Friday, June 29, 2012

Business in Kiirua

The weeks are flying by, it’s hard to believe we are almost at the half-way point! We are learning so much from all of the people we meet and having an amazing experience so far. We had a really good week, even with a few changes in our plan!

Throughout the week we began to analyze the business plan, and initiate the fifth draft (for the Muchui Business Center), as well as worked on consolidating record sheets for the women at the green houses. We met with two green house members on Monday and five screen house members on Thursday. After collecting data from the Muchui Members over the past month we are finding a lot of similarities. First of all, a major concern of all the women is water and the price of water. Another major challenge they face is market fluctuations and getting their product to the market. We have also noticed a huge improvement in the awareness and decision making capabilities of the women who are entering their second harvest (as opposed to on their first harvest).

On Tuesday we continued our computer literacy training with Virginia and Rebecca (at Ruuju), it was exciting for us, as we helped them enter and summarize their records on the computer for the microfinance and merry-go-round areas.
We were set to meet with two of the Muchui Sub-Committees on Wednesday, but unfortunately there have been a few deaths in the community so we had to postpone them. Instead, we finished the preparation for our CME presentation and I had the opportunity to join the nurses to watch a C-Section!!

On Friday we presented our work at a CME presentation for some of the nurses and doctors. They seemed really interested in what we are working on in their community. We headed to Machaka Orphanage in the afternoon to spend some time with the children.

This weekend we are hosting a Canada Day party for all of the amazing people we are meeting. It is hard to believe how excited everyone is to come, so we are really looking forward to providing them with a few Canadian treats!

Janell MacDonald (Business student)

1 comment:

Farmers Helping Farmers said...

Great job Janell and Haley! I bet they are appreciating all that they are learning from you- it is defintely a two way street, eh? Any receptiveness to the idea of saving for the next crop?
Jen