Alumni

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From Kumasi to the Houses of Parliament: The Power of Photography

Last June, I departed the UK on what was sure to be an adventure. I was heading to Kumasi, Ghana as a team leader with Challenges Worldwide for 3 months. Although I had no idea what lay ahead of me as I began that 24 hour journey to Accra with the other team leaders, I could never have envisioned that, fast forward 7 months, I would be stood speaking about my experiences at the Houses of Parliament in front of the head of DFID, Lords, Ladies and a group of MPs.

When I applied for an ICS placement, I had just secured a job in London and was looking for something to fill my final extended summer. I wanted to travel, but having already taken a few too many ‘gap years’, this time I wanted to give something back. I’d heard horror stories about the voluntourism industry: “They’ll knock down anything you build for the next group”, “You’re money’s going to a selfish and greed-driven organisation”, “Why are you paying to volunteer your own personal time?” These are all valid points that highlight real issues around this industry, and they resonated in my mind as I searched the internet for opportunities to combine my wish to travel with my want to do some good.

“Why are you paying to volunteer your own personal time?”

International Citizen Service

ICS was something I learned about from Facebook. The DFID funding gave it credibility, the opportunity to work in partnership with other young people was unique, and the breadth of projects and countries was exciting. I had no real idea as to where in the world I’d like to end up or with which organisation, I just knew that I wanted to be involved in an entrepreneurial-focused initiative. Everything I’d read and believed pointed towards the sustainability of development when the power of business was harnessed in the solution. No more questions about what happens when the funding stops and the volunteers leave; upskilling business owners and making a positive impact to an economy as a whole should have a far reaching and long lasting positive impact. Two weeks after my initial application, I heard I would be interviewing for Challenges Worldwide. Another quick trip to my go-to google and I realised this project aligned perfectly with my aspirations.

No more questions about what happens when the funding stops and the volunteers leave; upskilling business owners and making a positive impact to an economy as a whole should have a far reaching and long lasting positive impact.

The work the volunteers did whilst on placement was fantastic. Over the space of the 3 months, they made a real impact on 9 businesses within Kumasi. However, what led me to the Houses of Parliament, and what I’ll focus on in this blog post, is the social impact that bringing a diverse range of people and a community together can have.

For those who have not been on a Challenges placement, I’ll give a quick explanation. Alongside their day-to-day work, whilst in country volunteers are split into four groups:

  • MPR (Mid Programme Review) – tasked with organising a fun-filled weekend of reflection halfway through the 3 months
  • Team Building Committee – responsible for activities and events that bring the volunteers closer as a team
  • Communications Committee – with the joint aim of marketing the volunteers’ achievements and work
  • Impact Day Committee – required to identify a need within the community in which the team are living, and organise a day of action to tackle this.

As a team leader, I headed up the Communications and Impact Day teams, and my counterpart Lukman took charge of the MPR and Social committees.

It’s at this point that I’d like to challenge you to take a look at the below picture and ask yourself: what you believe you see?

Katherine Stone Female Entrepreneur Kumasi Ghana
Photo credit: Katherine Stone

We’ll revisit the answer to that shortly – but first, I’m going to explain how this picture, and the Impact day it was taken at, came about.

Planning Impact Day – take one

As previously mentioned, part of every ICS project is a team “Impact Day”. Although the eventual outcome of this event is tackling a social problem, it was clear that due to the nature of the Challenges programme it would be best to take an entrepreneurial approach.

The easiest way for a group of newcomers to a city to do this would be to join forces with an already established network. In our case, however, Challenges was as new to Kumasi as we volunteers were, meaning we had no existing connections. We, therefore, set about searching for charities and volunteer groups, talking to host homes and businesses, looking online, and reaching out to friends.

An orphanage affiliated with one of our businesses approached us for help. However, in order to mitigate the ‘voluntourism’ risk that I spoke about before, there has been a shift away from working with children on any Challenges Worldwide ICS placement. Challenges’ 20 years of expertise centres around sustainable business development in emerging economies and their work delivering ICS seeks to disrupt the status quo of unskilled young westerners undertaking short-term projects that can cause more harm than good. Therefore we were encouraged to approach our impact day activities with sustainability and long-term outcomes in mind.

Planning impact day – take two

Weeks passed, and ideas came and went. We all wanted to make a real lasting impact in the community that had welcomed us so nicely, but – like anything in a developing country – overcoming obstacles was a daily challenge. Thankfully, using prior university contacts from home, I managed to contact a social enterprise, SanEco, who wanted to help. Saneco is the brainchild of The University of Southampton’s Enactus Society. In short: SanEco have identified a way to create reusable sanitary towels from readily available and affordable materials. They train unemployed members of communities to make and market these products with a focus on also educating women on their bodies and menstrual cycles. Through this initiative, social entrepreneurs are created. By increasing these people’s income, they directly tackle poverty levels. These entrepreneurs also increase the standard of living of the females in their communities, who would now have access to affordable sanitary products, allowing them to continue with their normal lives whilst menstruating.

I pitched the idea to the Programme Manager and our Impact Day Committee and they all loved it – but they would, as a predominantly female team who understood these issues and were comfortable speaking on the topic. The real issue would be introducing the concept to the male members of the wider team and, as expected, there were mixed reactions. We, as Westerners, like to believe that we stand for equality and share the mutual respect to discuss health issues and topics such as the natural processes of the female body. It’s all too easy to think that the male/female divide is only now a problem in lesser developed areas; however, initial reactions to the Saneco topic highlighted that so-called ‘taboo subjects’ are also still prevalent in Western society.

It’s all too easy to think that the male/female divide is only now a problem in lesser developed areas; however, initial reactions to the SanEco topic highlighted that so-called ‘taboo subjects’ are also still prevalent in Western society.

After a few difficult conversations and a hard stance from the Impact Day team that this was how we would proceed, we got everyone on board. We would deliver workshops in the morning, transferring skills that are essential to any business: budgeting, marketing and bookkeeping, to name a few. We would then introduce the SanEco programme in the afternoon, and apply what we had taught in the morning to the product.

Preparing for Impact Day

The team were excited and the day began building momentum. We bought materials, secured a venue, did shout outs on the radio, printed and handed out flyers, reprinted and red-handed out flyers and attended church ceremonies to spread the word. Before we knew it, the day was upon us and all we could do was wait to see if anyone turned up.

Anyone who has been to Ghana will be well aware of GMT (Ghana man time). To those who haven’t, this is the name given to the fact that it is perfectly acceptable to show up to arrangements hours after the agreed time. A bizarre concept for people from the UK to wrap their heads around. Thankfully, it appeared that GMT was running particularly close to regular Ghana time this day, and at just 45 minutes after our planned start day, the room had over 20 people in (both male and female, from babies to grandmothers!)

Impact Day

The morning workshops went without a hitch. The participants were actively engaged, offering examples, asking questions and genuinely enjoying themselves. We broke for lunch and got ready to introduce SanEco.

There was a buzz in the air. We had decided to market the initiative only as a new ‘social enterprise idea,’  in order not to discourage anyone from attending before they understood the initiative. However, to our surprise, when we revealed what we would be showing them, the excitement remained in all participants! We began walking them through the process of creating a sanitary pad. Unfortunately, as accomplished as we all felt for pulling off this day, it turns out that we’d overlooked the slight issue that none of us could use a hand operated sewing machine, which was the main component of making these pads. Thankfully, and with some quick thinking, we threw it out to the audience and were extremely relieved when a lady in the front row was more than happy to help. She came up to the front, and in less than a minute, we had our first pad. I pulled out my iPhone and quickly snapped the above image.

When I earlier asked what you thought my picture showed, I’m sure you didn’t guess the answer. A woman empowered by a group of young people with the tools to start her own business tackling women’s needs.

 

Post Placement

Since returning to the UK, I’ve been overwhelmed by the interest in this image. It’s been in newspapers, been voted top 10 out of over 400 entries in the ICS photography competition and allowed me to attend a showcase at the Houses of Parliament, discussing my experiences with some of the most influential people in the country. The Houses of Parliament showcase was the first time since returning from my placement that I really had the time to sit back and reflect on the difference that we have made and can continue to make. Meeting volunteers from other ICS organisations has reiterated the positive impact that young people are making across the world. Challenges and ICS represent the opposite to most stigmas that are attached to young people nowadays. Lazy? No. Uncultured? No. Shying away from community spirit? Not that I’ve seen.

Challenges and ICS represent the opposite to most stigmas that are attached to young people nowadays. Lazy? No. Uncultured? No. Shying away from community spirit? Not that I’ve seen.

With the changing, and somewhat frightening, world that we live in today, it’s never been more important to spread the word on the positive impacts that collaboration across borders can make. I spent 3 months living in a country where I was a ‘foreigner’, and quite frankly the experience would have been impossible without the welcome, help and support I received from my Ghanaian colleagues. Pictures, to most, are a way of preserving memories. They have always been a very personal experience for me. However, what I’ve learned from this experience is that they also serve as a tool to spark curiosity, spread positivity, and tell a story. I’m not promising all pictures will end up with you in the Houses of Parliament, but I have seen first-hand that people want to know about your placement, they are interested in learning from your experiences and it’s actually pretty fun to relive them through sharing your story.

So: post your pictures, share your stories and remember that the Challenges Worldwide ICS experience is a truly unique one.

Written by Katherine Stone

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How to Create the Ideal Ecosystem for Micro, Small and Medium size Enterprises (MSMEs) In Ghana

The decision to start a new business can be one of the most important steps that any person(s) can ever take, and this goes beyond just the business aspects.

Micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs) are cornerstones to the success of every economy, particularly an emerging one as Ghana’s. According to Storey (1994), SMEs have no universally accepted definition. Aryeetey et al (1994), defines MSMEs by categorising them into- Microenterprises (1–9 workers), small enterprises (10–29 workers) and medium enterprises (30–140 workers). In Ghana, most of the private sector businesses fall within the MSME bracket where they operate in markets with low barriers to entry, and with no real product differentiation. They do more than filling the black hole created by unemployment, driving macroeconomic growth, and also provide an avalanche of other opportunities. For these small businesses to thrive there needs to be the existence for an enabling ecosystem, because they are not just producers of goods and services, but they also serve as consumers. However, in Ghana it is a common practice to find central banks preferring to lend to governments, which offer less risks and higher returns, crowding out these same MSMEs (private consumers) from the financial systems. Having recently volunteered as a Business Support Associate with Challenges Worldwide (a UK Government Funded development charity that trains and manages expert volunteers to carry out short assignments for social enterprises, and prepare them towards investment readiness), I would propose certain ways in which this conducive ecosystem can be created;

1. Presence of enabling legal and regulatory environment

For these small businesses to thrive there needs to be an independent and efficient legal system to make sure contracts signed are not only enforced, but binding on all parties involved. Good policies provide a basis for an enabling environment. Some of the legal and regulatory bottlenecks that exists include;

· Inadequate regulations, insufficiency hinders the growth of these small businesses and makes it difficult for them to seek redress in the law courts, that is, the poor enforcement of contracts.

· Poor administration of regulations and lack of clarity, some of the existing regulations are complex and bureaucratic. They need to be clearly defined and certain processes (government agencies) taken out of the processes for effective delivery and to eliminate the duplication of processes among them.

· Lack of awareness, the laws and regulations need to be properly communicated and promoted to these small business owners, to give them a better understanding and appreciation of them.

2. Good microeconomic and macroeconomic policies

Sound economic policies go a long way in creating the needed desired ecosystem for MSMEs to excel on the backdrop of predictability. Economic policies need to give small businesses the room to be able to explore and exploit every economic opportunity by achieving; low budget deficits, low deficits, competitive exchange rates, etc. For instance, unlike larger enterprises who can hedge against high inflation and other unfavorable economic indicators by hedging to minimize their risk profile, small enterprises cannot afford that luxury and room to operate. It is important to say that, certain policies adopted will be political, but they should be implemented with sound analyses for the benefit of every economic agent.

3. Partnerships

Forming cooperatives and working to create community links can be beneficial both in terms of cost cutting and heightening morale for MSMEs. This is a very important way small businesses can overcome the major hurdles that confront them in areas such as; accessing affordable finance, and other economies of scale. Working collectively, and organizing workshops to learn from participants’ experience to help them gain insights into how to go about certain situation. Some of these clinics can help support members, with the support of technical assistance agencies, including voluntary non-governmental organizations such as what Challenges Worldwide does by recruiting qualified young people and training them to offer technical expertise as Business Support Associates of which I am a proud beneficiary. These partnerships through cooperatives can help them secure affordable credit at lower borrowing cost by lowering their individual risk profiles as a group due to certain formalization of their industry-related operations. It would afford them the opportunity to secure finance without having to struggle with certain stringent requirements such as collateral, enjoy economies of scale by buying at discounts, engaging in its own research and engage in sophisticated marketing.

4. Setting realistic and achievable targets

The alchemy of turning ideas into sellable, and appealing solutions to everyday problems is a mark of successful entrepreneurs. Setting realistic goals and timelines in achieving those set goals to create empires. MSMEs owners must also do well to have a succession plan to steer affairs even when they are no more. Their successors must be trained and equipped with the needed technical and entrepreneurial skills through mentorships, apprenticeships and other techniques. This preserves the original vision of the business without aberrations from their core business and internal wrangling of power. This is a major setback most small businesses in Ghana face and mostly fold-up when the brainchild is no more. This repels investors from putting their monies into such so-called “one man” business, and having a clear succession plan would appeal to investors.

5. Business Development Services (BDS)

These services includes; consultancy and advisory services, marketing assistance, technology assistance and other supporting services. MSMEs can outsource some of these technical and strategic services to experts for use on a fee-for-service basis. These would help to streamline operations leading to efficiency and increased profitability. Some of the reasons why these small enterprises are reluctant to use outside expertise are listed below;

· The use of experts/consultants may be viewed by the entrepreneur as admission of lack of competence

· The belief that only large enterprises can afford the consulting fees charged

· The fear of business interference, especially when requests are made to examine business documents such as accounts and taxes.

The use of BDS provides enormous benefits such as;

· An independent professional viewpoint and expert evaluation

· Training and development of strategic approaches

· Online marketing techniques- social media presence with targeted outcomes and may more…

6. Alternative sources of finance

Financial institutions are often reluctant to deal with MSMEs in Ghana due to high risk of default than the corporates. Also, bookkeeping skills is an issue because some do not keep any financial records (usually scant) and are mostly less transparent. There is the issue of not separating business account from personal accounts, and this indicates the poor quality of management. This hurdle can be overcome when business owners prioritize their needs and spend efficiently, and ploughing back profits into the business. Also, other alternative sources of financing that are longer-term in nature. For instance, small businesses with no product differentiation can come to a mutual understanding and merge to pool resources together. This could also afford them the opportunity to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange Alternative Market (GAX) which has more relaxed requirements as compared to the main stock exchange, to go public to secure longer term finance. However, this will still be on a high side for many MSMEs present but one thing is clear, the need for collaboration to pool resources in the form of long-term equity financing rather than short-term debt financing is the way forward.

In a nutshell, with an enabling ecosystem from the various state supporting institutions, the right collaboration amongst major stakeholders, determination from the entrepreneurs, Ghanaian businesses are going to soar higher. We should take a cue from the Asian Tigers who have used technology and their creativity to infuse themselves into the global value chain to compete with their counterparts from the West.

References:

[1] Aryeetey, E.A, Baah-Nuakoh, A., Duggleby, T., Hettige H., and Steel, W.F., (1994), Supply And Demand for Finance of Small Enterprises in Ghana, Discussion Paper № 251, Technical Department, Africa Region. Washington, D.C., World Bank.

[2] Kubr, M., (2002)…Management Consulting.4th.Geneva, Switzerland, International Labour Organisation.

[3] Storey, D., (1994), “Understanding the Small Business Sector”., Routledge, London. pg. 33–55.

Written by Bright Bosu

Vist Bright’s profile on Medium

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Abel Ofoe-Osabutey, Founder of The Kingzmen GH

Challenges Worldwide are pleased to announce the success of one of our Alumni, Abel Ofoe-Osabutey.

Abel has successfully started a Bamboo Eyewear Business in his home country of Ghana. The Kingzmen Gh was born out of Abel’s undying interest in his sister’s eye defect which she has lived with from childhood.

By age four, Abel’s little sister could hardly open her eyes and struggled to see in the high rays of the sunlight and was deemed to be partially blind. As a result, she had to leave her regular schooling due to her inability to cope with class activities and the negative attention she received for her eye condition.

Inspired by this, Abel Ofoe-Osabutey, was motivated to do something innovative to help support the movement to prevent blindness amongst people living in Ghana, Africa and across the world. In the backseat of a Business class at the University of Ghana Business School, he conceived   the   idea to start an Eyewear Business aimed at solving one of the leading causes of blindness in Ghana and across the world, Cataract. Joining this with his passion to cause change in Ghana through innovative ways of job creation and creating better living standards, The Kingzmen Bamboo Eyewear was conceived.

However Abel didn’t start this business right after conceiving the idea. He wanted some advice from a creative genius in order to know what direction to take his business.

Fortunately, he was paired with a design expert, Izzy Housley during his ICS volunteer period under the supervision of Challenges Worldwide. After bouncing off ideas between each other over the period, Abel set out to begin his entrepreneurial journey.

His vision for the Eco-friendly Sunglasses is to help prevent cataracts one pair of sunglasses at a time while creating sustainable jobs through continuous innovation and cutting edge designs and con- cepts.He also believes in the vast potential of the African continent and seeks to use his brand to inspire individuals to join in exploring and promoting the continent by thinking differently and acting differently.

 

We caught up with Abel to find out how the his Challenges Worldwide placement supported him to start his business.

CW:Hi Abel, Thank you for taking the time to speak to us about your exciting new venture, The Kingzmen GH. Would you be kind enough to share with our readers some of your inspirations and goals for developing your sunglasses range so that we may inspire more young people to follow their dreams?

AO: It is really great to hear from you and it is quite amazing that i get to have a feature with Challenges Worldwide. I hope I will be able to inspire a lot more young people out there.

CW: I understand your inspiration comes from your sisters eye condition. What was your reason for deciding to start an eyewear brand to help tackle this problem?

AO: My main inspiration for starting a business first of all was the reason that I have had a strong urge to be a business owner for a while. So in search of things I was pas- sionate about that I could transform into a business, I decided to focus on my sister’s eye defect and make a business aimed at helping to prevent people from suffering blindness. I did some research around it and discovered that one of the main causes of blindness in Ghana was Cataract and one of the ways to prevent it was by shielding your eyes from the sun. Hence a sunglasses business. Cataract usually occurs in older people in Ghana because they have exposed their eyes to the sun over a long period of time growing up. In my view, its always best to prevent it before it occurs by wearing sunglasses as often as possible.

CW: How did you come up with the design of the glasses?

AO: My challenges team mate, Izzy Housley was very helpful in that area. Whenever I come up with a concept in my mind I tell her about it and using her design expertise, she put together something. Generally, the designs have been inspired by popular sun- glasses we see people wear around just to ensure that they are trendy with our own special touch of difference.

CW: What are the reasons for using Bamboo?

AO:Bamboo was chosen as a result of its strength. In Ghana, it’s used as beams when building storey buildings as a result of its strength and durability. It’s also a plant that grows very quickly compared to wood hence making it a more sustainable eco-friendly source for us. The choice to use bamboo particular came to mind when I read the bam- boo bike story from Kumasi which inspired me to use bamboo for my designs. Its worth adding that, the business I worked with was a family oriented and one of the siblings in the family happened to be involved in a similar idea where she made glasses from wood and sold only to her friends. So seeing her designs also helped bring my bamboo concept into perspective.

CW: Do you think the Challenges Worldwide ICS programme helped you to be able to develop this business?

AO:Challenges was very instrumental in my success because if not for Challenges I may not have met Izzy and I may have been stuck or delayed at a point in my business. She has been quite helpful and am quite grateful for all the things she thought me with regards to design while we were on the programme. She introduced me to some email template platforms for communicating with customers and suppliers which have been quite helpful. Her insight of how to sell via social media in order to build a presence have also been useful in building our page. My knowledge in negotiations from CMI are also helping me to make some contact with retail outlets which seem positive to take on my product.

Finally, what are your long term goals for the business?

Our vision as a brand is to inspire focuses on cataract prevention, one eyewear at a time while creating sustainable jobs through continuous innovation and cutting edge designs and concepts. We also believe in the vast potential of the African continent and seek to inspire individuals to join us in exploring and promoting the African continent using its indigenous products.

You can find out more about The Kingzmen GH

by following them online:

Instagram: @thekingzmengh

https://www.instagram.com/thekingzmengh/

Facebook: The Kingzmen GH

https://www.facebook.com/TheKingsMenGh/?fref=ts

Storefoundry online store:

thekingzmengh.storefoundry.com

Congratulations Abel

We are proud of you

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Ali Gordon
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Ali Gordon: Saltire Scholar and Founder of River Bank Design

June 2014-September 2014

Kampala, Uganda

Why did you choose to apply to Challenges Worldwide for your Saltire placement? What was it about ICS and Challenges which appealed to you?

I was looking to gain business skills in a challenging environment, away from the standard office type job. I was looking for something more adventurous, where my actions may have a greater impact than in a standard internship.

 

When you applied, what did you hope to gain from a Challenges Worldwide placement?

I was looking to gain early stage business experience in growing an SME. I wanted to gain exposure into how to build business plans, keep accounts, market and sell a product/service at grassroots level.

I was seeking to be in an environment that fostered an entrepreneurial spirit working and living with individuals of different cultural backgrounds but with a shared interest for sustainable development of social enterprises.

 

How did you find the pre-departure process, eg fundraising, training, preparations, and the support you received from Challenges and ICS throughout the pre-departure stage?

The pre-departure process was fairly straight forward. Challenges were helpful with vaccinations and there was plenty of support for the fundraising aspects. There was definetly a strong community with the UK mentors before we departed, this started with the two day briefing with CWW in Edinburgh and continued through groups in social media.

 

Can you summarise your placement and how you found living and working in another country and culture? What business did you work in, what was the host experience like, how did you find working with a national counterpart, and what did you learn from these aspects of the programme?

My placement was with Green Heat Ltd (www.greenheatinternational.com) who are biofuel specialists implementing onsite solutions to convert human and agricultural waste into sustainable sources of energy. I acted as a business and engineering consultant, exploring enterprise avenues in developing biogas and briquette production.

Working and living in a foreign non-western culture was extremely exciting. I was motivated throughout the entirety of my programme, largely due to my personnel interest in the companies work and the openness of the company directors Gabriel Okello and Vianney Tumwesige.

Working with a national counterpart had it’s pros and cons. It was a great opportunity to be immersed into their a local community but there were differences in work ethic and academic backgrounds. These difficulties were mostly overcome after the first two weeks by dividing tasks up and setting realistic targets. We went on to become a successful little unit.

 

What was your highlight of your placement?

1) Researching an alternative agro-waste kilning technique and developing a business proposal that would be pitched to the carbon Bureau of Uganda for a carbon trading scheme involving 8 of the largest flower farms in and around Kampala.

2) Visiting the final school a government funded initiative with Green Heat to install 10 fixed dome biogas latrine digesters. Please see the Seed Development Award video below:

What was your biggest challenge during your placement? How did you overcome this and what did you learn from this?

My biggest challenge at the early stages of the placement was ensuring a consistent communication link between myself, my counterpart Rachael and the company directors. I could see from other members on the programme they were completing excellent business/marketing/sales plans but were struggling with their host company to get the key messages across and implement such plans.

I dealt with any potential communication gaps by organising a weekly meeting with my counterpart and company directors every Friday afternoon to do the following:

  • We would collectively work on action plans for the following week and evaluate the work completed of the week just passed. Here we could schedule events, actions, activates and communication links and update on a shared doc. Expamples are shown bellow:
    https://issuu.com/alistairgordon/docs/a.gordon_weekly_action_plans
  • Bring everyone together to present:
    • Research findings (e.g mostly engineering streamlining of production)
    • Enterprise opportunities (e.g potential customers/distribution networks)
    • Development of marketing and business plans
    • Summaries of site visits and meetings

To keep the meetings exciting and motivating we changed the venue most weeks and one of us organised a social event afterwards. Venues and activities included:

  • Macare University – with tour of research facilities
  • The garden of my homestay with meal and pool tournament afterwards
  • Kampala’s Rugby clubs – lively pork barbeques!
  • Shearaton Hotel – swimming pool
  • Chinease resturants – (Gabriel loved Chinese food from studying in Beijing)

These meeting and events created strong ties and were key to my continued working relationship with Green Heat upon returning to the UK.

 

Now that you’ve had time to reflect on your placement, what impact has it had on you and your personal development? Did the placement have an impact or benefit for your business, counterpart and /or host community?

A massive impact no doubt. Personally I gained the experience/confidence to start a business (Riverbank- see below). My counterpart, Rachael gained the marketing experience she was seeking. My host company have grown extensively now employing 40 members of staff full-time and winning numerous contracts including the following:

http://www.securingwaterforfood.org/blog/2015/11/3/securing-water-for-food-announces-awardees-for-third-call-for-innovations

 

  1. What have you been doing since your placement?

Since graduating, I co-founded Riverbank, a creative communications business to improve the outreach of Engineering and Ecology based projects. Our first business proposal was presented by the CEO of Green Heat at the prize giving ceremony for the seed development award in Nairobi, Kenya. Riverbank have been working with Green Heat ever since to enhance the information outreach of their products and services.

Our site is not quite live but a a little more information can be found here:

http://jamienayar.github.io/

When is does go live it shall be here:
www.riverbank-design.co.uk

 

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