hope. That is indeed the reason I want to work in this field. I want to find these stories of determination and overcoming hardship, no, I want to be a part of these stories. Violence can find us anywhere and letting that violence stop us from living our lives is allowing that violence to imprison us. I will take the necessary steps to lower my vulnerability – using a driver, changing apartments, not walking anywhere alone – but I refuse to go home feeling like society has lost. These next six weeks will show me that there is still hope.

I'm enjoying reading all the other Fellows' blogs! Keep up the good work everyone.

Sincerely,

Keith Mangam

Myanmar: Cars, Clothes and Movies...Small Steps in an Emerging Economy.

  [p]Myanmar has, for the last two years, under gone a transformation that dramatically altered foreign perceptions of the country, and shifted its position in the world from a repressive military backwater to a potentially explosive new economy. And yet for many Burmese, who lived through many more years of oppression, the changes are less distinct. Policymakers talk of reform and new legal structures, but the vas majority of Burmese have no direct access or connection to this process. Instead they see the output of these slow changes.[/p]

[p]As an outside observer, on the surface nearly every thing appears to remain the same except for small and otherwise easy to over look differences. Most noticeably the country in the last year has seen nearly 250,000 new cars arrive, to come to the rescue of the drivers of an ageing fleet of old Toyota Corollas, and cars so run down their make or model has since disappeared. The result is that now new cars out number the old, handily, everything from small Chinese made Cherry-Mini’s, to strange boxy Toyota wagons, to Hybrid Prius and Insights, to very rare Humvees or Lamborghinis. Shockingly too I spotted the first and only police car I’ve seen in the city on the way from the airport.[/p]

[p]Like the car you drive (if you can afford one), the reaction to the country’s opening also can be seen on every street and in myriads of new shops, selling a range of imported products, and of course clothes. In 2009 to the country, to the short term visitor would have appeared quaint. The vast majority of the country’s citizens wore the traditional dress – a Longyi for men and a Tamaine for women. Some men wore trousers, based on their work, but any alternative would have been surprising on women. But now that era is quickly evaporating. Here now young people wear skinny jeans, shirts imported from Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and men and women’s styles have expanded to more closely parallel those you might find in other parts of Southeast Asia.[/p]

[p]Now, with less military restriction movie theaters have pushed back their show times, with, for a example, a 10:00 PM movie showing the latest films from the US, China, and Thailand. Theaters, dim and hot, before the show starts, are packed to the brim with families, munching on sunflower seeds and talking openly – a feeling of excitement and novelty permeates these shows.[/p]

[p]Buildings that were once caked in layers of cracked and flaking paint, or crumbling around their formerly colonial lines, are finally being repaired. Like the split mantle of the earth, buildings and infrastructure showed the cities path: its growth, its faltering, the rise of new Chinese investment, and the neglect of the most basic needs of an operating city. But that changes now too. Houses, walls, offices, and roads are being repainted and repaired, new sidewalks have sprouted in only a short year, above repaired or brand new sewage and water run off pipes. It may just be me, but the willingness of people to step forward and make those repairs to homes or shops, to feel comfortable putting in the time and money, belies a larger sense of hope and trust in a still uncertain but rising future.[/p]

[p]From the conversations we’ve had thus far with small businesses and shops in Yangon, there has been a distinct uptick in their work. This increased spending and growth in the city’s economy has opened up new opportunities for individuals and families who’ve wanted to expand their business but haven’t been able to in the past. In fact people are genuinely excited. Those we’ve asked have indicated a new sense of trust in, not in the government or even legal reforms, but a more amorphous possibility of a better future.[/p]

[p]But of course this is all Yangon, and this is only a portion of its residents. As our work continues we’ll be speaking with community members who are less well off, and who will have distinctly different experiences in terms of their own success and this time period. I’m looking forward to more of the opportunity we will have to learn in this fascinating time for Myanmar.[/p]

[p]Here are some additional pictures so far:[/p]

An Introduction to Microfinance in Action: From Mexico City to Toluca

Around 1pm last Saturday, June 22, I awoke to a loud thump and the sound of clapping passengers as our plane touched down. After much preparation and anticipation, I was finally back in one of the places I hold closest to my heart, Mexico City. That day marked my fourth time in Mexico City, and the beginning of my second two-month stint here. You might be asking yourselves why I would spend so much time in a place notorious for its appearance on the State Department Travel Advisory list. However, I have found myself oddly comfortable here, especially amongst some of the world's warmest and most welcoming friends. This time, though, I stepped off the plane into the Western Hemisphere’s largest city with more nervousness than expected.

 

 This time, thanks to the generosity of the Blakeley Foundation, I am here as an Accion Ambassador at Grupo Compartamos (Compartamos), one of the largest and most successful microfinance institutions in the world. If you are interested in microfinance at all, you are most likely familiar with the name. Until now, I knew microfinance strictly from a distance – through my microfinance course at the Fletcher School last semester as a part of my Master of International Business program, plenty of outside reading, online microloans, and various networking phone calls – but now I was given the wonderful opportunity to experience it firsthand.

 

Monday marked my first day of work, and it was packed with various activities to familiarize us with everything Compartamos - its history, model, staff, culture, and code of ethics. This also included two client site visits in order to give us a taste of Compartamos in action.

 

We squeezed into a small van and left Mexico City's morning congestion for Toluca, a city about an hour and a half away towards Mexico’s industrial zone. We first visited Compartamos’ regional office, where the main product offered is Credito Mujer, typically a 16-week line of credit given to groups of women for purposes of improving their economic productivity. This office is not a branch, as it does not perform any transactions, but rather a place for administrative and operational organization. We learned that the loan officers spend their days in the field on client site visits. They visit the same groups at the same time each week, alternating between disbursements and collections of the loans.

 

It wasn't long before we shuffled back into the van and headed to our first site visit - a disbursement for a group of 16 women, which held in one of the members’ home. The meeting commenced with the loan officer introducing herself, reviewing the purpose of the meeting, and taking attendance. Three new members were joining the group, so the loan officer reviewed the roles and responsibilities of both Compartamos as the creditors and the group members as the clients. Once everyone was in agreement, she then confirmed the amount being disbursed and called each member up one by one to receive her respective amount. The money is disbursed in the form of a money order, which the client then cashes at one of seven partner banks. As each person presented official identification and was fingerprinted, we had a chance to speak with some of the clients and hear about how the loans have impacted them. Most members of the group had been clients of Compartamos for over three years. When asked what it was like being a client of Compartamos, the responses were overwhelmingly positive. Similarly, most clients intended on staying with Compartamos for the foreseeable future. We asked specifically about their businesses. One woman owned a clothing stand and explained how having a lump sum of credit enabled her to buy larger quantities of clothes for a cheaper price. Another woman used the credit to pay for her children’s education while she sold shoes.

 

When everyone received their money orders, we thanked the group for sharing their lives with us and departed for our second site visit, this time for a collection. This group consisted of 13 women and met at one woman’s business, a small convenience store. Each woman had her receipt for the money they had deposited and official identification ready for the loan officer, who similarly called up each woman individually. This visit was much shorter, but I conversed with one woman who had been a client of Compartamos for 15 years, frequently expressing her gratitude for all that Credito Mujer has enabled her to do.

 

My first time observing microfinance in the field was absolutely fascinating, but it left me wanting more. I was impressed by Compartamos' passion for serving their clients and inspired by the strength and determination of the clients to improve their lives. Once back in Mexico City, we wrapped up the day by meeting our supervisors and I was thrilled to learn about my project for Fundacion Compartamos, one of Compartamos' exciting new initiatives. As I walked down the escalator and out the large, glass doors at 5:30pm, I hopped on the MetroBus with a smile, realizing that my nervousness had long disappeared.

Long Update from Chad!

[Written on Sunday, June 23, 2013; delayed post due to technical difficulties]

I can't believe that I've now been in Chad for more than 6 weeks!  I'm truly grateful for the Blakeley Foundation's financial support for my internship with ENVODEV in Chad.  Here is a brief synopsis of what I've accomplished so far and a brief outlook for the 13 remaining days.

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All of ENVODEV's work has been focused in southern Chad in the Logone Occidental region.  For the first four weeks of my internship, I worked independently in N'Djamena, attempting to learn as much about the agricultural situation around the capital city and research the potential for charcoal consumption and charcoal production in the central Sahelian region of Chad.  Through my work, I discovered many Chadians who had heard about ENVODEV's work in the south, and lots of others who were interested in the project, including numerous NGOs in N'Djamena and even the Secretary General of Urbanism and Housing for the Chadian government who has taken a personal interest in our project.   I was able to identify a local donor who is interested in partnering with ENVODEV (a huge blessing for its financial struggles).

In my preliminary research, I discovered a shortage of the necessary agricultural waste (like rice straw, corn stalks, or sesame chaff) in the area surrounding N'Djamena.  The little agricultural waste that was available near N'Djamena is used primarily for livestock feed.  Diverting that material from the animals would exacerbate the food security problem in Chad.  Chad has the second worst food security problem in the world after the Democratic Republic of the Congo, so that idea is out of the question.  There simply isn't the abundance of the needed materials in this region, so I concluded that ENVODEV's charcoal project should pursue scaling production in the south and look into shipping the charcoal into N'Djamena.  This approach has several advantages.  First, ENVODEV's charcoal is legal.  ENVODEV's charcoal would easily pass by the police checkpoints that the government has set up around the capital to enforce its 2009 ban of charcoal.  The operators of which seize and burn any charcoal made from wood coming into N'Djamena.  Secondly, this would allow the current smugglers of the illegal charcoal to earn a safer livelihood without the burden of breaking the law to provide for Chad's cooking fuel needs.

I spent my 5th and 6th week with David De Armey, ENVODEV's International Director, living and working in Moundou.  We split our long work days between these tasks: 1) analyzing the charcoal production process and defining its financial sustainability, 2) training the Chadian ENVODEV staff to analyze and think ahead to improve their management capacity, 3) building two different types of improved-efficiency rammed-earth cookstoves.

The charcoal measurements were tedious, in part because of technical difficulties (we found out after several days of measurements that the scale we used for measuring weights was grossly inaccurate), and our Chadian staff did not understand or appreciate our desire to be accurate in our measurements.  Precision was not something they regularly practiced, and this cultural difference was difficult to overcome.  We also had a long conversation about the importance of buying materials by the kilogram instead of by the bag.  Some of our staff did not understand why purchasing at a consistent price was important for the project.  It's the accumulation of these little things that make accomplishing things in Chad so difficult and stressful.

We sat down with two Chadian ENVODEV staff members and analyzed the cost effectiveness of a single day of charcoal production.  We concluded that the revenue produced by selling one day's worth of briquettes would cover the basic cost of materials and the salaries for 4 workers, while providing income to local farming communities for providing the materials needed.  However, it did not cover other significant expenses if the operation were self-sustaining, like vehicle repairs (extremely frequent on ENVODEV's old truck), marketing and sales costs, and the salary of a supervisor to oversee everything.  Our chalkboard analysis in the nearby church was rudimentary and required a number of assumptions.   So to allow ENVODEV to experiment with tweaking the numerous variables in the charcoal production process, I created a complex, integrated financial viability spreadsheet for the production process.  I also included a production calendar to help guide ENVODEV staff to better reporting.  These tools will help ENVODEV explore whether scaling certain aspects of the project would allow it to become a really profitable business.

An NGO called East Africa Trust gave permission for ENVODEV to experiment with their efficient cookstove.  I went to Chad with their designs and this was the first cookstove that we started to build.  It's essentially a large mold made of wood into which African red laterite (clay) is packed.  Then the mold is flipped over and into place in the kitchen.  Constructing the mold itself took nearly the entire two weeks.  It was extremely difficult:  wood is not easily available in Chad due to deforestation, the mold's instructions were not clear on several key points, and our young carpenter was not skilled with precision which required numerous corrections and adjustments.

One of the local contacts I made in N'Djamena showed me another efficient cookstove that was designed in the Central African Republic.  It's a very simple design that packs clay dirt inside a paint bucket and uses a powdered milk can set inside to create a structure for catching the ashes and a rigid holder for the metal rods used to hold charcoal briquettes.  We experimented with this design too and had finished it within 2 hours.  Incredibly simple to make!  I think with a few modifications, it could sell really well in Chad and perhaps be part of a sustainable business here.  Here are the changes that we discovered: 1) adding a small chimney to evacuate the carbon emissions of the burning charcoal, and 2) adding small metal legs to better stabilize the high center of gravity and prevent the stove from tipping while stirring.  The former is for health reasons associated with acute respiratory infection, and the latter is important for cultural acceptance: Chadian women frequently prepare a traditional food called boule which basically involves stirring a big lump of millet that flops around inside the pot.

These three projects were the primary task to accomplish during the 12 days we had in Moundou.  But work did not stop when we got back to our lodging place.  During the evenings, David and I spent long hours discussing Chadian culture, development theory, communications strategies, funding strategies, and the challenges of growing the human resources side of a small NGO like ENVODEV.  Our discussions helped crystallize some of the key decisions facing ENVODEV as an organization.  It was a privilege to help David think through the upcoming challenges and narrow the best available options!

We also discussed the increasingly security situation in Chad.  For several months now, there have been rumors of Chad being a target for a terror attack.  Chad has taken a very strong position against extremist ideology and terrorism with its involvement in Mali and with its brutal destruction of a Boko Haram camp near Lake Chad.  The President of Niger warned of the threat nearly a month ago and Chad's President has been beefing up security check points throughout the country and especially the capital.  During our time in Moundou, our Chadian colleagues told us that 3 guys from Mali had been picked up in Moundou.  They apparently had come into Chad through Libya, had gone all the way to Moundou, and then were going north to N'Djamena while pretending to be coming from Cameroun.  (Look at a map and figure out how far that is.  Then consider that most roads in Chad have humongous potholes and are so rough that travel faster than 20 mph will destroy your vehicle.)  Then I received an updated travel advisory from the US Embassy in Chad, warning of increased threats to foreigners in eastern Chad and all border towns.  Considering the route from Moundou to N'Djamena goes near the Cameroonian border, we decided to hop a plane ride back to N'Djamena... an unplanned and expensive expense, but worth our safety.  It was at this point that David asked if I would consider leaving Chad early.  He felt that I had accomplished what we had agreed on, and the heightened security risk of remaining in Chad an extra two weeks did not justify a few extra days of research and networking.  I wrote to Fletcher and Mr. Blakeley for permission to leave Chad early due to the security threat, and thankfully got approval.  Not wanting to cut the internship short--only the time in Chad, David invited me to Lyon, France, to participate in negotiations with another NGO in order to forge a strategic partnership.  But this discussion was interrupted the night before our flight back to N'Djamena.

Our last day in Moundou had been incredibly productive.  We had just finished a physical day of packing about 1000 lbs of clay into our large cookstove mold (the one designed by East Africa Trust).  After packing the mold and reinforcing the wood sides to keep it from splitting apart, we rolled the first large cookstove into place in the small village house of one of ENVODEV's employees.   The stove took 6 men to roll into place!  We were exhausted and headed home to pack and think through the morning schedule before our flight the next day.

On the way home, David began feeling weak and had a splitting headache.  Within hours, he was completely exhausted and lying on his bed, shivering in the 100+ degree heat with a 103.9 degree fever, a splitting headache, a dry cough, and an entire body of aching muscles and joints.  We immediately suspected malaria and contacted a local expat surgeon well versed in malaria to prescribe a treatment.  David started taking medicine and his fever remained and continued through the night.  The next morning, I found him in the same condition and sent a message to the pilot of our flight that day that we would wait for David to heal and take the next flight on Saturday.  I did not hear from the pilot until our takeoff time, at which point he texted me and said that there would be no room in the flight on Saturday.  My heart sank because David wasn't well enough to travel that day, David's flight back to France was on that coming Sunday, and we didn't want to take the bus (security risk).  I rushed over to David and told him the situation and he mustered the courage to say "let's go today".  I immediately texted the pilot of our changed mind to fly with him.  Minutes passed with no word.  Then after 10 minutes, he texts me, "I've already taken off.  Sorry."

It's at times like these when you really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere in Africa.  My boss was extremely sick, and we were stranded in the middle of Africa without a safe way to get home.  But--THANK GOD--a minute later, the pilot texted again.  "I've got just enough fuel to come back and get you.  Do you want to me to turn around?"  "YES."  The answer was automatic, and I don't remember what happened afterwards as it was a blur.  It included finding a ride to the airport, rushing to pack everything I brought, and helping David pack and move to the vehicle.  Within 25 minutes we were boarding the Cessna and safely flying back to N'Djamena.  In our haste, we missed saying goodbye to our staff in Moundou!

David was barely hanging on through the flight.  He was doubled over in pain for the entire two hours, and only later did I find out that he had been holding in diarrhea the entire time.  We landed in a rain shower and transferred to a taxi in N'Djamena.  David was delirious from the physical exertion and when we finally made it to our accommodations in N'Djamena, he vomited all over the apartment floor.  He cleaned up and went to lie down while I cleaned up the floor.  Then I went to work looking for a thermometer and seeking medical counsel in N'Djamena.  I found two thermometers but neither worked.  I found a private clinic in N'Djamena, but patients need a membership to access their medical services.  Some friends suggested a mission hospital 30 minutes north of the city.  David was not happy about another taxi ride.  I called a taxi and we drove on bumpy dirt roads to a large walled compound that comprised the hospital.  Long story short, David was able to get some better medication and we spent 3 hours there.  Finally, after another 30 minute taxi ride home, David was back in his room with lots of pills to recover.  When I got back, I was finally able to track down a working thermometer.  The next morning, I was up early at 6am to check on David.  Praise God that his fever broke.  He was still cold, weak, and without appetite.  The next few days, he regained more strength each day and finally was able to depart on his flight to France.

In the midst of all that, I was also trying to change my ticket to get out of Chad.  Thankfully, my parents were able to move up my flight home by 8 days.  Before David left, he told me that the partnership negotiations would be postponed to allow him to fully recover from his illness.  This was logical, but I was disappointed to miss out on the negotiations!  He suggested that instead of coming to Lyon, that I go back to Boston and keep expanding and refining the strategy documents that wrote for ENVODEV so that I could finish out my 8-week commitment.  Not wanting to send David to France empty-handed, on his last day in Chad, I managed to assemble a negotiation analysis tool for him to use during the negotiation after his recovery.

Several things in the last few days have confirmed the wisdom of departing early.  First, a Chadian friend told me that the government destroyed a neighborhood with Caterpillar bulldozers this past weekend after finding a weapons cache there.  Chad's government does not take security threats lightly!  Here's the article about it.  Secondly, she also said that a new curfew has been instituted in the capital city.  Anyone found in public between the hours of 10pm and 5am will apparently be arrested by police.  Before David left, he even heard several gun shots ring out in our neighborhood.  These recent events give me peace that it’s best that I don't stick around for one more week.   I can finish my remaining work for ENVODEV at home in the US.

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I still have a few more days to wrap up my time here, but I'm glad that I will have spent nearly 7 weeks in Chad.  Leaving will be bitter-sweet.  I will treasure my new friendships and acquaintances in Chad and all of the things I've learned and experienced, but I also can't wait to return to my wife!  She has supported me through this entire trip and has been a tremendous encouragement to me.  Katie, thanks for your constant love and support during this internship!

And of course, I owe a huge thanks again to the Blakeleys and the Blakeley Foundation for their generous support for my internship with ENVODEV in Chad.  Here is a list of what I originally set out to accomplish, and how each item stands at the moment:

1. Visit the original charcoal production sites near Moundou and consolidate lessons learned with the intent to develop a scalable project model.

I have worked closely with ENVODEV’s International Director and the local Chadian staff to measure the financial sustainability of charcoal production at the current project site.  We have discussed extensively ways to scale the ENVODEV model, and based on the availability of agricultural resources, numerous remaining challenges at the Moundou project, and the importance of quality control for production, we have concluded that increasing briquette production is currently more sustainable than trying to replicate small-scale production facilities throughout other parts of Chad.

2. Help lay the groundwork for a new instructional facility in N'Djamena to teach charcoal production.

My 4 weeks of research showed that ENVODEV’s model in the capital city of N’Djamena would not sustainable in its current form, since the agricultural materials needed for charcoal production are not produced by local farmers in sufficient quantities to make production there economic. For now, ENVODEV should focus on refining and scaling production in Moundou and shipping it to N’Djamena.  However, one possibility for future research would be to tap into the waste produced by two of Chad's largest companies.  Coton Tchad and Brasserie du Tchad (Chad's biggest brewery) both produce agricultural waste, cotton residue and hop residue respectively.  If these waste materials could be carbonized and pressed into briquettes, then perhaps partnerships could be forged for ENVODEV to receive the waste.  I witnessed huge dump trucks from Coton Tchad's plant in Moundou dump waste in the countryside outside the city to decompose.  Further research is required to determine if these things could be put to good use for fuel!  

3. Strengthen relationships with other NGOs in N'Djamena with the intent to identify partners and leverage them toward scaling the charcoal project.

I spent 4 weeks in N’Djamena, networking on ENVODEV’s behalf.  I was able to connect with: two contacts at UNHCR, one contact at UNOCHA, the Country Director of Swiss Aid, the country director of Mennonite Central Committee, multiple contacts at World Vision including the Country Director, one contact at the US Embassy, a PhD student from MIT working on charcoal in Kenya, two contacts at a Chadian solar power company, several local Chadian businessmen who have offered to help ENVODEV with logistical needs in N’Djamena, the CSR branch of Griffiths Energy International (Canadian oil company), the country director of Good Neighbors (Korean NGO with a charcoal project in N’Djamena), and Chad’s Secretary General for the Ministry of Urbanism.

4. Develop a strategy to forge partnerships at a 3-4 day meeting hosted by UN-Habitat in N'Djamena in late June.  I will likely be the ENVODEV spokesperson at the meeting which will focus on addressing urban energy issues in Chad.  Attendees will include representatives from a network of 40+ NGOs operating in Chad.  I will help coordinate a demonstration of ENVODEV's eco-charcoal project for the attendees.

UN-HABITAT canceled this meeting due to coordination problems with the Chadian government.  It was completely outside of my or ENVODEV’s control.

5. Experiment with "clean, efficient stove technology" using local building materials and explore possibilities for a pilot project. Current Chadian stoves are so inefficient that they waste approximately 70% of the energy produced by a charcoal briquette. Clean stove technology would dovetail well with the alternative project.  Giving Chadians access to clean, efficient stove technology could help free up money used for fuel, and mitigate health problems in women and children associated with smoke inhalation.  Futhermore, teaching Chadians to make these stoves would create complementary vocational skills for Chadians to further diversify their income streams.

We constructed the mold for a large rammed earth improved cookstove, and even managed to produce one actual cookstove before we departed Moundou.  We also built a cookstove based on a design that I found through networking in N'Djamena.   It was designed in the Central African Republic.  Our Chadian staff are excited to continue making these stoves and hope to begin selling them soon.

6. Helping to refine the current organizational strategy for ENVODEV.

I spent 14-16 hours discussing ENVODEV’s organizational strategy with the International Director.  I am in the process of capturing these discussions to prepare for the upcoming partnership discussions with the other NGO.

7. Helping to draft a long-term fundraising strategy for ENVODEV.

I spent another 14-16 hours discussing ENVODEV’s funding challenges with the International Director.  Through my networking, I have obtained 4 different funding applications that together maintain a diversified donor portfolio for ENVODEV: private sector CSR donors, non-profit donors, and international organization donors.   I will fill out one grant application during the final week of my internship in Boston.

8. Identify relevant areas for future research.  Some examples could include: urban charcoal usage and alternatives, implications of energy policy in Chad, understanding the illicit trade of wood charcoal in Chad, or mapping the complexity of solving the Chadian energy crisis (using systems thinking or other approaches).

We have identified numerous areas requiring more research and experimentation regarding charcoal briquette production and improved oven usage in Chad.  One particularly important area of research we have discovered is whether eco-charcoal production would be feasible in a refugee context, either for the actual production or for consumption as a cooking fuel.  Unfortunately, financial restrictions within ENVODEV are currently hampering pursuit of more research.

9. Monitor and document progress via reports and photos.

With the exception of my time in Moundou (extremely bad internet access), I have kept my own blog for ENVODEV (http://chuckdinchad.wordpress.com) and have also tweeted (@ChuckDinChad) my activities during the entire internship.  I also took more than 400 photos on my iPhone and DLSR camera during my time in Chad, though uploading them to my computer and to my blogs has proven difficult here.  Perhaps when I return to the US, I can post more photos online.  In the meantime, please feel free to connect with me directly or through social media!

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Charles A. Dokmo

Charcoal Project Intern - Enterprise for Vocational Development (ENVODEV)

www.envodev.org

US: +1 850 240 4295

CHAD: +235 68 80 62 76

Twitter: @ChuckDinChad

Blog: http://ChuckDinChad.wordpress.com

Quote of the Day

"WHEN SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS YOU HAVE THREE CHOICES. YOU CAN EITHER LET IT DEFINE YOU, LET IT DESTROY YOU, OR YOU CAN LET IT STRENGTHEN YOU." Source of quote unknown.

Your Safety is #1

As members of the Fellowship do valuable volunteer work in remote areas of the world it is important that each of you do not get in harms way. We have had stories this summer of one of the Fellows being beaten up and robbed by the police. The organization you are working for or associated with must be made aware of any threats of problems you experience and if they cannot provide for your security then you should return to Boston. I suggest you also stay in regular contact with other existing and past Blakeley Fellows to share your experiences, good and bad, as well as your advice. What you are doing this summer is wonderful, but stay safe!

A Summer of Rice

Last week, while sitting cross-legged under the hot Indonesian sun and interviewing female rice farmers in Karawang, a district in West Java, Indonesia, I kept thinking back to my fourth grade elementary school class. In fourth grade, my school set up joint bank accounts for students and our parents in order to teach us the value of money, budgeting, and how to balance a checkbook. I had never thought about my first introduction to formal financial services and mechanisms, or appreciated that life-long lesson of how to use ATM cards or apply for loans, until I met some people who never had that opportunity.

Over the course of the week, I discovered that female farmers in Indonesia and their families do not have bank accounts and are at the mercy of moneylenders for loans. Some women use informal savings mechanisms called revolving funds – a zero-interest mechanism that allows members to put money aside every month and receive a year’s worth of savings at strategic times. Other women who aren’t lucky enough to be in female farmer groups with revolving funds stash away small amounts of cash in their homes in order to meet their daily needs.

For two months, I am conducting a gender analysis for Mercy Corps’ Agri-Fin Mobile in order to give female farmers access to agricultural information and financial services through cell phone technology. Women told me they want information about pesticides, fertilizer, and seedlings, and they want formal financial services for savings and credit.

For rice, planting to harvesting takes 90 days of incessant work under the same hot sun: women plant seeds, weed tall grasses, manage pests, use manual tools, and sort the rice post-harvest. Their hands are coarse and strong, and as they served me heaps of steamed, fragrant rice from their own fields, I knew one thing for sure: I will never look at a grain of rice the same way again.

Thailand: Cabbages, Condoms, and Myanmar

[p]Early in the evening of our second night in Bangkok, we had the opportunity to meet Virayaidya Mechai and Hakan Skoglund from Population and Community Development Association (PDA) Thailand’s largest NGO, and Greg Miller from Oxford Capital, through the Blakeley Foundation’s support. [/p]

[p]It was a great honor to meet Khun Mechai, who has had an active political life as a two time Senator in Thailand, and done a great deal to reduce HIV and population growth rates in the country. Khun Mechai’s PDA aimed to bring down the population growth rate, improve child mortality, and fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS by targeting grassroots and urban communities. PDA created sexual health clinics for poor underserved women, provided in class education and games about family planning and sexual health, distributed condoms widely, and even created the restaurant chain Cabbages and Condoms (where we ate). Since, the HIV/AIDS rate has decreased dramatically and the country’s birth rate has fallen from 3.4% to less then 1% in large part to the efforts of PDA![/p]

[p]Hakan Skoglund, President of Population & Development International Inc. (PDI), part of the Mechai Viravaidya Foundation, also joined us, and explained many of these finer points. Hakan, who has a long standing interest in the role of education in development, also explained how the organization is hoping to partner with local organizations in Myanmar to see how effectively they might be able to implement a similar campaign in the sister country.[/p]

[p]Lastly, we had the opportunity to meet Greg Miller, a regionally based advisor at Oxford Capitol who is developing a private equity fund that will work with local partners to identify key projects worth investing in – a crucial need at a time when many local small and medium businesses in Myanmar seem to be suffering from a dearth of access to funding.  Greg already has fantastic contacts on the ground, and travels to the country at least once a month. For Greg, however, a key facet of the process is to develop a system that isn’t exploitative, that builds a skilled team of experts in the country to make the most sound and beneficial investments, and work with the country’s development as it moves forward. In relation to our own work, knowing more about what small and medium enterprises need in their own words could be interesting.[/p]

[p]In discussing the interests of PDA and Oxford Capitol in Myanmar, I realized we could serve a dual role with our work by also connecting these groups with local partners. We will be working through CBOs and local NGOs to reach different income earning segments of the population, and will be learning about many groups that are doing significant local work for those communities.  These groups in turn have extensive knowledge about the people they help and what their own organizational needs might be. For partners coming in, we all agreed, local groups are best suited to know how to tackle their own problems, from expanding knowledge about family planning and STD transmission, to understanding the financial needs of their households and businesses. With support and outside knowledge,  groups like PDA and Oxford Capitol could help make a difference in communities in Myanmar.[/p]

Greetings from Ouagadougou

Prior to my departure from Chicago, it became almost a contest among my friends and family as to who could come up with either the closest way of spelling Ouagadougou correctly or inventing an entirely new way of spelling it while keeping the same pronunciation.

Regardless, I am happy to report that I arrived a week ago in 'Ouaga' (Wah-gah). Similar to Chuck's experience in Chad, the heat is fairly stunning. Gone are the fast-paced steps that defined my stride from my apartment to Fletcher in Medford every day. Instead, one must relax and not over-exert oneself in the heat. Less than two hours of exploring the center of town last Saturday called for a two-hour nap later that evening.

For more information on Ouagadougou and Burkina Faso itself, I recommend a recent WaPo travel article, "Ouagadougou's Unruffled Rhythms."

This summer I will be interning at Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Burkina Faso focusing on diversified agriculture and gender projects. MCC's mandate is to reduce poverty through economic growth, and the MCC compact in Burkina Faso is five-years, focusing on four major projects: irrigation, land reform, agriculture and girls' education.

Given that the compact is almost $491 million, there is quite a steep learning curve on the many activities taking place throughout the country, particularly in diversified agriculture. I am learning as quickly as possible the more technical terms in French for agriculture that I never needed before in daily conversations. In addition, as is the case often in development, learning the acronyms for projects is a bit like alphabet soup. Only in French, acronyms are usually backwards. I hope by the end of the summer I will be fluent in a certain type of development vocabulary, which will no doubt prove extremely useful in the future. I am working with an incredible team here, both American and Burkinabé, and I'm excited to see how the work unfolds.

I plan to post photos soon (the Internet here can be quite slow at times), hopefully from the field!

- Julia

Journey into Lagos

Fellow Fellows & Mr. Blakeley:

Hope you have all safely arrived at your destinations and have begun to change the world; I know I haven’t although it appears that I am expected to do so.

I am interning with the Tony Elemulu Foundation in Lagos that strives for the transformation of the African economy by helping small and medium enterprises (SME) scale up. I am working with one such SME called the Financial Trust Company, which aims to bring financial service to the masses and I am expected to contribute to the business plan achieving this objective.

Journey into Lagos was hectic and exciting. After almost missing my connection in Dubai, the arrival into Lagos Airport was as expected – nightmarish. The airport was a chaos with massive immigration lines and tempers running high, fortunately foreigners had a separate line and my bags arrived on time. I also got a true taste of Lagos traffic as it took me over 2 hours to get to my accommodation.

The thing about life in Nigeria is that it’s devoid of most basic comforts; hardly any electricity, terrible roads, high crime rate, exorbitant cost of living and incessant flooding. However, the trade is booming and Nigerians are very entrepreneurial, which leads to me to wonder how progressive the country could be given the proper infrastructure and environment. The business environment is very prohibitive – corruption, bureaucracy, lack of infrastructure and lack of capital but the spirit of business is very much alive and the Nigerians resilient. I am learning to adapt to a daily 2 hour commute, hours of no electricity or internet, climbing 6 floors 5 times/day and the flooded streets.

However, as I enter my 2^nd week here, this country has managed to impress me. There are a lot of challenges I face – personal and professional – but I am positive that I can help this company build a firm turnaround plan and am equally positive about their success. Though I haven’t been able to take any pictures, I promise there will be lots to follow.

Transitions

This time last year I was on my way from Bangkok to Boston, to return to school for the first time in five years, attending Fletcher. It was a difficult decision because I had been working with a local Burmese research organization that was located in Bangkok but was making its transition back into Myanmar. The shift was spurred by an unprecedented change in the then nascent Myanmar government’s policies, led by the newly appointed President Thein Sein and a handful of reform minded ministers. These changes unlocked a new horizon of potential for the work our office could do, and even more so, a new and unexpected future for a country to shift from nearly 50 years of military rule.  

Despite the incredible transition I did leave because it was also an opportunity for me to build on my own experience having seen how crucial a role economy and income played for Myanmar’s poorest communities, those who have borne the brunt of years of one-sided economic stagnancy.  Thanks in part to the generosity of the Blakeley Foundation I now have the opportunity to return to Myanmar to look specifically at how rural and urban communities are informally using financial services and habits. I plan on using this blog to explore some of the ideas and insights we’re that will come out of our field work, as well as take a larger approach and look at the larger reforms that are still continuing.

Thank you again to the Blakeley Foundation and I hope you all enjoy!

First Impressions of Chad

I arrived in Chad this past Saturday afternoon, and it’s been a bit of whirlwind transition. I spent the last couple days getting my housing situation sorted out (more complicated than expected), my internet account connected (took much longer than expected), beginning to learn how to live and survive in 110F heat without air conditioning (more difficult than expected), and meeting local people (far more friendly and welcoming than expected– a huge blessing!). Within my first few days, I gained a new and profound respect for several things:

1. The highly-refined survival skills of anyone native to the Sahel. Despite brutal heat, I have met so many Chadians who have greeted me with genuinely radiant smiles and warm hand shakes.  I am blessed to be here and to meet these genuinely welcoming people!

2. The difficulty of being productive in an environment filled with intense heat, dusty air, and intermittent electricity. I had always heard that things happened more slowly in Africa. I now know first hand why. I find myself walking and moving in slow motion during the heat of the day, searching for the most efficient line between shady areas, and unable to do much but lie down when the mercury soars to 110F / 43C.  Although I don’t have A/C, I’m extremely grateful for the fans in my small apartment.

3. Those who are committed to this land and these people out of a higher calling.  I have met dozens of expats who are committed to helping and serving and living with the Chadian people.  I am truly inspired!

Another notable observation: during my short walks around the compound where I am staying and around the local neighborhood, I have observed countless multi-colored lizards (many are 16-18 inches long), African finches in the trees outside my window, and huge beetles and bugs.  The birds are pleasant distractions, the beetles are fascinating, and the lizards provide comic relief when I see them wrestling and chasing each other.  We certainly don’t have such exotic wildlife in the Boston metro area!

More to follow later and hopefully I will add photos with my next post.  I am working to get a government permit for photography-- they already rejected my first request.  Perseverence is key here.  I'm eager to hear from everyone else as you start your internships this summer!

En route to Myanmar

On the first leg of our trip to Myanmar we stopped in...  

Blakeley Foundation Mission

The Blakeley Foundation, is a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation registered with the US IRS. We support and provide Capital to organizations both in the USA and overseas who are eager to use their Labor for the advancement of education and health. Our goal is to raise individuals and communities out of poverty and increase their opportunities and way of living.