Success story: meet an artist / entrepreneur from Mathare slum

"I have a vision of uniting people through art and design"  (Donald Wafula)

Donald at SE101 completion ceremony, Aug 2011

In my last post - quite some time ago - I promised to share a success story with you.  I've chosen this one because it's visual (and blog-friendly) and I am a customer!  Let me introduce you to Donald Wafula who was in our class in Mathare in August 2011.  We often have students who want to open hair salons or operate food stands (fruits, vegetables or other foodstuffs) but Donald stood out in that he wanted to sell artwork ... his own artwork.

If you've ever been to Kenya, you'll know that there are all kinds of arts and crafts on sale.  In my apartment, I have a small wood-carved giraffe and stone-carved hippopotamus; though they are hand-made, neither one is "original".  There our literally thousands of these items on sale in Nairobi markets and they're all more-or-less the same.  My giraffe and hippo are nice little souvenirs I suppose, but their appeal diminished rapidly after I acquired them.  There was no story behind either of them and I haven't a clue who made them.

Last year, my fellow teacher Julie Raworth had the idea to commission a sketch from Donald and I really liked it.  This year, I asked Donald to do a few for me.  My colleagues Bianca Luo and Hailey Wang also purchased one each. Below you can see my (perhaps) favourite sketch. I am currently shopping for an appropriate frame for this one so I can hang it on the wall in my apartment.

Notice the posture of the woman on the right and the light reflecting on the skin of the forehead, hand and forearm of the person

on the left.  Donald has captured the lumbering motion of the animals and the graceful gait of the people. 

It's a simple but beautiful and peaceful scene: I love it.

There is a palpable difference between art that someone has specifically created for you versus some random object whose provenance and intended meaning are unknown to you.  To have contact with the artist himself and to understand his vision adds a precious dimension to a piece.  Not only do we appreciate a sketch for what it is, we become closer to the artist as we get a tiny glimpse into his life.  The work becomes an experience rather than a mere object.

A village scene.  This is not a reflection of life in the past;

parts of rural Kenya resemble this sketch to this day.

The sketch to the right was commissioned by Bianca.  I like it very much.  It is contemporary in style and yet reflects life as it has been for centuries.  We have visited huts like this, framed with tree branches (some of which are exposed in the sketch) and then packed with mud and dung.  The roofs are of thatched grasses.  The walls and floor have a reddish hue to them and can be spotlessly clean and without smell.  The finish can be smooth or textured.  They are quite gorgeous.

A Nomadic Tribe.  Although in the background, the trees are so

distinct and familiar.  Kenyan trees are unforgettable.

This sketch was also purchased by me.  There are 42 tribes in Kenya.  Some, like the Maasai, are well known to most of the world; however, you've probably never heard of the rest of the tribes.  Imagine the cultural diversity in Kenya in terms of language, customs, art and food.  Tribal attachments are strong even in the present time ... which is wonderful but at the same time can lead to some extreme difficulties such as the post-election violence of 2007-2008.

Donald during tea-break at the Mathare classroom

Donald is 22 and from the Luhya tribe.  He has a secondary school education and is currently taking courses in IT.  I'll share with you three phrases from the summary of his business plan:

"I get the chance to present a real story (artwork) instead of souvenirs"

tourists "are looking for a meaningful work"

"I have a vision of uniting people through art and design".


If you would like to commission Donald to create an original sketch(s) for you, please email us.  We can introduce you to Donald via email or Facebook. We can also accept advance payment (before July 20, 2013) on behalf of Donald and deliver your sketch(s) upon our return from the next trip in (August 2013).

Oh, the places you’ll go!

When we (the Sauder Africa team) weren’t teaching in Nairobi we were visiting the local attractions. The first weekend started off with a double header. Sunday morning a slightly tired crew took off after a night of Nairobi nightlife to the Baby Elephant Orphanage. The orphanage takes care of 21 baby elephants that have either been abandoned by their mother, or their mother died of poaching or disease. It was like seeing 20 little Dumbo’s, and they love to chug milk. In order to get a good viewing you have to arrive at 11am for the morning feeding where the keepers walk the line of elephants into the viewing area and give them large almost novelty size bottles of milk. It was cool watching their attitude towards pesky tourists. On 2 occasions people got too close and they were either sprayed with water, or pushed out of the way with the elephant's trunk leaving a large dirt mark on the individual's shirt. The elephant center also kept a blind rhino, which had to be caged unfortunately to receive regular treatment. After lunch we went to a Giraffe Sanctuary, which had a viewing gallery at the same height as the giraffes. Most of the team chose a ‘unique’ way to feed the giraffes; we were provided pellets and told to put one in our mouth. Then the giraffe would come and lick the pellet from our lips. Surprisingly we didn’t get licked and the giraffe easily took the pellet. Their diet consists of eating really prickly bushes so their tongues produce a natural antiseptic, which makes the interesting feeding method hygienic. Giraffes have huge heads and the most beautiful eyes when you see them up close, which was a real treat. The center also had a very small area describing all the different types of giraffes, although they are all one species depending on the region of Africa they have different patterns and colourings.

The second weekend we visited ‘Bomas of Kenya’ which is a cultural museum. They have dances from different tribes and an area where they have built traditional huts for each of Kenya’s 42 tribes as demonstration models. In many tribes each family will have multiple huts and humorous pictures ensued with the women at different huts marketed ‘1^st wife’, ‘2^nd wife’ and ‘3^rd wife’(below). The husband also has his own hut, but it’s usually very small and used for resting during the day as he spends his nights in one of his wives huts. The 1^st wife has the largest hut and the subsequent wives will have smaller huts. Each wife had their own granary and there were also ‘boys huts’ in some tribal compounds, whereas the girls would stay with their mothers. Luckily we had our driver Fred with us who explained the unmarked exhibits and provided local context. The Maasai huts were the most primitive, constructed with cow dung including the extremely low roof. Maasai are one of the most traditional tribes, they don’t value education, which makes it difficult for them to integrate with other cultures as their Swahili is not strong. Male Maasai are often security guards in cities and coastal areas; you can see them in their red robes walking around with long sticks and a knife on their thin belts.

Our last trip together with the UBC group was to Maasai Mara, Kenya’s world famous National Park. Weeks earlier the migration had occurred from the adjacent park (Serengeti) in Tanzania and ‘the Mara’ was full of Wildebeests and Zebras. The drive from Nairobi was 6 hours, 2-3 of which were on an extremely bumpy road providing what is commonly known as an ‘African massage’. We had left Nairobi late in the day after teaching and the sun quickly set at 7pm. Bouncing around in the dark I saw my first Zebras casually crossing the dirt road, minutes later 2 giraffes stood blocked the road then casually walked across oblivious to our two vehicles. As we arrived at night we hadn’t seen the surrounding landscape. The first morning I watched the sunrise over Maasai Mara with Steve, a follow UBC alum who had returned for a 2^nd year to help with the program. Our safari vehicle had a roof that raised allowing everyone to stand up and look at animals as we were driving through the park. Within the first few minutes we had seen small herds of Zebras, Wildebeest and Topi. Two Topis were smashing their horns together while Ostriches walked in the background and Giraffes were walking among Zebras on our left side; needless to say it was a great start to our day!

Little did we know, a half-hour later Zebras and Wildebeests, stretching across the savannah, would blanket the landscape. About 3 hours into the drive we had seen Elephants, Zebras, Wildebeests, Giraffes but the big cats were no where to be found. While driving between hundreds of Wildebeests a French couple pulled up beside our vehicle informing us of a pride of Lions on the upcoming hill. We took off but after circling the hill we couldn’t find them; we saw a young Wildebeest bucking and running around sporadically so we decided to drive over. Vultures were circling overhead and we arrived to find it’s mother was lying down twitching, the circle of life would become apparent as half eaten carcasses were regularly passed. Later that day we saw a Zebra dead by the side of the road, most likely it had darted in front of a vehicle minutes earlier. Upon returning 8 hours later it looked deflated; vultures cut holes in the tough exterior skin then stuck their heads inside stretching their necks a foot to eat the innards.

After 40 minutes of searching we eventually found our lions, Anoushka was the first to spot them in our vehicle letting us know with a high pitched yelp of joy. They were relaxing in a clump of shrubs, which provided shade. During the migration there is plenty of prey so the big cats are well fed, meaning you’ll rarely see them moving around during the heat of the day. The pride contained a Lion, 5 Lionesses, and 3 cubs.  After hundreds of pictures our group moved on towards the Maasai River looking for water animals, on our way we saw a convoy of vehicles lined up beside the road. We couldn’t see anything and slowly drove alongside; our driver asked what everyone was looking at and we were informed there was a cheetah in the shrubs 100 meters away. The camouflage was amazing; it took 20 seconds to see it even though we knew it was in the bushes. We saw 2 cheetahs and a couple cubs over our day and a half in the park but they blended in so well it was useless trying to get a good picture unless you had a zoom lens the length of your arm. At the Maasai River we saw Hippos slowly walking in chest deep water and after walking upstream several large crocodiles. Before lunch we’d managed to see so much! As we were leaving the park on Day 1 we caught 2 final animals, a pair of Jackals running across a field and a group of Mongooses. The second morning though we were treated to a lioness eating a recently killed wildebeest! Luckily in Maasai Mara you don’t need to spot the animal just the giant clumping of vehicles. Later in the day we watched the same lioness run nearly 5 feet from our vehicle and drink water from a pond before walking away into the nearby hills. Safaris are definitely an amazing experience, and if you’re ever in Africa they are a MUST!

As a Sauder Alum I volunteered with SE101 while on a 1 Year trip around the world. I have been in East Africa for 4 months and am currently working in Arusha, Tanzania with a solar company for 6 weeks. You can read about other adventures at 1yearentrepreneur.com.

                                                    (Photo taken in Maasai Mara National Park, Water Buffalo)

When I take off my business socks…

My month in Kenya started with a visit to the Kenyan National Museum with 2 German guys I met at the hostel(I arrived in Nairobi a week before the Sauder team). We decided that using our Lonely Planet guide we could easily walk to the museum, as it couldn’t be more than 40 minutes away. It was definitely an adventure, the road we had to follow ended up being a highway through the city. After half an hour we were walking on the small dirty path with other Kenyans along the edge of the road. After about an hour we stopped at a shop to ask for directions, apparently we had walked all the way to Westlands missing our turn off (which wasn’t indicated) by about 10 minutes. Once we found the museum one of the staff members offered to tour us around as it was a Monday and they weren’t busy. He was a Kenyan University student and provided a lot of insight beyond the descriptions. In the first room there were various displays in glass cases, the first one was a hat made of feathers and several stuffed birds. Our guide explained that in order for the Maasai boys (a Kenyan tribe) to become men they have to kill 20 different species of bird to make the ceremonial hat. A few showcases later we saw an elaborate fur coat on the statue of a man, apparently it had been made of 4-5 Black and White Colobus Monkeys. The cape represents great power and is only worn by village chiefs or politicians. The government is taking steps to transition both rituals to ceremonies that don’t effect the environment as tribal populations grow.

The most interesting displays were on Kenya’s turbulent past. As a former British colony they imported a lot of Indians who would become the merchant class. While visiting Uganda and Tanzania I had heard of the 3-class system, but Kenyan’s independence was much more violent than the other African nations. The Mau Mau Uprising was a movement that lasted from 1952 to 1960, Kenya achieved independence in December 1963. The British established detention camps for those believed to be involved with the resistance movement. As guns were not readily available for the local people they would actually steal guns from the British and reverse engineer them, manufacturing new weapons from available supplies.   After visiting a coastal museum in Mombasa earlier in July, which covered the coastal Portuguese/Omani conflict and the Swahili culture, it was interesting to discover the country's national history.

In early August I started teaching business planning with a team from UBC, which I described in 1 Year Entrepreneur Begins. Several weeks later I am looking back on a whirlwind of activity. With every weekday spent teaching, followed occasionally by dinner or a night activity and sightseeing on the weekends, we were BUSY! The UBC team had been hard at work back in Canada with fundraisers and workshops preparing for their 3 weeks in Africa. Luckily a friend Rob Foxall, had participated in the program in 2009 and put me in touch with the coordinator Martina who was happy to have an extra set of hands on the ground. I couldn’t have asked for more from my class or the teaching team. In Kibera there were 2 classes, our class was known as the ‘English class' because the other class needed Swahili translation for most lessons. This meant our students were younger (17-25) having grown up in an improved Kenyan education system and definitely more energetic! Our teaching team was equally enthusiastic composed of Chris also known as Jamache in Luo(a Kenyan Tribal Language), an MBA student who grew up blocks from my parents house in Ottawa. Anoushka also known as Atoti in Luo, an Indian undergrad known for her bubbly personality and Beyonce dance moves. Along with Beryl our Kenyan translator, co-instructor who brought a calm nature to all our crazy Muzungu personalities.

The last 2 weeks involved cramming in income statements, cash flow and approving what would be their first business plan draft. In order to break things up we had a networking day, for inspiration a past student who had recently opened a bakery talked about determination. The day was composed of creative exercises and team building bringing together the 2 Kibera classes and 1 Mathare class. As an African teacher I have also developed a new skill, I rocked my first baby to sleep in my arms. Most classes have 1-2 babies and providing some childcare helps the student’s focus on the lesson. The highlight of the day was the reaction to the delicious lunch, in true military fashion the students ate first and the teachers ate last. Lunch was goat biryani an Indian influenced dish common in Swahili areas, within a few bites we were all commenting on the delicious flavor. Then our students started coming up to us saying 'pili pili' Swahili for hot; the local food includes very few spices and for us what was only mild flavor actually preventing a few of them from finishing their meals. Martina took note and hired a past student of the program now caterering to make local dishes for the graduation ceremony.

Both the networking day and graduation ceremony were held at the Nairobi Scout’s camp. Sitting under an open structure looking out at a large open field on a sunny day was a perfect finish to the program. We watched students that nearly refused to present to 5 classmates provide their life mission statement to 80 people; the changes were memorable. Each class presented 2 awards; one for best student and one for best business plan presentation. Our instructor team chose Kelvin for best student; he wanted to open a small movie theatre in the community, which also sold sodas and DVDs. Our best presentation came from Asha, a young lady that wanted to become a wholesale cereal (maize, beans, rice) distributor. One of her goals was to become an independent woman and during the post presentation question period some of her male classmates posed questions irrelevant to the presentation. She stood her ground providing excellent answers and showing amazing confidence.

As the program wrapped up I began talking to Patrick Bakira one of the Kenyan instructors about establishing a small microfinance project. Patrick is extremely intelligent and has worked in Kibera for years, the perfect mix of financial prowess and understanding of the local community. Although UBC is planning to open an entrepreneurship center in Nairobi to help the community year round I felt that I had the opportunity to make a difference now working with Patrick. After a few meetings over coffee we had worked out the main details and set up the initial framework for a program that will most likely launch in late October. As an entrepreneur I firmly believe in the theory of calculating your risks quickly, making an attempt and if you fail, fail fast and try again. Our small investment won’t provide funding to all our students but it will get some off the ground. With Patrick’s coaching we hope to get their businesses to a level where traditional microfinance loans will be a possibility within 6 months. One year from now we hope to have a solid proof of concept that will help grow the program for future students, blending business education with small loans and regular mentoring.

As a Sauder Alum I volunteered with SE101 while on a 1 Year trip around the world. I have been in East Africa for 4 months and am currently working in Arusha, Tanzania with a solar company for 6 weeks. You can read about other adventures at 1yearentrepreneur.com.

                           (UBC Team on the Tanzania/Kenya border in Maasai Mara National Park)

One Year Entrepreneur

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 2^nd 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.

The Ladies of Kibera

I want to tell you about my students.

Usually, entrepreneurship classes are full of men. Our Mathare site this year certainly reflected that stereotype, with a ratio of three women to ten men. But Kibera was different. We had a good portion of a women’s group join our class, so between the two Kibera classes we had 15 women out of a total of 30 students. The majority of the ladies ended up in the Swahili-focused class, since they weren’t completely comfortable in English, and since they preferred to stay together.

And while I did get to know a lot of the guys very, very well, I taught primarily in the ladies’ class, and so it is their stories that I want to tell you.

Most of the ladies were in their late 20s or early 30s, though we had girls as young as 17 and a few ladies old enough to have 17-year-old children. Many of them came to our program through a support group for HIV positive women, though I never asked exactly who was part of that group. Almost all of our ladies already owned their own businesses, so the SE101 course was more a way for them to improve and strengthen their businesses rather than to learn how to manage the day-to-day operations.

(Most of) the ladies of the Swahili-speaking Kibera class on our networking day. 

Pascalia is a mother of seven children ranging in age from 5 to 18. She runs a grocery store so that she can afford to pay the school fees for all of her children. Her oldest son is currently in university studying to become a doctor, and you can hear the pride in her voice when she tells you about him. She knows that a weakness facing her business is her inability to be on time (oh Africa time), and she’s working on that. She knows the best places to get fresh fruits and vegetables, and has a special way of preparing maize that makes it taste better than her competitors’ maize. Pascalia has the sweetest smile… I hope I get a chance to visit her business some day.

In contrast to Pascalia’s innocent sweetness, we have Janet. Not that Janet isn’t great – she’s a perfectly lovely girl – but she definitely says exactly what she thinks. There are absolutely no euphemisms in her speech. Janet is a hairdresser, and told us that anyone who wants to smoke while they get their hair done can just go away and smoke somewhere else. Janet is in her early 20s, but she’s already got a three-year-old son.

Janet’s friend and potential future business partner is Seline. Seline was our winner for top student in one of the Kibera classes because of her excellent class participation, her willingness to help out her classmates, and because her homework was always impeccably completed. Seline and Janet have such contrasting personalities – Seline’s calm, tactful personality balances out Janet’s exuberance perfectly.

Then we have Hellen, a mother of four children under the age of 7 who is the sole income earner in her household. She runs a chip stand, but her real passion in life is singing. She sings in her church choir, and would love to learn to sing better when she has the time and money. However, her children are the most important part of her life, and she’s willing to put her goals aside for the time being so that she can pay the school fees for her kids.

Asha was one of the few girls brave enough to join the English class. She’s only 21, and she’s determined to become a cereal wholesaler before continuing on to higher education. Part of her personal mission statement is to become an independent woman, to avoid relying on any person – specifically any man – in her life to get her where she wants to be. When she made this statement to the (90% male) class, a few of the guys gave her a hard time. Her confident responses put them in their place, and impressed her teachers to the point where she won the award for best presentation in her class. Of course, it’s not all hard work and seriousness with Asha – any time music is playing, she is dancing, and on my birthday she decided to pick me up by the knees and spin me around the room.

If it wouldn’t make this blog post entirely too long, I would tell you about every single one of my students. I can tell you that every one of them has made an impact on my life, an impact I suspect I won’t recognize the full ramifications of for some time yet.

And though I have left Kenya and moved on to the next phase of my life, I will always remember my ladies’ names, and I will always remember their stories.