market Archives - Challenges Worldwide

Social Enterprise: Put your money where your mouth is

Challenges Worldwide believe that social enterprise is the most effective vehicle for poverty alleviation in developing nations. This is a complex and difficult argument to make, but yesterday our guest speaker Martin Muganzi made it thoroughly convincingly by recounting his experiences of working in development.

Martin started from humble beginnings, raised with 6 siblings by a single mother, often relying on neighbors for support. For Martin, community support has been vital to his way of life from an early age, and he quickly became involved in giving back to the community through work with the missionaries at his secondary school. This continued throughout his university education in biomedical science, as part of the scholarship programme through which he had enrolled.

A Passion for community work

After a brief career as a lecturer, Martin realised that community work was his passion, and decided to pursue it full-time. Martin’s first foray into full-time community work was through the Youth at Work Initiative. This project relied upon funding to reduce youth unemployment by skills training, mentoring and job creation.

While YAWI was a great success, reaching over 1000 young people, Martin was somewhat disillusioned by his experience working with foreign NGOs. It seemed that the availability of funding could change quickly, dependent on the current development priorities. What this meant in practice was a lack of commitment to real change, which has to be followed up and supported in the long term. Martin had similarly questioned the approach of NGOs while trying to educate people on the dangers of HIV/aids. He cites events which rely on “per diem” handouts as particularly ineffective. While it is a great way to encourage participation, when your mind is on the food which you came to eat, it is difficult to focus on the bigger picture.

Commitment issues

What Martin has realised through these experiences is the importance of true commitment. A team’s commitment to a cause is far more important than their qualifications or resources. And how is commitment commonly displayed? Money. Martin has taken this vital observation and applied it to community work. The result is social enterprise or “social entrepreneurship.”

The mentoring scheme at YAWI had been plagued by the problem of lack of commitment. Mentors would sign up with enthusiasm and promises and then fail to show up in the longer term. Martin now uses a fee-based model where both mentors and mentees pay, thus demonstrating their commitment. The resulting enterprise, All Stars Mentoring Academy(link) is a testament to the success of this approach, with 30 mentees successfully completing the comprehensive 3-month programme this year.

Look at the market

Martin’s approach to social entrepreneurship is deceptively simple:

Identify a community with a shared problem
Look at the markets they are participating in and identify exactly where the market is failing that community.
Two great examples of where Martin has done this are his businesses Essential Home Services and the Calabash Collection.

Both examples are illustrative of the power of social enterprise. The Calabash Collection sell beautiful bags and accessories made from recycled marketing materials. This came about simply through Martin’s personal investigations in the Katwe Slum. He asked how much the workers were paid to make bags, and then followed the supply chain to see how much they were sold for. He thought that a 1000% markup was extractive and simply went into competition, providing a much fairer cut to the workers.

Essential Home Services is a similarly simple model. Martin was aware of a large influx of young workers into Kampala, unemployed and eager to find work. Essential Home Services provides a platform to link domestic helpers to homes who need them. They provide security and background checks for a delayed payment and take a small cut of workers earnings.

Both of these businesses provide a fantastic service to consumers. However, of more interest to us in the creation of decent work, in contrast to the exploitative alternatives. As Martin argued, the power of decent pay and new opportunities for those living in poverty cannot be overstated. The incentives to save and work towards a better and healthier future become far more real once you have something to lose. A more convincing discussion of this can be found in the fantastic book Poor Economics.

The truth about social enterprise

For me, Martin’s argument was a very powerful one. His personal experiences seem to resonate with what I have heard during meetings with the business owners we are currently working with. The deciding factor in any venture is the commitment of the people pursuing it. And the investment of your money is a display of that commitment.

These two truths come together in a powerful way through social enterprise: be that by providing decent work, fair pay throughout a supply chain or an affordable and advantageous service. This is what we hope to support at Challenges Worldwide.

On leaving Ghana | Charlotte Roberts

Challenges Admin

We are finally coming to the end of our colourful, crazy, fantastic, difficult, wonderful programme in Ghana.

The past twelve weeks have brought a huge range of experiences, and I want to reflect on the lessons I will take with me when I return to the UK.

1) I have learned about resilience

Personally, I have been challenged in ways I never anticipated. I knew it would be hot in Ghana, but I had no idea how much the climate would affect me. I knew the food would be new, but I didn’t realise how much I would miss food from the UK. I knew people would live their lives in different ways, and I knew I would have to adapt, but I didn’t know how hard this could be in the context of such a long period.

However, as we reach the end of our stay here, I am sad to be leaving the sunny days. I will miss many of the dishes I have discovered, from plantain and red red (beans), to FanYogo (strawberry frozen yoghurt). I have grown to love our host home, with the mango tree and bougainvillea growing over the compound walls.

I have learned about the importance of positivity and persistence. I have learned to take advice from people who know better, and to approach new situations with an open mind.

2) I have learned about tolerance

When I set off for Ghana, I was boarding a plane with a group of 17 other UK volunteers I barely knew. When I arrived with Ghana, I met another 18 Ghanaian volunteers who were entirely new. I was paired with Francis, my Ghanaian counterpart, and put in a host home with two other volunteers, including Stella with whom I have shared a room for 3 months. Between the UK volunteers we have a broad range of personalities, backgrounds, and experience; with the Ghanaian volunteers, the range is even broader.

Over 3 months, I am so lucky to have been able to spend time with so many interesting people. I am grateful that they have shared their stories with me, and have been fascinated to learn the different ways that they see the world. Ghana has lived up to its reputation for hospitality, and I am hopeful that I have found friends for many years to come.

I have learned about patience. I have learned how important it is to listen. I now know that it is still possible for people who hold fundamentally different opinions to have strong friendships.

3) I have learned about privilege

In Ghana, I have been faced with completely different values, opinions, and lifestyles, and much of this is down to its status as a developing economy. I have seen people living in poverty, without access to clean water or education. I have experienced restrictions in terms of resources like electricity. I have learned about the deep scars left by the slave trade and colonial history, and the suffering which continues as a result of corrupt politicians and exploitation from international corporations.

Here, people tend to eat every part of every animal. People take great care of their possessions, and repair them before replacing them. Children often work alongside their parents to support the household, even when they attend school during the day. Religion is an incredibly strong force, giving believers hope for their futures. People help strangers on the street, and share good fortune with their neighbours.

I have learned about my own privilege. I have learned the importance of using my power as a consumer to support ethical business and fair trade. I have gained perspective on the West’s disposable consumerist culture, and the damage it wreaks on society and the environment.

4) I have learned about opportunity

A key part of the programme has been our work with businesses. There have been issues in this area which will hopefully be resolved for future cycles, and I have seen a number of businesses from a number of angles, and learning a huge amount about the unique challenges in the Ghanaian market, from poor infrastructure to high utility costs.

However, I have also learned about the opportunities. I have been able to spend time in a business which was set up by a Ghanaian woman from nothing, and which now provides employment and training for women and young people in rural areas. I have worked with an NGO which is single-handedly revolutionising Ghanaian attitudes to recycling. I have seen the huge opportunity which is out there, and the enterprising spirits of many Ghanaian business owners.

I have learned that few things are impossible, and that many things can be achieved with a combination of courage and hard work. I have been inspired by the innovation and strength of people who have found their own path under challenging conditions.

These are not necessarily the lessons I expected to learn from my time on a placement with Challenges Worldwide International Citizen Service (ICS); however, I know how valuable they are, and I will take them with me as I journey home.