Ranked #1 in the World
By Kate Robertson
It is week three and I think its time to talk work. As you’ve been reading, it is clear that our team, sometimes referred to as, “Team Bzungu + 1″, is having a blast working for Solar Sister in Uganda. Team Bzungu was politely named by Timone, a friend of a friend of a T-Bird (we T-Birds are notorious for our global networking skills!). As we quickly learned, Mzungu means white person and bzungu is a group of white people. Conveniently, we are 4 white people + 1 black person, our resident Nigerian, Bayo Adebiyi.
Last December, after our first phone conversation with Katherine Lucey, founder of Solar Sister, we were excited about the upcoming opportunity to serve as consultants to the organization. Unfortunately, we also felt overwhelmed by the potential projects Katherine presented to us. During the following months, between module 1 classes, Team Bzungu + 1 met weekly to understand how we could maximize our teams’ skills to best benefit Solar Sister. We spent weeks defining and re-defining what would eventually become the scope of our work. From the Thunderbird library in sunny Arizona, we were unaware of the on-the-ground realities of Solar Sister and we knew that once we arrived, there was a possibility that everything we had prepared would become insignificant.
Over the past two weeks, we’ve traveled to various communities throughout Uganda and spent countless hours with the Solar Sister team, learning the “ins and outs” of the social enterprise. With help from Solar Sister’s Ugandan team, we’ve modified our initial plans. Following is a brief preview of what we’ve been working on between visiting delicious Indian restaurants, perusing artisan markets, riding on motorbikes and listening to traditional live music.
Recruiting Plan - Creating a systematic recruiting process that requires “buy-in” from participants and that focuses on identifying the highest performing Solar Sister Entrepreneurs.
Training Plan - Developing a detailed and visual training curriculum and manual that will be used by Solar Sister trainers to introduce the organization and present the product. This is the biggest piece of the project.
Organizational Development - Recommending an on-the-ground organizational structure as well as defining the roles and responsibilities of each Ugandan employee as well as an incentive system.
Marketing - Creating marketing collateral for use by Solar Sister in the US and suggestions for micro-marketing tactics to be used by Solar Sister Entrepreneurs in Uganda.
More to come from Uganda! Now, it is off to Ethiopian village for some African dinner.
July 21st, 2012 at 4:21 am
You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the paintings you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.
July 25th, 2012 at 10:06 am
Thanx for a very informative blog. What else may I get that type of information written in such a perfect approach? I’ve a venture that I’m simply now running on, and I’ve been at the look out for such info.
July 26th, 2012 at 2:50 am
Hi my friend! I want to say that this post is awesome, nice written and include approximately all significant infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
July 26th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Good website! I really love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I could be notified when a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!
July 31st, 2012 at 6:49 am
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
August 1st, 2012 at 12:56 am
Hiya, I am really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossips and internet and this is really frustrating. A good site with interesting content, this is what I need. Thanks for keeping this web-site, I’ll be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Cant find it.
August 1st, 2012 at 2:10 am
Hi, Neat post. There is a problem with your web site in internet explorer, would test this… IE still is the market leader and a good portion of people will miss your magnificent writing due to this problem.
August 1st, 2012 at 4:58 am
Good write-up. I’m a normal visitor of your site and appreciate you taking the time to maintain the excellent site. I’ll be a regular visitor for a long time.
August 3rd, 2012 at 8:08 pm
You made several good points there. I did a search on the subject and found most people will have the same opinion with your blog.
August 4th, 2012 at 5:35 am
There is perceptibly a lot to know about this. I feel you made certain good points in features also.
August 9th, 2012 at 5:19 am
A formidable share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a bit of evaluation on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast as a result of I discovered it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the deal with! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your weblog with more details? It is extremely helpful for me. Massive thumb up for this blog submit!
August 10th, 2012 at 6:36 am
Great blog here! Also your site loads up very fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as quickly as yours lol
August 11th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
We’re a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your site provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done a formidable job and our whole community will be grateful to you.
August 19th, 2012 at 12:42 am
I think other web-site proprietors should take this website as an model, very clean and great user friendly style and design, as well as the content. You are an expert in this topic!
August 19th, 2012 at 1:25 am
I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an nervousness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.
September 5th, 2012 at 2:03 am
Cheers for the info. Greatly appreciated.
September 5th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
thank you for sharing the info..
September 21st, 2012 at 5:09 am
Hi! Your publish rocks and can be a great study!
October 18th, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So good to search out somebody with some authentic thoughts on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this web site is one thing that’s needed on the web, someone with slightly originality. useful job for bringing something new to the internet!
October 21st, 2012 at 8:02 pm
lexia-3 citroen Favorable Price, Order Now, Save Money! 100Z
February 20th, 2013 at 3:46 am
Thanks on your wonderful publishing! I really enjoyed reading this, you’ll
be a excellent writer. I will make sure to save your site and may come back later.
March 14th, 2013 at 7:26 pm
Like website, and look forward to your update new article, I will often come to visit!
April 29th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
I love this site. I can found here my needs. I am your loyal reader. Keep it up and please add more and more information about it!
April 29th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
Wow! Such a beautiful website! Nice design, keep up the good work!
April 29th, 2013 at 8:02 pm
Very informative article and as I see a lot of interesting replies! I hope that motivates you to write more about this.Wow! Such a beautiful website! Nice design, keep up the good work!
April 29th, 2013 at 8:03 pm
Great work. I really like this site nice post.
May 3rd, 2013 at 10:34 pm
they’re to rub away. It really is finest to use natural vitamin E, which can be distinguished from the synthetic form by the following small print and notations on the vitamin bottle: d- may be the natural form, and dl- may be the synthetic form.
May 4th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. Thanks for sharing.