I apologize that this entry is so long overdue. In September, I attended the Base of the Pyramid conference at the University of Michigan's William Davidson Institute. It was a fantastic three-day conference which explored how to effectively and responsibly do business in the developing world.

One of the interesting take-aways from the conference was the focus on the "triple bottom line". In the past, I have been frustrated by the split between "sustainable" or "green" initiatives and those that are socially impactful. It was refreshing to hear people talk about the need for companies to address environmental AND social concerns.

My year as an Acumen Fund fellow concluded with our graduation in mid-August and I enjoyed six weeks of vacation traveling around the U.S. visiting friends and family. I moved to San Francisco three weeks ago and began working at IDEO, a design and innovation firm. I am involved in a new initiative at IDEO around design for social impact and design for the base of the pyramid.

While no longer writing from Kenya and sharing my experiences in East Africa, I hope to continue to write from California and share insights about design and development. The catch is that I need a new title for the blog. Big kudos (and maybe even a better prize than that) for anyone who can think of a catchy title for my blog. Post your ideas as a comment below or send me an email. Thanks in advance!

Scojo Foundation (my former employer) is currently hiring someone based in New York to manage its Franchise Partner Channel.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS:
Scojo Foundation requires an individual to manage the tremendous growth opportunities within the Franchise Partner Channel. The Franchise Partner Manager will be responsible for developing, managing, and ensuring successful relationships with potential and existing international Franchise Partners. The Franchise Partner Manager will also be responsible for ongoing support to the Director. Read More...

Do you have a great idea and need funding? If so, Echoing Green is now accepting fellowship applications.

VISIONARIES WANTED

Do you have an incredible, new idea that could change your community, country, or world?

Are you an entrepreneur who won't rest until your idea has been brought to life? Or a leader who has recently started an organization to do just that?

If so, apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship. You could receive up to $90,000 in seed funding and support to launch a new organization that turns your innovative idea for social change into action.
Follow in the footsteps of the founders of Teach For America, City Year, and over 400 other social change organizations and apply online by December 3, 2007.

Watch the video
Find out whether you qualify
Apply online
Questions? Contact us at apply@echoinggreen.org

For those of you interested in design or for those of you in the Bay Area looking for something cool to do, check out the David H. Liu Memorial Lecture Series in Design at Stanford.

The first lecture, with Jan Chipchase from Nokia Design, will be held on September 27. I haven't yet had a chance to attend, but have heard great things about the lecture series and hope to attend a few of the upcoming talks. Hope to see some of you there!

Acumen Fund is now accepting applications for the class of 2009 fellows. I encourage those who are interested to apply or to pass along the information to others who might be. Please see the message below from Acumen Fund.

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We are excited to open the application process for the 2009 class of Acumen Fund Fellows. We've moved up the process to better coincide with recruiting calendars for schools in the U.S. as well as in the geographies where we work, so you can apply online until noon EST on October 24, 2007. Information about the program and the process, as well as bios of current and past fellows, can be found on our website. To apply directly, please click here.

We are looking for dedicated individuals with the moral imagination, the practical skills and the leadership potential to effect real change. The program thus far has been a resounding success – both for the fellows and the Acumen Fund enterprises they supported. Previous fellows have called their time with the program a life-changing experience, allowing them to build critical business skills and an understanding of the challenges of serving low-income consumers around the world.

We are also excited to welcome our current class of 2008 fellows. The class has just started its training in New York and is actively preparing for the work of supporting Acumen Fund investments. The fellows have committed to sharing their experiences both from New York and on the ground, so expect to see frequent posts from them on the Acumen Fund blog.

If you know exceptional individuals who should be part of our 2009 class, please encourage them to apply.

There was an great article in yesterday's New York Times about the MIT D-Lab and the International Development Design Summit. As I move to IDEO to begin working on design for the Base of the Pyramid, it's exciting to see the media picking up on these issues.

Amy Smith, founder of the D-Lab, has done a fantastic job advancing the field of design for the developing world and I'm always interested in reading what she and her students are up to.

Two weeks ago, the Acumen fellows celebrated our graduation at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. Angela Blackwell and Peter Goldmark made moving and humorous remarks and Jacqueline and Deepti spoke about the fellows program in the context of Acumen Fund’s mission. After having been coached again by Rives, the fellows did a short performance piece, showing photos and telling stories of our time in the field. During our time together in New York and Princeton, we prepared this short video which includes clips from our time in China, India, Kenya, Pakistan, and Tanzania.

The Design for the Other 90% exhibit at the Cooper Hewitt Museum was an interesting backdrop for the celebration. At lunch, we talked about global poverty and product designs which had really taken off and changed lives (drip irrigation systems and treadle pumps) and those which really had not (water purifiers and microfilm projectors), while sitting in the spectacular gardens of the museum on the Upper East Side. It seemed like quite a dichotomy, but one that those of us who do development or social enterprise work face all the time.

Walking through the exhibit and reading recently about design, I’ve been thinking a lot about my new position and how to ensure the products and services we design are wanted and will be used. There are too many examples of American designers creating products for the developing world that are not needed or wanted. We must be careful to avoid the mistakes others have made and think hard about marketing and distribution. There will be many challenging questions to face and I’m excited to take it on.

When we were in Princeton, Victor, from Social Edge, flew from San Francisco to interview us. He will post one short interview each week and started this week with my interview.

Click here to watch.

Eric Cantor and I created this five minute video about Advanced Bio-Extracts. This is meant to give viewers a brief introduction to the company and includes interviews with executives, staff, and artemisia farmers and shows the production of artemisinin for use in ACTs to treat malaria. I hope this gives you an idea about where I spent the past six months working while in Nairobi. Enjoy!

Click here to watch the video

Acumen Fund fellow, Nadaa Taiyab, created this video about her investee, Medicine Shoppe. Nadaa spent the past 8 months in Bombay where she set up 8 Sehat Clinics - health clinics and pharmacies in low-income urban areas. This is a great example of an effective business model serving the base of the pyramid.

Enjoy this great, short video.

I’ve always found these long layovers in Europe strange. In the midst of the transition between the place where I was and the place where I’m going, there are a few hours in a place that doesn’t feel like either the old or the new. I wander around in a daze, my mind jumping between remembering the people who I said goodbye to 24 hours ago and the people who I’m about to see when I land in Washington.

I ran into an acquaintance at the Nairobi airport last night who asked me if I was happy or sad to be leaving. I gave the standard response, “sad to be leaving, but happy to be seeing friends and family.” While that’s true, there’s a bit more complexity to it.

Of course I’m sad to leave Kenya because I have really enjoyed the last 8 months and have made great friends who I’m sure will remain part of my life. But, I’m also sad to leave because this signifies the end of this stage of my life – a three year period of moving, studying, traveling, and working abroad. I’ve lived in 10 apartments in 4 countries and have been totally independent and relatively unattached. I’ve proven to myself that I can adapt to change and handle insecurity. I’ve made great friends in all the places I’ve been and have made the places my home for as long or short as the duration of the stay.

The lengthy 2 ½ month transition period I will now begin will end with a final move to San Francisco and a real full-time job (something I haven’t had since July 2004). For the most part, I’m excited about moving into an apartment and filling it with my own things, expanding out of the two suitcases I’ve been living in, and settling down someplace; but I can only imagine that in some respect, I’ll miss the excitement of constant change.

Final Nairobi photo album

The third in the series, this is my mom's blog post about visiting a shantytown on the outskirts of Nairobi. I encourage you to support this project by buying sandals or making a donation to Ecosandals.
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“ Where to?” the Nairobi driver asked as we piled into the taxi.” Korogocho,” Jocelyn replied.

The driver’s jaw dropped as his eyes widened. Why would a bunch of “mzungus” visit one of the largest and most desperately poor shantytowns in Africa? Our daughter wanted to show us Ecosandals, a community-based business she had volunteered for.

After 20 minutes, we turned onto a deeply rutted dusty road; the acrid odor of burning garbage made our eyes water and noses burn. Beyond four-story apartments were hundreds of shacks, rusted metal roofs pressed together, people and children wandering everywhere.

Roselyne, sales manager of 12-year-old Ecosandals, greeted us with hugs and kisses in the office/workshop. Six sandalmakers worked in two 8’ x 10’ rooms, designing, cutting, gluing, and finishing the leather and recycled tire tread sandals sold on the internet or in local markets. Ecosandals has consistently provided employment and free secondary education to adolescent HIV/AIDS orphans and single mothers. The young men and women were incredibly proud of their work and incredulous that American tourists were so interested in what they were doing.

Roselyne wanted to show us Korogocho, I was anxious about safety, concerned about what we might see, uncomfortable where I did not belong. Here 150,000 people live in cardboard, wood, and metal shacks, no running water or toilets, limited electricity. Waste water and raw sewage collect in makeshift open gutters beside the dirt road, emitting a disgusting stench. Children with runny noses, dressed in discarded Goodwill clothes, called out, “How are you? How are you?” -- the only English they knew. Some braved grabbing a finger to touch white skin. Adults glanced up from work and smiled or nodded as we walked by.

I realized I had nothing to worry about. We were visiting a “city” with a real sense of order and purpose. Although almost no one was “employed” in the strictest sense of the word, everyone was engaged in meaningful activity. “Shops” lined the main roads and people sold everything imaginable — fruit, vegetables, meat, French fries, freshly grilled corn on the cob, auto parts, tools, furniture, used clothing and shoes, dirty recycled glass jars, scrap metal, household and kitchen items.

Every morning, doors of the shanties are opened, goods placed on the ground, ready for sale. We stopped and bought two “jikos” (small charcoal braziers) for $3 each from a painfully thin man with a brown-toothed smile. He could hardly believe his good fortune.

Women talked and laughed as they did their wash in the street next to a standing water faucet. Children played in the water as it ran into open gutters. Chickens pecked in the dirt and young boys led goats to open garbage pits to rummage through the trash.

In a new community/health center, funded by international aid, two articulate community leaders discussed mission, goals, successes, challenges. It struck me that similar conversations take place in communities all over the U.S. Health is the biggest challenge: 40% have HIV/AIDS. Dysentery, cholera, TB, worms are common.
We stepped inside a primary school classroom, a dark, low shack with 40 five-six year olds on rough wooden benches. The teacher sat in a chair holding her 3-month baby in one arm while children copied math problems from the blackboard into their composition books. At another Catholic school, children in orange and navy uniforms played a game similar to “Farmer in the Dell.”

As we returned to Ecosandals for “nyama choma” (grilled meat) and avocado salad, lovingly prepared by Roselyne, I realized how fortunate we were to visit Korogocho. Most residents will never leave this shantytown, because of education, work experience, skills, and money. But this is their community, a place where they care for each other and live with dignity, purpose, and hope.
What an eye-opening and humbling experience it was visiting Korogocho!

Carol Wyatt, July 5, 2007

To continue the series of blog posts written by family members about our trip in Kenya and Tanzania, here is my brother Ian's post on Zanzibar.
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It's unmistakable as our plane approaches the small landing strip that we are in the developing world. Looking down at the ground that passes below, we see the outskirts of Stonetown, with tin shacks, dirt roads, and piles of trash. While we are about to land at the Tanzanian island paradise of Zanzibar, we need no reminder that this is still the developing world.

Unlike western beach playgrounds for the well-to-do, Zanzibar's poor is front and center. Where we would expect to see overpriced condos within walking distance of the ocean, we find chaotic markets and dirty streets.

However, that is not our Zanzibar. An hour and a half drive from the airport, we arrive at Evergreen Bungalows on the eastern side of the island. This rustic beach front getaway with eight or ten bungalows and a restaurant and bar could have been built thirty years ago, or much more recently. The rooms that come equipped with mosquito nets and showers with one temperature...cold...are literally on the beach. The beds have the standard African-style thin and hard mattresses and paper thin pillows, which is a stark contrast to our pillow-top mattress with eight oversized pillows at home.

While Evergreen isn't the island paradise that I would have chosen had i been coordinating this trip, is is absolutely perfect and reminds me that we are in fact not in the Bahamas, but instead on an island in the Indian ocean.

The food here is among the best we have enjoyed in Africa, and includes a lunch and dinner menu that changes daily and includes primarily seafood options...whole grilled fish of the day with the head on; grilled octopus; seafood salad. We are however operating on African standard time, where things are inefficient and slow. We order lunch and hour before we are ready to eat, and give the kitchen staff at least an hour and a half to prepare the more complicated dinner course. Drinks on the beach is a must for any beach vacation, but they are similarly slow. If in a hurry for a drink, we order beer or wine, as fruity drinks like pina coladas can take 20 minutes to prepare.

We spend our days constantly outside, relaxing on beach chairs reading, going for a dip in the ocean, walking on the beach in search of sea shells, or out on the sailboat for an afternoon snorkeling trip that leaves our mouths full of salt water.

Our time here has been quiet and relaxing, and reminds me that vacation isn't only about being pampered in a five star resort; occasionally its important to sit back and reflect upon the fact that we are so fortunate and live such privileged lives compared to the people we passed in the van from the airport in Stonetown to our bungalow getaway and those we have seen everyday during this eye-opening trip to Africa.

Ian Wyatt, July 3, 2007

More photos from Zanzibar

Before leaving New York this fall, Acumen Fund challenged each of the fellows to raise $10,000 to support Acumen's work in East Africa and South Asia. Acumen Fund provides capital and managerial support to social enterprises that serve the poor by delivering goods and services related to health, housing, water, and energy.

I have made progress towards my fundraising goal and am now trying to raise the final $3,400 from friends, family, colleagues, and other supporters. Your donation will support the fellows program and allow others to have the type of experience and make the kind of contributions that I've had a chance to make over the past year.

Please consider making a gift to Acumen Fund. You can read more on the website, www.acumenfund.org and can donate online, http://acumenfund.org/Community/SupportOurWork/. When you make a contribution, please include my name in the "Referred By" box so your donation will count towards my $10,000 fundraising goal.

Thanks so much for your support!