Well, once again, its been a while. Maybe I set some unreasonable expectations in posting. But at any rate, I’m back. I’m about halfway through my term with Cherokee Gives Back here in Ethiopia, so here’s an update of what we’re up to.
Work has been busy over the last few weeks. In January, Cherokee Gives Back co-sponsored a leadership seminar with the Center for Creative Leadership out of Greensboro, NC. We had over 60 participants from small local social projects to large international NGO’s. We are hoping to help develop a new model for leadership development in Ethiopia and have found that there is a real market for this sort of training. The street corners of Addis are filled with copies of “The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People,” “The Purpose Driven Life,” and other self-help books. But more than that, there are so many NGO’s and other organizations providing training and capacity building, and any such program can be enhanced through incorporating leadership development. I still don’t know how best such a venture could contribute to leadership development in Ethiopia and East Africa, but I do sense that there’s a void to be filled.
The Cherokee Education Exchange Program is seeking to place around 20 Ethiopian high school students in the US this year. We’ve been traveling the country to recruit the best students from targeted government schools. The students studying in the States this year have been doing extremely well. All are excelling in different areas, and some are all-around all stars. One student in particular is near the top of his class in a schedule full of AP courses and leading the pack on cross-country team. The candidates for next year seem just as strong and incredibly enthusiastic.
A scene from my neighborhood
I’m still learning about microfinance in Ethiopia. The industry is heavily regulated, but growing every year. Just around the corner from my house there is one MFI that I visited recently. I went with my friend Mersha, who is being treated for Hepatitis and is looking for a job. They offer two applicable loans, a group loan and an individual loan. With the group loan, you are required to apply as a team of at least three people, and the team is eligible for a first loan of up to 1,500 Ethiopian Birr (around 150 USD) with around 20% charged in interest and fees. Once this loan is repaid, the group may apply for a new, larger loan. No collateral is required for this group loan. Individuals may apply for larger loans, but they are required to own property or be guaranteed by an employer. This is just one of the firms that happens to be right around the corner, but I was impressed with the accessibility of their products. Their business development officer met with us, explained their products, and was very helpful. Nonetheless, many in poverty are slow to see the world in terms of opportunity rather than risk. A scarce and unstable environment encourages people to live in the here and now, seize what’s available because there’s no guarantee what tomorrow may hold. With greater openness in the MFI industry, I think the promotion of microfinance products and services would be more pervasive, and more prospective entrepreneurs would take advantage of the opportunity. Currently, Ethiopia’s total microfinance coverage is similar to that of Azerbaijan, a country with only 1/10th of Ethiopia’s population.
Moving on… Over the last few weeks, Cherokee Gives Back has had the opportunity to meet and share with several other foundations with staff on the ground in Addis Ababa. I’ve become more and more convinced that CGB’s vision in Ethiopia holds incredible promise. While other foundations consider metrics such as total amount spent to evaluate success, CGB envisions a future focused on results, not cash spent. But more so, I think the method of investing in select business ventures as a way to achieve social goals has serious merit. Social businesses have a responsibility to the community, but also create a financially sustainable institution that can not only exist beyond any funding cycle, but also can be scaled and replicated. Our vision is to identify the best of these ventures, invest in them, and utilize any equity or loan repayment to expand our investment in similar ventures. Right now, one of our biggest challenges is sourcing these entrepreneurs. I’m hopeful that these new relationships with other foundations in the country will bear fruit in this regard. Together we can work complementarily, with other foundations assuming a traditional granting role, while referring non-traditional businesses to Cherokee Gives Back. The envisioned future is a ways away, but I think there’s an enormous strategic opportunity here.
Celebrating the Epiphany in Addis
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working with a new initiative, the Global Orphan Care Foundation, to introduce them to network of orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) care providers in the country. Ethiopia is one of the first countries where they will begin their work, and over the past two weeks, we visited some amazing institutions. One of which was Selam’s Children Village. Founded over 20 years ago as an orphanage, the institution is now a home to over 450 orphans, provides a school to over 3,000 local poor students, and offsets up to 40% of its total costs through earned-income ventures. They have two restaurants that serve as training facilities for their students, a vocational training center that sells the items produced in the mechanical workshops, and a large farm complete with flowers, vegetables and livestock. We also visited smaller care providers that structured their organizations around a home environment. Two small homes, one for boys and one for girls, are run by an incredible social entrepreneur named Yonatin. Though there are no revenue streams, the love in those homes is evident from the first step through the door. The high ratio of caregivers to OVC’s, and the remarkable training and commitment of these caregivers, is absolutely crucial to their success. As I’ve said before, the poverty of this country has been the source of many problems, but its hard not to feel hopeful when meeting change-makers and seeing the results of their work.
Downtown Nairobi
Matatus: Nairobi’s minibuses for local transport. Many are painted with spiritual slogans, soccer players, but most with rappers. I’m not sure who this rapper is, but I can make out some dollar dollar bills…
Mwanza, Tanzania
Fun with giraffes, part 1
Fun with giraffes, part 2
Flamingos at Lake Nakuru National Park
A hyena chilling out
A nice family of rhinos
And one mean rhino that didn’t take to kindly to us interrupting his nap. In fact, he tried to spear our RAV 4. 
Pelicans, Lake Nakuru National Park
Safaricom sponsored road-side establishment. Safaricom, the dominant mobile provider in Kenya and the company that introduced the country to banking on your cell phone. Now you can pay your bills, transfer cash, and withdraw from agents around the country simply using your mobile.
Mt. Longonot, with its crater on top, as viewed from the escarpment above the Rift Valley
Lake Naivasha at dawn
Lake Naivasha, II
Yours truly, Hell’s Gate National Park
Zebra at the canyon wall, Hell’s Gate
Hell’s Gate again
Hell’s Gate
On the way to Naivasha town, with Mt. Longonot in the distance
Camps of internally-displaced people on the road side
Jamii Bora housing development at Kaputei
The edge of Kibera, Kenya’s largest slum
The newly rebuilt market near Kibera
Clothing stalls at the market
Vendor, child and Obama sticker
