My name is Ryan Fetterly and in March 2012 I bought a 1 way ticket to Uganda which departed in early May. As a Sauder graduate (2009) I was interested in programs that were taking place in Africa. In April I met Martina the program coordinator who invited me to join the Sauder team in Nairobi. Below I have place one of several blogs I wrote for my own blog 1yearentrepreneur.com about my experiences with the SE101 program. I will be posting them over the next few weeks on the Sauder Africa Initiative.
When I bought the domain name “1yearentrepreneur.com” months ago sitting in my comfortable Vancouver apartment I envisioned a trip around the world meeting with local businessmen and learning about how international business operates. For the first 3 months I traveled, visiting National Parks, beaches, mountains and local villages. Meanwhile I was e-mailing back and forth with a few individuals trying to set up internships with the help of contacts provided by Vancouver friends. Apparently when you pitch yourself as an individual that quit his job, bought a one-way ticket to follow his passion of traveling and renewable energy your story stands out. Slightly before leaving Vancouver I had lined up my first commitment, a 3-week volunteer position teaching business plan development in a large slum in Nairobi, Kenya with my alma mater the Sauder School of Business.
In early August I moved into an apartment in the Upper Hill neighbourhood within walking distance of the UBC team's hotel. The advance team lead myself and our Kenyan partners through the workshops that had already been conducted back in Vancouver. When the remainder of the team arrived excited but jet lagged we visited the teaching sites walking past houses made of corrugated steel, wood and mud. I’d traveled East Africa for 3 months but hadn’t actively sought out the poorest areas and was shocked by the living conditions that are normal for hundreds of thousands of individuals. In the villages at least they have easy access to land for farming. In the city large families live in small mud or steel houses packed in tightly with dirt alleys that turn to mud and flood when it rains. The stories of “flying toilets” were the most surprising; many individuals cannot afford the 6 cents to pay for the latrines instead defecating into plastic bags and throwing them from their properties.
After 2 days of teaching we had finalized the classes, we had 16 students between 18 to 25 years old all looking to start their own businesses. With 3 Canadians and 1 Kenyan partner instructing, we shared the lessons covering material quickly with the hopes of having our students ready to start their business by the end of the 3-week course. With limited funds in Kibera most businesses revolve around essential services, hair saloons, poultry attendants, vegetable stands, bars and 2nd hand clothing sales. After 1 week we had covered target market, designing market research surveys, competition and started revenue and expenses.
Many students hope to achieve 2.5 to 5 USD profit per day from their businesses and are eager to learn how to ensure success. On Friday we played a review game to cover the weeks material, the two teams were deadlocked at 3 points each at 2pm when we finish class so the students can work other jobs or complete chores. All students stayed intently preparing for the tie breaker, during one argument over an answer one student ran home grabbing his personal business book and ran back to prove his point. When Team A won 20 minutes after class was supposed to finish by correctly identifying start up vs. operating costs I realized how important this course is to our students. Sharing my knowledge with individuals that most likely will never have the opportunity to go to college or university was an extremely rewarding experience.
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