From Silicon Valley to Swaziland by Rick & Wendy Walleigh (read aloud txt) đź“–
- Author: Rick & Wendy Walleigh
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Although all of our office colleagues spoke English very well, we discovered that for most of them, it was their third language. Typically, their first language had been the local tribal language for the area where they were born. Their second language had usually been Swahili. Finally, at some point in school, they had begun to learn English, and they developed their proficiency throughout their further education and business careers. English was the language of business, but most people in Nairobi felt more comfortable speaking Swahili in social settings. On top of this, most of our colleagues were skilled in consulting with smallholder farmers or small business owners. Their skills were not in proposal writing or cost-benefit analysis. For a while, Wendy and I felt like teachers correcting compositions. Although many of the ideas for new projects were good, they were often not well presented in a well-structured and logical manner. And some were not financially justifiable. We reviewed, edited, and commented on the papers and then returned them to their authors for rewriting and more review. After several rounds, we got a number of concept papers into very good shape and sent them on to headquarters for donor discussions.
Finals of the Business Plan Competition
Kenya’s business plan competition (Believe, Begin, Become—BBB) had progressed through several phases as contestants’ business ideas were turned into business plans while the contestants advanced through several rounds of competition. After the first judging, the remaining contestants got training in business concepts and the necessary components of a business plan. As they reached the finals, contestants received individual mentoring to refine their business plans for presentation to judges selected from the local business community. The top prizes were cash grants to establish or grow a business. Secondary prizes consisted of further professional coaching on establishing a business.
Although TechnoServe had previously run these competitions in numerous countries, the participation and competition in Kenya was at a level we had never seen before. The Kenya BBB got nearly six thousand entries. The TechnoServe BBB team had carefully developed the logistics and recruited volunteers from the United States, Europe, and Korea to handle the anticipated large number of entries, but it was still a huge challenge. It was also very exciting, both inside and outside of TechnoServe, to watch the contestants make progress as they were narrowed down. Wendy and I were excited and booked our return flight to the United States so that we could watch the final awards presentation.
The final ceremony was held in the Jomo Kenyatta Convention Center in downtown Nairobi, an impressive venue that stands out on the Nairobi skyline. The main hall is arranged as a circular amphitheater with tiered seating, somewhat like a smaller version of the UN General Assembly Hall. The atmosphere was charged as well-dressed finalists and their supporters arrived from provinces throughout Kenya. Bright lights glared as sponsors and government officials were interviewed and videotaped. The proceedings began with speeches praising the contestants as well as extolling the importance of the competition and its value to the Kenyan economy. Attendees listened politely, but everyone was waiting for the announcement of the prizes.
As the various prizes were awarded, there were cheers from the supporters of the winners, but these winners also knew that they had not won the grand prize. This was to be the last announcement. When the grand prize winner was announced, the applause was thunderous. Many of the other contestants, sponsors, and TechnoServe employees had met the winner and knew her fantastic story.
Two weeks prior to the awards ceremony, the final judging process had occurred. All of the final contestants had been taken to a one-week offsite retreat. Early in the week, the contestants had been given training in presentation skills and coaching on turning their business plans into presentations to be judged. Later in the week, the contestants made their presentations to the judges and the winners were chosen but not announced. Unfortunately, on the second night, a young woman contestant, Jacqui, was taken to the hospital with acute appendicitis and had her appendix removed. Like the successful entrepreneurs I had observed in Silicon Valley, Jacqui was not going to be held back by this misfortune. She knew that the BBB was a great opportunity so she left the hospital two days later, and somewhat weak, with her mother and sister providing support, made her business presentation to the judges. I don’t know if her determination had a major influence on the judges because she had a very thoughtful plan for the business that she had already started and was already demonstrating excellent growth. We had heard this amazing story and cheered loudly with the rest of the crowd when her name was announced as the grand prize winner.
It was an inspiring end to our time in Africa, and we felt good. We hadn’t changed the world overnight, but we had helped to get some people out of poverty and on the road to more productive and satisfying lives. We had been able to utilize our business skills and experience and provide unique capabilities to help solve a variety of diverse challenges. On the personal side, we made amazing connections with our colleagues who came from entirely different backgrounds but were committed to the same goals, and many of them remain our friends. We also had a wonderful adventure exploring places, cultures, and environments very different from our typical routine in the United States. We were ready to go home, but our time in Africa had been a wonderful experience.
Coming Home
Arriving home was somewhat comfortable and somewhat surreal. Moving back into our house felt very familiar but at the same time abnormal. Some of the impact was the jet lag that didn’t really wear off for over a week. Some of the strangeness was the fact that all of our clothes, kitchenware, utensils, bathroom sundries, etc., had been packed away in the garage while we were gone and needed to be unpacked. Being up at unusual hours and being tired during the middle of the day compounded the weird feelings as we set about moving back into our home.
After the initial few weeks, we became comfortable seeing friends and reestablishing old patterns of activity. It now all seemed very familiar and easy, and Africa seemed farther and farther away. We missed our friends in Africa and the sense of purpose we had every day getting up for work. We missed the excitement, but we knew it was time to come home to the United States, to our family, and to our long-time friends.
After a while in the United States, Africa often seemed like a magical dream, but we knew it wasn’t and that the wonderful experiences we had there would influence us for the rest of our lives. We hadn’t changed the world overnight, but we felt good about the work we had done and believed it would have long-term benefits. Maybe we had made changes in Africa, but certainly Africa had changed us. Any time a news story on Africa appears—in any media format—our ears perk up; we read about it then discuss it as it fits or contrasts with our experiences. Plus we have traveled back to Africa on business and pleasure six times since returning to California at the end of our time in Nairobi. Africa had also given us a greater appreciation for how billions of people spend their whole lives just trying to survive. Africa had made us want to continue to contribute.
Specifically, I have taken a part-time position as a senior advisor at TechnoServe so that I can continue to do meaningful work throughout this period in my life. I could have pursued a full-time executive role, but that’s not what I want at this stage. I still believe in the cause and the organization and will still work hard part-time to contribute. Wendy has done several projects for TechnoServe, but mostly she has focused on marketing projects for local businesses and returned to JA of Silicon Valley as a member of the board of directors. Our current activities and lifestyle align reasonably well with our goals for this phase in our lives. We want to continue to contribute and give back, but we still want time for fun and personal travel, particularly to visit family and friends. We want to be good people, but we don’t need to be heroes.
Your Turn
While we hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our adventures in Africa, our success won’t be complete unless we’ve inspired you to embark on your own journey to find purpose and adventure. As you contemplate the next chapter in your life, we’d like to offer just a few recommendations:
First of all, do something that will excite you. It’s a new time in your life. Don’t be constrained by the old rules that limited you during your primary career. You probably don’t have all of the familial responsibilities you had earlier in your life, e.g., supporting young children. Without these pressures, you don’t have to commit to the most practical and stable job. You don’t even have to choose something that will offer a long-term position. You can be flexible. You can experiment and try different things. If you’ve always had a wild dream in the back of your mind, now is the time to go for it. Have an adventure. I’m not saying to go crazy and take unreasonable risks. Limit your risk, but then be naive and open to new and different experiences. Stretch out of your comfort zone, even as an experiment. Think of a new adventure even just in terms of days or weeks—as a short pilot program. And it doesn’t have to be in a developing country. It can be in your own state or region where there are still plenty of needs to fill. Who knows where these short-term efforts might lead? During my research phase, I spent two weeks in Peru and two weeks in Nepal doing small volunteer projects. Before we embarked on our full-scale journey, we limited our risks with Wendy’s rules of compulsory hot showers and flush toilets, no flying bullets, and no countries ending in “stan.” We also limited our first commitment to six months. However, we had no idea where we’d be deployed, and when we were, we knew nothing about Swaziland. But that was okay.
My second recommendation is to use your skills, but in a different way or a different environment. Stretch your brain. Learn new things. Gerontologists say that this is a way to keep your brain functioning well. Even if you go into a new environment, you will be surprised as to how effective you can be with the basic skills that you take for granted. You probably have thirty to forty years of experience and most people in the world don’t have your level of knowledge and skill. Whether it’s basic business, technology, healthcare, construction, teaching, or just how to solve problems and get things done, you’d be amazed at how valuable your skills can be to people who don’t have them.
When I first started thinking about what I wanted to do in this stage in my life, I thought about becoming a paramedic and working in disaster areas around the world. As I thought about it, I turned away from this idea because
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