First impressions of Tanzania

Hi,
I'm Irna and I'm here in Tanzania working for SolarAid, with MBAs Without Borders.

I just wanted to write an update from Dar Es Salaam. I arrived here exactly two weeks ago. Mason, who was supposed to pick me up, told me to look for a 'tall Caucasian guy with a beard'. But when I got out, I saw two tall Caucasian guys with beards, and wasn't sure who to approach. It turned out that either of them would have been a viable option as the other bearded guy was John Keane.

Me outside my appartment in Dar

Anyway, Mason, John and I had our first SolarAid meeting at a bench surrounded by the African night. It was quick meeting, but enough for me to catch a glimpse of everyone's excitement in ramping up this project. And yes, a project to distribute microsolar products to the most rural parts of Tanzania is an exciting one and I am glad I got to enter at the ground up.

The past week has been very busy. Mason and I have been running around town getting the office setup. It was a great way to get oriented with the layout of the city as well as get a feel of the work culture in this country. I met with a lawyer, the internet setup guys and building management. Mason also helped to get me settled by showing me where to buy food and how to get internet access.

The new SolarAid office in Dar

As this picture shows, our office reflects a true startup in the making. It's completely empty except for a large wooden desk that will be returned to their rightful owner (another NGO) next week. At the very least, we have internet setup (which is a big deal here!) and furniture will arrive within one day of placing the order.

First impressions of Tanzania... hmmm... beaches with sparkling blue water where you can watch fisherman return home at sunset. Yes, I mentioned the beach because that's where I am staying, right by the water, next to an Irish Pub. It's a social place where in one visit, you can meet people who work for different NGO's. One of my early goals here is to get an understanding of what different NGO's do, in order to identify areas of synergy. As a startup, we don't want to reinvent the wheel, and we want to gather as many lessons learned as possible from those who have done something similar in the past. Although our product is microsolar, we also need to look at existing distribution processes for medical products, food supplies, and small electronic equipment. Thus, staying next to the Irish Pub is somewhat conducive to this mission.

The view from my appartment here in Dar

I am very excited about meeting potential female entrepreneurs here in the city. I'll be holding my first focus group on Friday to ask several local women about what they think of microsolar products. We also plan to meet up with several NGO's next week.

Until next time!!

Irna