alumni

Ed and Jack TSM
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Why I dropped everything to work on The Social Mercenary

Originally posted on TSM

Jack’s enthusiasm for life isn’t just infectious, it carries over into his work and most importantly the mission of the Social Mercenary. We bumped into each other through Challenges Worldwide . While he was working in Ghana, I was working in Zambia and we both went on to various things in Hong Kong. I also like to think of myself as a positive person – great minds think alike – and I supported his work on the fledgeling Social Mercenary in Hong Kong.

Here’s my contribution… the first logo! It only took me 2 hours on paint.

It’s only been a few months and yet the Social Mercenary has grown and is showing signs of taking root. Jack asked me to write a blog piece about why I joined The Social Mercenary, but the why is in the name.

The Social Mercenary is about more than just being a new brand and smashing deliveries out to whoever orders; the idea is to empower both the consumer and the producer. Simply put, The Social Mercenary isn’t about helping, it’s about partnership; putting entrepreneurs in Ghana on equal footing with their peers in Western markets. Ghana is an under-developed opportunity that is at the heart of regional power in West Africa and before I slip into political mode and start discussing the effects of post-colonisation.  I believe that like many less developed countries beyond the West, Ghana has not been given the respect or opportunities it deserves, and businesses like the Social Mercenary are working daily to remedy that.

The Social Mercenary is not a panacea for all ills, but it isn’t meant to be. What I like about it is that it is set up as a platform; the blog is about getting attention to products that leverage the skills of people in Ghana. It’s about creating more ‘Social Mercenaries’ who believe in a better way of doing business and engineering collaborative social change. It’s also not all about Jack. Don’t get me wrong; Jack’s a great guy, but the important thing about a collaborative effort is the movement of the whole community and that’s what TSM is about; the army pulling together. I’d like to think that in some small way, I can be a part of that army – but also that anyone can. I’m helping out Jack physically now with everything and anything TSM, but you can join the movement too by buying one of the bags, sharing something, or following the blog, even if just while you wait for the Social Mercenary t-shirts, hats and second generation bags that we’ll be launching soon [watch this space].

I’m looking forward to the next few months and the Kickstarter and a couple events we have coming up, but the main thing is to make sure we lay good foundations for the greater things that the Social Mercenary has coming its way. The Social Mercenary is not something that will materialise overnight, but with its goal, and while the army grows, I’m happy to say that I can be a Social Mercenary!

Ed Ashdown

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How travelling helped me reflect on my career and decide what to do next

Originally posted on LSE Careers blog  – Guest blog by Challenges Worldwide ICS volunteer/LSE alum Rosie Coleman (BSc International Relations 2013):

I’d never taken a gap year. My travels had been holidays rather than extended periods spent overseas. After graduating from LSE in 2013, I’d always been too scared to take time out, terrified of those dreaded CV gaps. That was until last September.

Despite having built the foundations of a successful London-based career in marketing and communications, I always felt as though I’d missed something. I hadn’t yet seized the chance to see so many of the places I’d studied during my International Relations degree. Surely earning money in a job I wasn’t that fussed about just so that I could stay in London wasn’t all the world was offering me?

I quit it all. I resigned from my job as head of marketing. I served my three month notice period. I packed six years’ worth of belongings into boxes and drove them back to my childhood bedroom in my parents’ house.

In the past eight months since then I’ve travelled to nine different African countries. I’ve seen incredible sights, met phenomenal people and, as a direct result, landed an exciting job on a new career path with the Civil Service Digital Fast Stream.

My travels started last September in Ghana, where I joined a fully-funded volunteer programme for three months with a charity called Challenges Worldwide. Challenges pairs young British people with young locals, guiding volunteers through an intensive training programme and embedding them into a small enterprise to provide business owners with free consultancy for 12 weeks. It’s a brilliant way of simultaneously up-skilling volunteers and building sustainable enterprises in some of the world’s poorest communities.

My time in Ghana was invaluable. Being away from the pressures of London, in a completely new and stimulating environment, gave me the much needed time to reflect on my career. It enabled me to finally identify that I had, for the previous three years, been seeking progression on a career path that hadn’t been making me happy. Because Challenges Worldwide really prioritises the personal and professional development of its volunteers, within a just couple of weeks of being in-country I started to realise what kind of work I actually enjoyed. Through discussion activities and periods of self-reflection, I realised it was the digital projects I was most drawn to. So, after extensive online research and using a dodgy internet connection, I applied for the Civil Service’s Digital Fast Stream.

Then swiftly forgot all about it. Until January this year.

My time in Ghana came to an end in December and I was back home for Christmas. Although I’d jumped through a couple of Civil Service assessment hoops whilst away, I certainly hadn’t counted on being successful. But I was invited to an assessment day in the first week of the new year. Fresh from my time overseas, pumped up with a new found confidence and appreciation for the world outside of London, I must have come across as more self-assured than I felt. Despite leaving the assessment centre pretty certain I’d failed, a month later I received the good news that I’d passed. Unfortunately, I found out a bit late…

I hadn’t made a 2017 plan and January came around much faster than I’d envisaged when I’d left the UK in September. So after just two weeks of January blues and finding myself unemployed in Cambridgeshire, I delved into my savings account, booked flights to Cape Town and sent off visa forms for eight southern African countries.

During my time at LSE I had chosen to focus on the world outside Europe, developmental theory and how Europe now perceives states it used to call colonies. So my next adventure – my first extended solo-travel trip – was a chance to finally see some of those places I’d had sleepless nights writing essays about.

My new trip began the first week of February and, over 50 days, took me 11,000 kilometres from Cape Town to Nairobi. As well as meeting some of the most amazing people, I was pushed far out of my comfort zone and given experiences the memories of which will stay with me forever. I canoed along the Orange River, climbed the Namibian dunes at sunrise, jumped the 120 metre canyon swing above Victoria Falls, walked with black rhinos in Zimbabwe, snorkelled the coral reef off Zanzibar and camped with lions in the plains of the Serengeti. I had the time of my life: every single day was a joy and I am so grateful to all the people who shared the adventure with me, not least the lifelong inspirational friends I’ve made along the journey.

The evening before we climbed the Namibian dunes. I discovered I had been successful at January’s assessment centre, but also that I hadn’t replied to the email soon enough. (Obviously I hadn’t had any WiFi.) They’d withdrawn my application as a result. But did I want to fight to be re-entered? I was so far away from any thoughts of my career that night. And yet, in what turned out to be a life-changing conversation, my brilliant new friend Jenny encouraged me not to filter myself out. Thankfully, a helpful admin assistant in Hampshire replied to my emails, entered me back into the system and, as they say, the rest is history.

My final interview for my new job took place the day before my 25th birthday, two weeks after I’d landed back in the UK from Nairobi. Taking an extended period of time for myself, to experience a part of the world I hadn’t seen before and escape from the pressures of a city like London, really helped me reflect on what I wanted to do next, and gave me the confidence required to pass that final interview.

I start the new job in September (security clearance pending!) That gives me four months. So naturally in the meantime I’m heading back to Africa. I fly to Rwanda at the end of June, rejoining Challenges Worldwide for another 12-week project. This time I’ll be a Team Leader, overseeing the personal and professional development of 28 volunteers.

I hope they can find similar inspiration to that which my overseas experience has given me. My time travelling around Africa not only inspired me to be the best version of myself, but also helped me to worry less about what is expected of me. I strongly believe that travelling can provide that renewed sense of perspective on what truly makes you happy, and crucially, the time and space necessary to reflect.

Considering it? What are you waiting for?

Photo credits: Yousup Lee

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Alumni Stories: Nifemi Oyebanji – Lagos Fashion Week

Challenges Worldwide ICS Alumna Nifemi Oyebanji, took some time out of her day to update us on her activities since her Challenges Worldwide ICS placement In Zambia. She has gone on to set up the Lagos Fashion Festival in Nigeria.

What is the name of your company and what do they do?

After my placement with Challenges Worldwide ICS in Zambia, I returned to the UK eager to begin a new adventure. I had always wanted to spend more time in Nigeria due to my close family ties and my experience with Challenges Worldwide allowed me to see how many opportunities there was within Africa. I gained the confidence to partner collaborate with my sister in an enterprise she launched in Nigeria. The name itself has evolved over time to reflect our reach and location. Originally called the London Fashion Festival, we intend to change the name to The Lagos Fashion Festival after moving our focus to Nigeria, Lagos.

The purpose of our company is to bring young people and professionals within the fashion industry together to highlight alternative careers to those which are typically encouraged e.g. doctors, engineers. Careers within the fashion industry that we introduce young people to include bloggers, designers and musicians and the idea that ‘Made in Nigeria’ should be internationally recognised as a sign of quality. To supplement these larger events, we also run seminars and talks around issues within the industry and to highlight paths into a career within the sector.

With Nigerian music already massively popular throughout Africa and with strong connections throughout the world, the increased demand for Nigerian fashion products is just one step behind, with career opportunities not far behind.

Having a strong passion for mental health and well-being also means that aside from connecting young people with mentors within the creative industry and allowing them to showcase their talent, we want to make sure we give back to the wider communities that we work in and aim to have a positive social impact. To achieve this, therefore, we also donate a percentage of our ticket sales to charities that support the incorporation and development of creative therapies and workshops in their mental health programmes, still a developing area within Nigeria.

Do you think your CW ICS experience helped you to start this business?

My Challenges Worldwide ICS placement provided a lot of valuable skills in addition to increasing my confidence. One of the most valuable overarching skills I learned was organisation, in the sense of organising myself and other people. Being able to organise people and to hold them to account was key to my success on placement, as taking on all the work that had to be completed was not humanly possible. To be able to utilise this skill in our new business is invaluable, especially when organising large events!

I also learned how to network, which is more than just speaking to people. Being able to reach people, to get them on board with ideas and to speak to people with many more years experience, were all challenges that I overcame and still find useful to draw upon. Especially when operating in a different country from the UK.

I would say that 80% of my knowledge of business is from my placement and I am still using it all now.

Originally I studied psychology but moved towards business psychology as I progressed through university, yet my Challenges Worldwide ICS placement gave me the practical skills to complement my university education.

 Advice for Future Volunteers

I advise to just go on your placement with an open mind. Be ready to learn new things. You can learn so much regardless of the business and enjoy the experience. I had never been to Zambia before.

I also suggest bringing your own ideas. I was really scared before I went out but people are a lot smarter than they think as were a lot of other people I got a lot of opportunities to develop a lot of skills. I had worked before but never got given the chance to show what I was capable of. Not a lot of jobs give you the chance to do this.

Overall, you should give it your all, you have got to really try, you will gain a lot. Get out of your comfort zone and do something different, I definitely recommend it and I would go again.

Looking back, did you ever think you would end up here?

“No. I didn’t. I always thought there were a lot of opportunities in Africa in terms of everything but I never really thought I would come back this soon. Challenges Worldwide opened eyes more to things going on beyond the UK and how I can take my skills and contribute to somewhere else. That is why I came back thinking, ‘I can start a business’”

 

 

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Jack Fellows: The Social Mercenary

Jack Hamilton Fellows, took part in Challenges Worldwide ICS placement as a Business Support Associate, delivering a consultancy process to a business in Accra, Ghana during summer 2016.

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Since his placement in Ghana ended, Jack has gone on to work for a startup in Hong Kong, supporting them with their digital marketing and has founded The Social Mercenary, a brand and website that’s mission is to inspire a community of change makers.

We caught up with Jack to see how The Social Mercenary has evolved over the past few months and what his plans are for 2017.

Hi Jack, thanks for your time today, it’s great to see The Social Mercenary taking off, could you tell us why you decided to found The Social Mercenary?

I want people to see what’s possible and how they can make the most of their lives. So I hit on 3 key areas:

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1) Volunteering (for those that haven’t done it it’s so rewarding)

2) Travelling (something everyone wants to do and ts great it really helps bring an open mind set– and it is possible to do cheaply!)

3) Health and wellness (it’s an area I’ve always found interesting plus it’s so important to keep fit and healthy to live the best life possible).

 

That’s great to hear that you are continuing to display the Challenges Worldwide ICS ethos. We notice that on your website you now have a shop section. Could you tell us about your plans for the shop?

The Social Mercenary has a range of apparel. We currently have 90 bags from Ghana in Hong Kong ready for a Christmas fair at the Conrad (A 5 star) Hotel. The ultimate aim of this platform is to give grass root entrepreneurs in developing countries access to a worldwide market. We essentially help market their product but in the long term, we hope we can invest in the businesses to help support any growth that comes with supplying a world market so that the entrepreneur can have continued success.

So how did this all come about?

I created the blog to capture the Challenges Worldwide ICS placement in Ghana. The title “The Social Mercenary” is a complex juxtaposition that on the surface was supposed to indicate economic empowerment via entrepreneurship. At the time I thought that by helping a business grow and to then become profitable it would then have subsequent social values. This ties into the Challenges Worldwide ethos that was embedded during my placement in Accra.

How do you think your Challenges Worldwide ICS placement helped prepare you to be a “Social Mercenary”?

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First I want to point out that this is a community and so if you have a passion for making the world a better place then you should certainly get involved! Going back to my Challenges Worldwide ICS placement the skills and experiences I gained were incredible. I worked with a company that sold smoked fish which on the face of it doesn’t sound too inspiring. However, it opened up a lot of lateral thinking that has helped me out to date. For instance, I had to understand the domestic market for which there has not been that much market research as such I calculated the market size (which was huge) and with the business we thought about a revolutionary strategy to bring hygienic smoked fish, economically to the masses.

Challenges Worldwide give you a great deal of responsibility during your placement and so not only did I develop skills in market research, I also gained a great understanding of the operating procedures and the financial recording requirements that are vital to a business.

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Finally, and probably most importantly, the placement gave me confidence in my own ability because I felt I had a personal impact on helping this business. After my placement, I knew I could set my own business up no matter where I was in the world and so whilst in Hong Kong, I have seen the opportunity to take The Social Mercenary from a personal blog to a collaborative community of change makers.

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If you would also like to sharpen your skills as a social mercenary, fighting for social good on behalf of others Visit thesocialmercenary.com or like our FB page @thesocialmercenary.

 

Challenges Worldwide still have places for you to work with high growth/ high impact businesses in Ghana, Uganda and Zambia in 2017. Apply today to take part in a UK Government funded Challenges Worldwide ICS placement and challenge yourself to change your world!

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Melissa’s Action at Home | Supporting, connecting and developing the capacity of youth focused organisations in Zambia

Action at home is the final part of the Challenges Worldwide ICS placement. It sees a volunteer take the skills they have learned during the Challenges Worldwide ICS programme and apply them to an action that benefits their home community.

Here Melissa Sarah Hamalambo tells of her Action at Home after her placement working with Vitalite in Lusaka, Zambia during the spring of 2016.

What was the action and which town/city?

I was selected upon application to sit on the Project Accountability Team for the Queens Young Leaders Firestarter Initiative-Zambia project of 2016, being implemented by Action Aid Zambia. This was done in a bid to ensure that the project is a transparent and accessible sub-granting scheme for youth organisations in Zambia. Action Aid called on and brought together youth volunteers as part of the Project Accountability Team (PAT) to assist in overseeing the fund, its implementation, monitoring and evaluation and learning. The project, ‘This is Our Moment-Youth Changing Zambia’, is supporting, connecting and developing the capacity of youth-led and youth focused organisations in Zambia through the reactive and open small grants scheme. The scheme targeted youth organisations and initiatives aim at enabling youth to mobilise, participate, engage and be represented in decision-making processes at local and national levels and become change agents in their communities. The project is also developing the programmatic and institutional capacity of the youth-driven organisations through a holistic approach to strengthening their sustainability and impact.

How may people attended the event?

About 30

Did your Challenges Worldwide ICS experience inspire this action?

Yes

Have you done something like this before?

No

What did you learn during this project?

The project has introduced me to elements of project management and report writing and how to carry out a baseline study. It has also opened up my mind to how youth can better be engaged and involved in matters that affect them in their local areas by choosing to work with and engage local civic leaders.

Have you any future plans related to this project?

Yes, I do as it is an ongoing project running for the next 4 years.

 

How was your action Youth Led?

The project itself is run by a youthful team of action aid staff members with backup support from the project accountability team which comprises of 8 youth volunteer members among others, of which I am a member. As stated above, the project is about youth helping youth, it is youth focused and has youth involved at all stages of the project.

 

How did your action make a Connection?

This project came in to fill the gap and aid small start up youth organisations gain funding and grow their internal skill set through offering capacity building training, facilitation training and of course the grant funding.

 

How did your action Make a Change?

My action is making a change in that my willingness to involve myself in this project on a personal level is giving me experience and I have found it to be a productive way to spend my time and education and skill set to date. As I relate with the grantees as we carry out M&E, I will take steps to share experiences from my time with Challenges Worldwide ICS and impart some of the skills I learnt during the programme such as how to carry out a SWOT analysis, amongst others. The project as a whole hopes to see youth better represented at levels of decision-making in Zambia by the end of the 4 year period.

 

How did your action Engage Others?

“This project and action have seen the engagement of civic leaders in local areas of operation increase in that the youth organisations are now partnering with ministries and offices to aid them to carry out their activities in governance, leadership, entrepreneurship and decision-making.

 

Please provide detail about any media coverage you had

The project was launched and an article was done which appeared in the Daily Mail-Zambia. ActionAid Zambia and Activist Zambia Facebook pages as well covered the launch of the event.

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William Makubalo | Challenges Worldwide ICS Volunteer in Zambia, 2016

William is currently working as a Project Assistant for Share Value Africa (SVA) after his placement with Challenges Worldwide ICS as a Business Support Associate in SVA.

Where does his story fit into our Alumni story? Well, as you will know, Challenges Worldwide supports the enterprises our volunteers work in after their Challenges Worldwide ICS placement. We focus on the supply chain and how the businesses we work with sit in that chain. SVA is the sister company of Vitalite and supports Vitalite by conducting market research that will allow Vitalite to developed an informed strategic growth plan.

When asked, “Looking back, did you ever think you would end up where you are now?”,  William answered, “Definitely not”.

Like one of our Mentors, John Coffin, it is difficult to see how different points in your career connect without being able to look back. William highlights three crucial areas that he believes the Challenges Worldwide ICS programme has allowed him to develop:

• Better work ethic
• Time management
• Eye for detail
In addition to these areas, he identified the fact that his CMI training has set him on a trajectory, as the knowledge and skills he has learned will become even more useful as his career progresses. Indeed, for those that wish to follow the same path, he advises volunteers to:
• Keep and open mind
• Be ready to compromise
• Always be ready to be the best you can

Will holden Euan Hunter
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World Youth Skills Day – How I rose to the challenge | By Will Holden

During my 12 week placement with Challenges Worldwide in Zambia, I developed many skills that have helped me with my personal and professional development.

Organisation

Immediately it became apparent that to be part of the ICS programme you have to be organised. Leading up to placement there is a lot to prepare for; this includes all your pre-departure medical checks and vaccinations, as well as preparing documents for Visa’s and a variety of other things. Organisation skills can be applied to all positions, and taking part in an ICS placement really helps to develop these.

Communication

Strong interpersonal communication and listening skills allow you to communicate in a trustworthy manner. Working with other people, who may be from diverse backgrounds, with different perspectives, values and opinions can often be a challenge. Developing these skills is essential in consulting as countries continue to become more diverse. Challenges Worldwide helped direct and develop my communication techniques as well as understand the potential cultural differences that may occur on placement.

Awareness

Personally, the greatest area of my development was through my awareness of world issues and international development. This is a subject/industry that I find particularly interesting, and I always try to keep an eye on events. However, I struggled to understand, as a young graduate, how I could assist. This is why Challenges Worldwide/ICS is such a great programme, as they help you transfer your skillsets into unfamiliar areas. As my placement and many future placements will often be in rural, poverty stricken areas, it’s vital to understand how different day to day life is and to have the ability to apply your skills. Having a strong support network and access to resources will guide you along your journey, and these are great to share with in-country volunteers and individuals.

On my return, I was much more confident to drive myself to succeed. I could comfortably be interviewed for various positions, and my placement gave me more of an idea of where I wanted to go in life, and how the skills I learned can be used more effectively.

For the past two years I’ve worked in both the financial and medical sectors, I wouldn’t have had the ability to achieve this without my placement with Challenges Worldwide.

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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: 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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Challenges Worldwide Presents: The KingzmenGH

We are pleased to announce the success of one of Challenges Worldwide Alumni, Abel Ofoe-Osabutey, who has successfully started a Bamboo eye wear business in his home country of Ghana.

The Kingzmen Gh was born out of his 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 got 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.

Abel however 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 concepts. 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 more about his business and how his Challenges Worldwide ICS placement helped him realise his dreams.

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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 passionate 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 sunglasses 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 bamboo 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.
CW: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.

 

Congratulations Abel, We are proud of you.