A lesson in entrepreneurship

Our time rule was not met today, unfortunately. The first hour was spent to gather the participants. The course management had problems too with timing, even though we were in place on time. For the power was gone. We pulled the generator outside and started it, but the electrician wasn’t able to put the cables back together again. Anyhow, the regular power came back at 3.30 p.m., and then we could get started with Power Point presentation. In the time between we gave some general information and talked about how small businesses can become big. Julienne made ​​a summary of the first lesson from last Saturday.

When we met the group last Saturday, we decided that the Monday lessons would take place between 3 – 6 p.m. Today we finished at 6.30 p.m. and nobody was in a rush to get home. We proposed a break in the middle of the afternoon, but they wanted to go on. The participants seem very interested in the FBS material and we consider that they are well motivated. The participants are from different churches and Protestant communities in Matadi. We had seven newcomers today, and there was a total of 34 participants, just like last Saturday. We have now sold 49 of the 51 sets of the FBS material.

Today’s teaching was all about bread, grain and debts. We had time to cover three of the lessons in the course material. The bread symbolizes the resources for our everyday needs. The grain or seed symbolizes the resources that we should put aside and save. A company can’t develop if there isn’t any room to save either resources, money or something else of value in order to invest the savings in something profitable. The class asked the question: “But if we can’t gather more than bread for the day, how will we be able to save and put away?” That question is not easy to answer. Largely, it is about thinking outside the box and trying to find better opportunities. As an entrepreneur, you have to work with things that are profitable. When it comes to debts, the course material emphasizes caution. Anyone who is in debt is not free, but must comply with the terms of the lender. To put yourself in debt it is necessary that you have a profitable investment to put the money in.

Our lessons begin and end with prayer. Yapeco raised the issue of being on time. FBS teaches that a participant that is 15 minutes late may not take part in the lesson. We hope that our students understand this. Yapeco also did some advertising for our solar lamps. Everyone must of course have good lighting when they do their homework. We hope they understood this too.

A small drummer

It’s Sunday and church service day. Somewhat delayed, at 10.30 a.m., we came to the church. A visiting choir, uniformly dressed in pink and black sang with great commitment. They strengthened their message with their hands and facial expressions and moved to the beat of the music. They sang about God’s rich gifts to us and they asked the question: What do we give back? They were accompanied by a small drummer with his very own drum. The visiting choir was not the only musical contribution today. Five of the church’s own choirs sang as well. The gospel choir excelled in volume. They ought to have been heard in the whole neighborhood around the church. Today’s church service were clearly dominated by melodious songs and music.

Pastor Diangitukulu gave a special welcome to Julienne, Bernt and me. Today we didn’t have to say anything more than our names. Then the pastor let the whole congregation pronounce our name a few times. He himself has now learned to say the names with a really good pronunciation. The guest preacher held a sermon on the Ten Commandments and the importance to follow them to get ahead in life. We need principles and rules for our society to function.

For a week now, Yapeco and a church committee have been preparing for the installation of the pastor next Sunday. Yapeco will lead the installation ceremony. Today he went to church just before seven and came home at half past four in the afternoon. The installation day will be a big day for the pastor.

Mirrors are rare in the house. Today is the first day we have used one. Julienne lent us a small mirror she could spare. Luckily, there were no surprises when I checked my exterior, but you feel a little safer when you receive confirmation that you look your usual self. Yesterday evening though, I discovered that I must have looked fairly unkempt during the day. Now we will be able to prevent such mishaps.

Today, the egg customer reappeared, accompanied by her little son who prefers to run rather than walk and is full of mischief. The mother did her best to keep him in check, but he just had too much energy and ideas. However, she received her box filled with egg, she paid, lifted the box up on her head and began her walk home, accompanied by her energetic son.

Thank you all for writing comments. Bernt and I appreciate them thoroughly!

Julienne holding lectures

At 11 a.m. Bernt and I was at the Youth House, to arrange the classroom. Samuel met us there and helped us. All participants must have room to sit at a table in order to be able to take notes. We put twelve tables on the floor, and put three or four chairs at each table. My bed sheet was transformed into a projector screen. We put a few nails in the wall from where we could hang the arrangement. In addition, we used the tape that we had wrapped around our suitcases before we went to Congo. The Air Brussels adress labels still had some glue on them, so we used them as well. And Yapeco had some tacks that he hit with a rock. Eventually, we got an almost wrinkle free projector screen – a really good result with which we were pleased.

We hung the flipchart on another special construction consisting of three stacked chairs on a table. To get the right height, we took a suitcase and placed it between two of the chairs. It seemed to work. But we will have to see what happens when we turn the sheets.

Before we went to the Youth House, we were at Yapeco’s office to print some documents. At the office, we realized that the FBS material must be hauled from Yapeco’s office to the Youth House. The distance is only about 400-500 m, but it is a tricky path over logs and stones. It all worked out splendidly well. Some strong guys came by, put the bags on their heads and went off, carefree. It was a great comfort for the two weak mundele, who are sweating hard even without performing heavy chores like these. The generator had to be hauled along the same path. It is a heavy diesel generator. A group of men pulled it to the Youth House. It took much longer than we anticipated, but it arrived safely and an electrician connected the generator to the powerline of the house. Throughout the whole day Matadi lacked electricity, but at the Youth House we had uninterrupted power.

We had planned to start the course at 2 p.m., but in reality we started a quarter to three. Nobody complained or went home. Delays are more the rule than the exception here. Yapeco welcomed everyone and opened with prayer. I talked a bit about the FBS material which is basically a manual on entrepreneurship, and I talked about the conditions for participation. Two of the game rules are that everyone do their best to be on time, and that all cell phones must be turned off during class. We hope that these rules will be respected. Every participant has paid 10 USD for the FBS material. Bernt and I will teach a little, but most of the lectures are managed by Julienne in French, Lingala and Kikongo. The reason why we don’t teach more is that it is tiring for the participants to listen to constant translations.

Today, 34 participants came and we are expecting some more on Monday. At the end of today’s session, there were some issues that Bernt and I had to answer. In the introduction of the FBS material it is mentioned that Buddhists have participated in FBS courses in Burma. One participant wondered if we were proper Christians. We seized the opportunity to tell them a lot about ourselves and our experiences of Christian life. We also talked about the background of MSG. Furthermore I tried to explain to them that the FBS material primarily conveys knowledge about entrepreneurship and has its origins in the Christian Bible. The material therefore explains, among other things, how an entrepreneur can expect and receive God’s blessing if he wants to believe and embrace the voice of God.

Bernt and Samuel

Today we visited our bank in Congo, Ecobank. We got an hour with the CEO here in Matadi, Steve Emongo. We are going to get our bank account linked to the internet, which means that we can check our account from Sweden. We introduced the course material from FBS to him and presented the issue of whether Ecobank would be able to support our entrepreneurs with loans in the future. We have learned from experience that the local banks should take care of the money issue. We got a pretty positive response. If Ecobank agree to our proposal, we will certainly have to come back with more specific information. We talked some about solar lights and also mentioned the ECO-house which is self-supporting concerning energy.

Today we were supposed to meet four of the earlier entrepreneurs. One of them came when we were at the bank and had to go before we were back. The others didn’t come at all. These four entrepreneurs have not repaid their loans, and we wanted to know a little about their respective situation. But not everything goes as planned.

At half past four, a dear old friend, Samuel Nkailu, came to see us. He is the reason and origin of MSG’s activities in Congo. It is now eleven years since he met my sister Inga-Maj in Mukimbungu and astonished her by adressing her in Swedish. When they realized that they had a mutual acquaintance – that is me – Inga-Maj arranged the contact of the two of us, and I started to correspond with Samuel. In 2007, Samuel came to Sweden and on August 24 that year we formed the Matadi Support Group. The Youth House in Matadis was built and opened on October 9 in 2010. Then, we continued with a training program for entrepreneurs. So far, we have worked with about 100 entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs.

Samuel told us that he has been ill for three months. One of his legs has had chronic wounds. But otherwise, he was like before, spirited and alert. We discussed the Youth House and Samuel admitted that the activity “is a little slow”. There are so many different things that vie for the attention of young people today. To the Youth House, they have invited musical leaders and choirs from different churches. The purpose is to activate the young in singing and playing instruments and to encourage the talents in music and song. Samuel says that the activities could have good use of a synthesizer and other instruments. Recently, MSG received a donation and the giver wanted the money to go to the Youth House. The timing couldn’t be better.

We also have an old promise to fulfill. At the inauguration, we promised to help with a ceiling in the great hall of the Youth House. We have now asked Samuel to contact tradesmen and get a price estimate while we are here. Some holes in the roof have been repaired and now is a good time to get the ceiling in place.

We talked about the new course that will begin tomorrow at the Youth House. Samuel will be there very early in the morning. There are plenty of chairs and tables. At 10 a.m., we will start to rig up. On television, they have announced that the power will be off tomorrow. Luckily, we can borrow Yapecos generator. Now, we just hope that the projector, fans, and other gadgets will work so we can deliver a decent training under favorable circumstances. It can get hot under the metal roof in the early afternoon.

Our postman tasks have been completed now that Samuel got his letter from Alice Sandblom. Previously, we have delivered toys and a letter from Ulla Lind till Nsimba on Nzo Binati, a package from Curt Olofson also to Nsimba, and Emy in Kimpese have received calendars from Febe Karlsson, letters from Ingrid Norberg and solar lights from Rimforsa. The solar lights are meant to for Mukimbungu.

Yngve, Mitusi and Julienne have picked up peanuts

At ten o’clock we set off towards Nanda. Yapeco had borrowed a terrain vehicle. The distance to Nsanda village is 30 km and then, there is an additonal 7 km to the Kvakva village where the fields are located. The last 7 km is a dirt road which can be quite impossible. Today it was alright, because it’s been raining sparingly the last few weeks.

The first thing we did was to meet and get to know our so-called tenant farmers. They had their workday on the Nsanda project today. There are 20 families residing on the concession, and all of them cultivate about one hectare for their own use. They use it both for self-sufficiency and to grow crops for sale. From the beginning, they themselves suggested that they work one day a week on the fields of the Nsanda project to compensate for the use of the land. Some families have objected to this system and do not want to pay in work time. However, we hope this will be sorted out in some way or another.

Today there were nine tenants working in the fields. One had been there earlier, working for a few hours in the morning. This tenant is also teacher and she has to walk two hours to get to her students and the school. When we arrived they were peeling the manioc they had harvested earlier today. We talked to them for a while, and offered them soft drinks and biscuits. They seemed contented and were happy about the deal they had made with Julienne about the land and the work. In the project, we will stop the production of fufu. Instead, we will sell the manioc as raw roots. The processing costs more than it tastes.

We picked some peanuts and gathered an armful of manioc leaves for sakasaka to bring back to home. We checked the pineapple and ginger fields. We walked around the manioc field in order to assess how much of it was left to harvest. We estimate that we have about 5 acres left.

In a little barn on the site, we have about thirty sacks of fufu. Mitusi, one of our supervisors, will travel to Kinshasa next week with these. But the little barn is not just a place for our harvest, it is also where Julienne, Clement and some others are staying during the week to save trips to the village Nsanda. Here is a complete absence of all amenities. Everything has the simplest possible form. The stove consists of three stones outdoors. You sleep on a straw mat on the ground and there are just a few pans for cooking. The only things that you get in abundance are fresh air and heat. The other night, a snake entered the barn. Luckily, it woke Clement up and he warned the others. It all ended when the unwelcome guest had to pay with life for the intrusion.

Rosette making dinner

After two days of intense heat, a thunderstorm broke loose last night. There were lightning and thunder half the night. At the end of the spectacle the power disappeared and did not return until quarter past five in the afternoon. But the congolese household is well prepared for these situations: dinner was cooked outside the house on a small charcoal stove. We had chicken and it was delicious.

This day has been dedicated to revising the FBS material again, and to plan the lessons. The course will run from next Saturday at 2 p.m. to the following Saturday. If there is a need for it, it could be extended. There is a Power Point to illustrate the content of each lesson. We will alternate teaching, group discussions and presentations of homework. So far, there seem to be a considerable interest in the course. To ensure that we have power to the computer and projector, we will borrow Yapeco’s generator. We have planned to rig up on Saturday morning. For projection screen, we will use my white bed sheet. At the moment, that is the only solution. You use what is available.

We also had a visit from an elderly pastor who wanted to meet mundele and talk about a book that he is writing. Bernt listened to the whole presentation and I heard parts of it.

We live in a house of many cats. When I took the picture, five of them had parked on the entrance threshold.

Head Master

Today, we went to the Baobab church Secondary school and met the principal and some of the teachers. We presented our new teaching material, Focus Business School. They were very interested and bought the two copies we had brought. When we came back home they called and reserved an additional five. They wanted to make sure that they could take part in the course on Saturday. Of the 50 copies we brought to Congo we have sold 13 so far. The price is 10 U.S. dollars. To participate in the course you must have purchased the material.

What is Focus Business School (FBS) about? The material aims to inspire and give courage, strength and self-confidence to people to do something about their situation in life and become entrepreneurs. FBS is based on the Bible in the way that it shows how the Christian values can be beneficial to you when you practice them. FBS puts focus on Matthew 7:12: “do for others what you want them to do for you” and Matthew 22:39: “love your neighbour as yourself”. For most Congolese the belief in God is something natural, and therefore we believe that the FBS material will be suitable for our target audience.

Another important part of the FBS method deals with thinking out of the box. To be able to turn around and break up is important when either your thoughts or your actions are destructive, stopping you from leading a good life. To have your mind set on success is a prerequisite for actual success.

The FBS material consists of nine blocks and 48 lessons. This time, we have brought half of the course, 24 lessons, including the teacher’s guide, together about 300 pages. The participants of the course will be future trainers of entrepreneurs. The current course will last seven days, and there will be 3-4 classes a day.

For those who want to know more about FBS see http://www.focusbusinessschool.org/

The egg dealer with her little dauther

Yapecos wife Augustine has 132 hens and this afternoon she had 25 kg eggs ready for delivery. A shopkeeper from town came and bought the whole lot. She rolled up a piece of cloth, put it on her head and with the help of Augutine she lifted the box up on her head. And then she began the trek down the hill. It is a cheap and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. I hope that all the eggs were whole when she arrived at her shop. The surroundings here offer no paved streets or walking paths. There are branches and rocks to jump over and burrows to avoid in addition to the challenge of the steep hill.

Today we have gone through the accounts of the agricultural project at Nsanda. We focused on the manioc, and we can conclude that the sales has not given the expected yield. The sales of the processed manioc, the fufu, does not look good. The added value of the fufu don’t outweigh the cost of processing the manioc. It seems far better to sell the raw root. Except manioc, soy beans and peanuts are grown at Nsanda. In December 2012, 330 banana trees were added and yet another 30 this year. Other additions are ginger, more peanuts, pineapple and more manioc. Being a Congolese farmer is clearly not simple, but eventually it might provide income. The weather has played us some tricks, and not always been on our side. Today we have worked at home, in Yapecos house. On Thursday, we will go out to the farm.

Moreover, it has been a very hot day in Matadi, slightly above the tolerance level of a Northerner. I am going to cool off with a few buckets of cold water before bedtime.

God´s blessing for child and parents

At 10 a.m. we came to the Baobab church. The French service was still going on, and we had to wait for half an hour for the Kikongo service to begin. As usual, there were many items on the agenda and today there were also a baby blessing and communion. A visiting preacher held the sermon. In good Congolese style, his preaching was accentuated by using body language and vocal abilities to the fullest. Julienne interpreted sporadically, hence we didn’t understand much. At 1.30 p.m. the church service ended. Afterwards, we were invited to the pastor on soft drinks and biscuits.

One of our entrepreneurs, Dialendua, was also there. We took the opportunity to interview him about his business. He has a clothing store that he doubled in size when he was going through our training and got a loan. He gave us good news about his business, which is especially welcome for us, since positive news are sparse around here. We asked him to give us examples of the benefits of our training. He told us that the financial planning, the budgeting and accounting are very useful. He also told us that he is starting a new business, quite different from the clothing store, namely a pig farm. Dialendua also told us that he has signed up for the FBS course. We are happy for that, because it is his kind of people we want in our courses. He is an exemplary entrepreneur who repaid his loans entirely according to plans.

The second entrepreneur we met was Brigitte. Her family started a shop for sanitary and pharmacy articles when her husband attended our course. Today, we were in search of toilet paper and we just went into the closest store, which turned out to be the store of one of our entrepreneurs. We did not recognize Brigitte at first. Sometimes, it might be quite difficult to recognize a Congolese lady. Many women have a set of wigs and they can look very different from time to time. Brigitte had changed her appearance radically from this simple reason. But she recognized us because we still had the same hairdo, except for Bernt who haven’t got any hair at all. When we had realized who she was, we interviewed her as well. She gave us good news and she seemed happy with their business, and after our conversation, we left the store triple satisfied. Firstly, we had seen results of our courses, secondly, we had benefited her business and thirdly, we had satisfied our need of toilet paper.

Emy´s internet café

Ngangas rooster, that I have written about during previous trips, began the day at 4:00 a.m. Today he knocked his beak into something hard at least ten times before beginning his serenade. In this way he made the surroundings aware of that the initiative was undoubtedly his. This ceremony was repeated once every half hour for the first two hours and then in much closer intervals. The rooster lives right outside our window.

At 8:30 a.m. we went to Emy’s office. Emy himself arrived half an hour after the agreed time. We were on the verge of being put off by his delay and other negative signals we have received from him earlier, but we still got a good conversation about our new material, Focus Business School. He wanted to know more about FBS and we went through two Power Points in French with useful information. We also went through the conditions that have to be met in order for us to start a course. Before we ended the meeting, he bought our material and promised to contact us if he manages to gather a group, which he hoped. In our travel plan, we have reserved a week for Kimpese.

Meanwhile, Yapeco arranged a taxi to Matadi. We got a slightly more spacious car than the day before, and it was comfortable being able to move inside the vehicle. The trip went quite flawlessly until we arrived in Matadi. The driver refused to take us all the way to Yapecos home, and we had at least 5 km left. When we demanded an explanation, he admitted that he didn’t have all the documents of the car in order. He was afraid that the police would take him in Matadi. Thus, we had to unload all our luggage and get a new car. An additional difficulty occurred within sight of Yapeco’s house. You can’t get through the last 70 meters with a regular car, you need an off-road vehicle. Conclusion: We had to carry our bags by hand.

At 2 p.m., Augustine offered us dinner and then we went to the Baobab Church. At 3 p.m. we had a meeting with some pastors. We went through the FBS material with them, then we planned for the course and set the dates and times. The course will start next Saturday and will last for a week.