Last day of classes was today. We had a final discussion on P&G’s Clean Water Initiative and Toms’s Shoes. We were focusing on weather the company’s were starting these initiatives for Profit, People or Public Relations. It’s kind of a difficult conversation to have in a group because while my initial reaction to P&G’s Initiative would be solely for public relations and that’s bad… one must remember that it’s a business. P&G is an American company whose goal are profits-and this program may be driven by profits. By this project, they are in turn getting R&D in the low-income market and branding their name which may lead to profits in the future. Is that necessarily a bad thing when you’re in business? I would say no but many disagreed with me, and with legitimate reasons. I trying to go into these discussions with a very open mind and really listening to my peers. It’s definitely going to (and has already) had an affect in the companies that I support.
Post last day of class, we did a bit of project work. Jen and I finished up the research on free financial education and found two courses we’re suggesting to Christophe on Friday. SO glad to get that piece out of the way. It has been hanging over our heads; what seemed like an easy task (free online training) was actually much tougher than we thought… like most of the project.
Then we took a short tour of the South Africa Astronomical Observatory. It has the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s a very old observatory, but the buildings are all in pretty nice shape.
Headed back to TSiBA for another meat-heavy lunch then project work. Luckily the internet was in full force today, so we got a lot of work done. We finished out PowerPoint presentation for Friday’s ceremony and also compiled all the templates, resources and articles that we’ll be presenting Township Patterns. Now that all of the deliverables are set up and clear, I’m feeling really good about the project. I’ve learned a lot about the South African culture in regards to personal finance: there isn’t much discussion or planning around it. I only hope that these resources will help the women that work at the Co-Operatives because they deserve that. Women are supporting huge families on their salaries, but somehow are unable to make financial goals and properly plan for their futures. And it’s not their fault – they simply haven’t ever received education on the topic. While this project primarily benefits Township Patterns as a governing company (in regards to production, cost reduction, loans), it also has an enormous potential to help families get out of poverty. That is among the most difficult parts of this project – to see beyond the two weeks that we are consulting. If we didn’t find a way to do that, we would have failed. However I’m quite proud of the work my group has produced and I’m looking forward to presenting it on Friday. Our group has made some great progress both individually and as a group.
After project work, we visited Khayelitsha Cookies which is a company that makes high-end cookies and sells them to grocery stores, hotels and other companies. They are a for-profit company but haven’t profited yet because they really take great care of their employees. They employ non-skilled women from the Khayelitsha Township and teach them how to bake, fill out paper work and run a business. The women get great benefits including transportation, sick days, and seem to be in high spirits as they work. I was very impressed by the company, but was shocked by their prices. They were incredibly under priced. Everything is done by hand – no machines (the idea is to keep the women employed) from the packaging to the mixing to the cutting of brownies, yet a package of 5 cookies only costs R 8, the equivalent of about $1. It’s absurd. They would sell for 5-10x as much in the United States. Nevertheless, I bought a bunch, as did Northeastern for our final presentations.
Finally home after another long day. We’re doing our last Potluck Dinner tonight. Kind of sad, but it’ll be a great time. The friends I’ve made here are wonderful and I couldn’t have asked for a better group.
Cheers.
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