Global Cycle Solutions

CNFA visit

2009-10-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

On the road with Jackson

2009-09-29T21:24:00.000-04:00

So, these past few days have been whirlwind as we’ve been going from office to office trying to complete all the documentation needed for a start-up, from the Tanzania Revenue Authority to the Commissioner’s Office to the Municipal Office to the Immigration Office. Now, all that remains is our business license, and we will now be free to reach out to as many customers as possible.

And so next week, our journey will begin. With our new pick-up, that I purchased as somewhat of joint personal and company investment, we will head to the markets to show off our machine, get customer feedback, and prepare for the sale of our products. It will be tough due to the drought that has swept Tanzania (and therefore, no maize), but we will overcome this challenge. We will just have to think creatively to thoroughly test our product and reach out to farmers who suffered a loss this year, so get ready for some adventurous stories to come.

Hunt for cycles

2009-09-22T21:23:00.000-04:00

With today as a holiday, we took this opportunity to go to the villages. It was a fascinating experience, as for the first time, we didn’t bring the bicycle with us, only the machine. This expedition proved more challenging than I would have expected, as the first village we went to, they didn’t have a bicycle available. So, they called a few friends, and they brought a bike without a stand. We unfortunately hadn’t brought a stand with us, so our machine would essentially be nonfunctional.

Despite this challenge, we decided we’d at least try to install it, and much to my disappointment, we found even more difficulties, such as stripped threads on the rear hub, which made it difficult to secure our machine on the bicycle. We installed it anyways, and using ourselves as the stand, we got it to work. I would have loved to leave the machine with them, as I, for the first time, actually witnessed the beating of corn with a stick. We would have left it with them, but we were unfortunately a day late as the tractor with the maize sheller had come just a day earlier. As villagers close to town, technology such as the tractor machine industrial sheller, was locally available.

However, in a village less than a kilometer away, they were all still beating corn with a stick. This time, we had to go on yet another hunt for a bike. And we faced the same issues. One bike was too big, and then the other bike was missing a stand. Again, we ourselves functioned as a stand, and the chairman loved it! He has already offered to arrange a meeting to show all the villagers our machine. The only downside was the bike that we found that worked belonged to the milkman. So, just after installing it, we had to remove it yet again to return the bike. The good news though is that the chairman was prepared to go find another bicycle so he could arrange a meeting to show the village. Unfortunately, he lacked the appropriate tools, so we left a few tools with him to ensure his future assembly of the machine.

So, I guess in the end, we learned that we must provide a stand, and if we want to really make an impression, we need to bring the bicycle, as temporary assembly is no easy task. For future village visits, we will plan accordingly.
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Jodie, Tanzania

First Village visit with CNFA

2009-09-20T21:21:00.001-04:00

On Friday, we went to Manyata for our first village visit with CNFA, and it was an incredible experience! The event itself wasn’t a big deal, but just seeing the crowd’s reaction was amazing. Philemon pitched the products and then ended with a demonstration of our sheller, and the 70 people in attendance went wild! Everyone was seated, and everyone started cheering, and then they came running!

Although we had to take off as soon as the meeting ended due to other obligations of CNFA, the impressions on the farmers were real. We gave them our 100 brochures, and as for the connections, I know that CNFA will be our route to meeting these farmers.

Even more, in presenting our product to the farmers, we also connected to the other dealers and organizations in attendance. One of the ladies of CNFA, who was based in Kenya, told us that she would pass word of our machine to Kenya, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all works out.

As for other things, our company is finally registered! So, now we’ll be heading to the Tanzania Revenue Authority to finally get our TIN and then open our bank account. We also got five new shellers from Karam, and they look fantastic. On Monday, we plan to start visiting villages. More stories to come later.
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Jodie, Tanzania

Big Week

2009-09-13T21:21:00.001-04:00

This week was filled with big events. Beginning with Monday, we finally got our first 5 shellers. We immediately took this opportunity to take two of them to dealers and then the rest out to testing. The machines worked beautifully, with a few kinks in the design here and there.

On Wednesday, we opened our office! We had no power, which was a downside, but it was productive nonetheless, as we finished furnishing our office, with brochures, curtains, our door sign, etc.

On Thursday, our shipment of shellers not only left China, but we made our first sale! Actually, it’s our second sale, but it’s the first one since I’ve been here. I was a bit upset at first, as it was still in its testing phase and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect, but our customer loved it as it was. I think the greatest part of this sale though was that our product sold for nearly full price, AND our customer didn’t already have Phoenix Bike. So, she actually bought a bicycle just so she could use our machine, which I believe is saying a lot.

On Friday, we met with the Manager of Sales and Marketing of the Tanganyika Farmers Association (TFA). This was really eye-opening, as the discussion went from introducing our product to discussing how TFA sells its products and if we would be open to their approach if they decided to distribute our product and if we had the capacity to scale if they sold our product in all 11 branches across Tanzania. We will be continuing our conversation once we have registered as a company (which should be next week as the papers are already off to Dar for approval!).

And on Saturday, we finally had a heart-to-heart with Karam Engineering. From our conversation, I learned a lot about Karam Engineering’s relationship with Kickstart. Eight years ago, Karam started making Kickstart’s pumps, and it took two years for them to finally develop the perfect machine that could last. Since working with Kickstart, they have had no complaints in all their years. This aspect reflects highly on Karam Engineering, but it also says a lot about Kickstart…

As for next week, some places are now harvesting corn in Arusha, so we will be demonstrating our device wherever we go. Moreover, our 25 shellers will be ready, so I’m really looking forward to building our bicycle dealer network. And our company should be registered, so we can now get things moving towards actually generating the revenues.

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Jodie, Tanzania

Field Testing & Office

2009-09-06T10:46:00.003-04:00

3rd Design & Bernard

2009-09-05T10:43:00.000-04:00

"Wednesday and Thursday, I spent my entire days in Karam’s workshop, helping Roger finish the machines. It was a really long process, as Roger did everything for the machine…the bending, the hammering, the cutting, the drilling, the shearing, and the welding… I really appreciated Roger’s work, as he worked straight through his lunch break on Wednesday (he worked 13 hours straight with myself beside him!)… at the end of the day [Thursday], I had to run off to meet with Bernard.

Who is Bernard? Well, he’s the guy who inspired me to create Global Cycle Solutions. He came to me, asking to help him with his bicycle-powered cell phone charger, and what emerged was Global Cycle Solutions with a family of products. But anyways, I met with Bernard as we were visiting the village, the village he surveyed when we were still in the 100K competition as people kept on asking him about the maize sheller and grinder. So, we went to Nadosoito, which was 12km away via dirt road; it took us about an hour to go.

I had a chance to meet many of the villagers and I promised to return the next day to bring the machine. On our way back, we stopped at Bernard’s house, and for the first time, I got to see his pedal-powered drill press! It was awesome!

So, today, after haggling with Karam in the morning and running some errands to make sure we had everything ready for the office (with a working internet usb and now a printer and receipt book), we finally delivered a sheller to a bicycle dealer and went back to Nadosoito. Everyone loved the machine, but we had the sad realization that this year was a bad growing season. Instead of finding a lot of maize to shell, we found trucks full of maize from the government, to keep the people of Nadosoito from starvation in the coming months. I knew the harvest wasn’t as good as usual, but I thought it led to smaller maize, not no maize at all. So, essentially, many of those stalks weren’t drying, but actually completely empty, having not yielded any maize at all.

Luckily, the church had 4 bags of unshelled maize, so we were able to test Karam’s third iteration in the machine. And there were some issues! So, I’m glad we did some testing. As for our agreement, despite adding more parts (and now getting the bearings directly from China), the price hasn't changed, much to my relief."

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Jodie, Tanzania

The GCS Staff House

2009-08-30T17:03:00.003-04:00

"Our weekend was filled with a bunch of odd jobs—finding a secretary to staff our office when we’re off at meetings, finding a sign painter for our office front and road sign, and finding a carpenter to make the doors of our office. We did find a secretary, who had strong recommendations from her former employer, but we soon discovered that she spoke little English and she would need a place to live. Our resolution…she’d live with me…I’d tutor her in English, and she’d tutor me in KiSwahili. The question then was where... The result? I decided to pay a year’s rent to help Philemon finish his [unfinished] house. I would live in the future newly finished part of his house ... not only will these new spaces be for me, but also for his family. In a lot of essences, it’s a win-win situation.

I think the best way to summarize what we were up to, though, I’d have to say that Philemon summarized it perfectly, “It’ll be the Global Cycle Solutions Staff House. We can put a sign outside.” This would really be the Global Cycle Solutions Staff House and I about died laughing…all three GCS Tanzania staff living in the same house.

So, what’s next?
Next week: testing all 5 products... manufacture remaining 25 products...

Week after next: Distribute shellers [designated for customers]

[Customer options will be to either rent it after paying a deposit or to purchase the sheller]

We’ll see how it all goes!"
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Jodie, Tanzania

Positive Feedback

2009-08-28T13:22:00.003-04:00

"Now that we have the product, we can’t find the corn to do full testing of our machine (which has a zero failure rate right now). Although this makes things slow for us, and it means that Philemon and I are searching for things to do, it is a good sign, as that means that the season is later this year, and therefore, when our shellers arrive from China, it won’t be the end of the season, but actually midseason for our shellers.

Anyways, today has been a good day. I did a bit of info gathering, in which I visited a few of the bicycle dealers in town. I soon discovered that they get their bikes from Dar es Salaam and have them delivered to them. In many ways, that means that we’re going to have to bring our shellers to the dealers until we actually create a distribution network, which I believe will come from the bicycle distribution chain.

Afterwards, Philemon and I went to find corn. Much to our disappointment, the corn that was there was not fully dry (this is necessary for optimal shelling), but the good news is I’m fairly sure we just won two customers. They absolutely loved the machine. But, I think the greater thing that I gained was the fact that upon bringing the sheller to another farmer, he immediately recognized the machine. He went inside his home, and returned with the hand version of our machine! I was delighted to see this, as I knew there had been a supply chain of these shellers to Tanzania. I was dying to know how he got this and how he paid for this, and he had gotten it back in 1996 from TFA (Tanganyika Farmers Association) for 5000 shillings. I went into a slightly panic as I was like, 5000 shillings? Why can’t we get this sheller anymore for 5000 shillings? But little did I know how much the value of the shilling had changed in a 13 years. 5000 shillings in 1996 was equivalent to about 70000 shillings today. This reaffirmed our price point, and we will probably try to help this guy convert his hand sheller into a bicycle attachment (since it was essentially identical). TFA no longer sells these shellers.

Later, we swung by the office, and it is nearly finished! We negotiated to get glass doors to allow for more light to enter our office, and much to my surprise, the owner of our office asked us, "Do you have agents?" Apparently, in seeing our device in passing yesterday, his sister was convinced she could sell these devices in another region. I realized, in essence, an agent would be an informal dealer, and why not sell these on commission?

So, it looks like we might get agents coming to us, which is a good sign for us."

Jodie, Tanzania

Green Hope

2009-08-27T14:01:00.001-04:00

"My day started with Philemon coming to pick me up, and then getting
out of the car, and telling me, “Drive.”   So, that’s what I learned
today, to drive…backwards.    Everything is opposite the regular
direction except for the pedals.   I had no problem, except for
shifting the clutch, which was now on my left, and then accidentally
turning on the windshield wipers when I meant to turn on the turn
signal.   With our Swahili classes and now my ability to drive in
Tanzania, Philemon and I will be able to start working independently
of one another soon enough.

Our day started at Karam Engineering, where we decided we should hand
test the grinder.   The good news was that the grinder worked for
grinding dried corn, but the bad news was that this corn would never
be fine enough for Tanzanian use, where the corn is usually ground
into a fine powder and turned into ugali, the local staple food.
Although a bit disheartening, Karam has helped us solve the most
difficult parts of our products, and though the grinder is not good
for Tanzania, it is still useful for other parts of the world,
especially places like Mexico, where they grind boiled corn to make
some local dishes.

We had envisioned a universal interface, and we’ve solved that
problem.    But, for Tanzanians, at least for farmers, their biggest
need is the maize sheller itself.    I say this because today we took
our product to our first customer in Arusha. I thought we would be
delivering our product to a farmer, but we soon realized that we were
delivering our product to an NGO called Green Hope, which works with
orphans and vulnerable children all over Tanzania.   Meeting them was
really eye-opening for me, as I never really thought of our maize
sheller as a product to improve the lives or orphans and vulnerable
children, but it is indeed so, as these children are the ones usually
shelling the corn, beating the corn in a bag for a small pay at the
end of the day.

We’ll see how Green Hope likes our shellers!"

Jodie, Tanzania

First Test Drive

2009-08-25T09:30:00.000-04:00

"Today, we took our product out for a test drive. We started out at Philemon’s neighbor’s farm, where we found a room full of maize. I was planning on just shelling corn all day, just outside the room, but then Philemon had the bright idea that we should take it right outside his shop, which was along the road.

Since we were relocating anyway, we decided to bring out our banner from Nane Nane. It was great fun, and we ended up shelling the entire room of corn in about 4 hours. It was equivalent to about a dozen bags of unshelled corn, which was shelled to become about 4 bags of corn. The machine worked perfectly. We had some interested passersby and a few boys volunteer to ride the bike. We treated them to a soda or two, and the day passed quickly.

At the end of the day, our only problem was some squeaks here and there, but with a little bit of grease and the addition of a spacer between the bicycle and the attachment, it was as quiet as can be.

We’ll have 5 done by the end of the week Our GCS phone is ringing off the hook. And our office should be ready next week. We’re now just waiting for our paperwork to process before we can open up.

Oh, and just a quick note, I just wanted to let you all know that while Philemon is taking English class, I’m taking Kiswahili class…after work, of course. Off to school!"

Jodie, Tanzania

Setting Up

2009-08-23T09:13:00.000-04:00

"So, these two days, we’ve been chugging along.   Yesterday, Philemon
and I met with International Fund for Agricultural Development, and we
have their full support.   However, as they contribute to a larger
agricultural fund where there are anonymous contributors, they
suggested that we work through the daldos--District Agricultural Land
Development Officers, as they decide how to spend the money they
receive in their district.   As soon as we get our first 5 shellers
from Karam, we will start introducing ourselves to both daldos and
saccos to generate demand for our product.

As for today, we finally found the most ideal office and signed our
office agreement. It was our hope to get an office on the main roads,
but then we soon realized that there is no such thing as offices on
the main roads; rather, there are just stores and hair salons.   So,
we made a small compromise of getting a two-room office that’s about
30 meters from the main road.   As it is just behind a petrol station,
yet visible in looking down the street we’re on, it makes our location
perfect for people to find us (we can mention that we’re in Kijenge
Mwanama, or just near the Mt. Meru petro station in Kijenge).   In
addition to its affordability, because of its location, we are
shielded from the noisy cars and clouds of dust that the cars send up.
Our plan is to stick a huge sign on the side of the road, pointing to
our location, so even if they can’t see our office as they ride by in
a daladala, they can still find us.

We spent the remainder of the day at Karam Engineering, and when I say
rest of the day, I mean till 9pm. They ended up making new sprockets
and toyed with fixing the alignment, and finally at the end of the
night, we had a working machine where the chain wouldn’t fall off.
Next week, we will start immediately going to farms to conduct as many
tests as possible.   I’m thinking I might arrange a “bike tour” of
sorts for next week so that we can see how it works not only in
shelling corn, but also in transport.   And as we test, we’ll tweak
the design, and the following week, we will head to the areas of
Mwanza, Dodoma, Iringa, Tabora, and Mbeya to put our shellers in the
hands of saccos and district leaders."

Jodie, Tanzania

Jodie in Tanzania!

2009-08-20T20:21:00.004-04:00

Jodie is now in Tanzania, taking over Semyon's successful efforts over the past couple of weeks. We are working on finalizing the design of our product, the universal adapter and cornsheller, as well as figuring out logistical details for housing and workspace. Bernard, the inventor of the cell phone charger, is making 10 samples of the charger for us over the next week to showcase and raise interest. We have many goals set up for us in the near future- but we are entering a new chapter with the founder, Jodie, permanently in the field and Semyon heading operations in the US. Furthermore, we have recently been chosen for consideration in the second round for the IC Venture Fair. Wish us good luck!

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Caroline, US

Semyon on AFP

2009-08-17T14:02:00.004-04:00

Semyon talking about Nane Nane (thank you, Katya of AFP)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42uHgVKhhMk (embedding option disabled by request)

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Alex, USA (soon to be in India)

Visit to Maasai Village

2009-08-15T06:04:00.000-04:00

I took one of our demo bikes to a distant Maasai village a few days ago. Everyone loved the bike, and it worked pretty well except for a problem with the lower sprocket, which was the one part Karam didn't re-design yet. Katya got some great footage on tape.

Here are some pictures from that trip:

I'm off to Nairobi soon, exhausted and overloaded with dust from the 6 hour village trip, having forgotten to bring water or to have breakfast, foolishly.

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Semyon, Tanzania

Maker Faire in Ghana

2009-08-14T22:16:00.001-04:00

Today, Lisa and I found myself among inventors all over the world at Maker Faire Africa. And in the spirit of invention, ingenuity, and innovation, and inspiration, the makers at the fair were invited to present. We had a few "celebrity" figures present, which was awesome, including William Akawamba, the boy who built windmills in Malawi at age 14 and Pat Delaney, this guy from Texas who had made a multi-tool that included functions from drilling to turning to grinding, etc.

When the opportunity was opened to the floor, of course, I took this opportunity to present Global Cycle Solutions where as a maker, I discussed the impact of our technology. It was a fantastic opportunity, especially when people from Peace Corps Ghana, Millenium Villages Tanzania, the Center for Alternative Technology UK, and even the founder of NedSpace US came to chat with me personally about taking this invention to the villages and presenting our adapter and sheller at their respective conferences.

Their feedback was affirmation of the impact that we can have with our attachments. I'm looking forward to working full-time with Global Cycle Solutions! To Tanzania in a few days!

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Jodie, Ghana

First Satisfied Customer!

2009-08-13T18:45:00.000-04:00

Our first satisfied customer!

"Global Cycle Solutions was the perfect solution for the Byana Mary Hill orphanage in Uganda. The kids harvest a lot of corn and they bruise their hands when they remove the dried corn from the cob. This solution has not only made the process of removing the corn easy and fast, but we are exploring a viable business opportunity by removing other farmers dried corn as well. Global Cycle Solutions is helping make the lives of the Ugandan people better by providing them with entrepreneurial opportunities and solutions.

Thanks,

David Williams
SEEE Operating Director"

Farming First blogs about GCS (and vice versa)

2009-08-10T14:24:00.000-04:00

Check out the plug from Farming First: link

2nd Place at Nane Nane!

2009-08-08T11:57:00.001-04:00

We won 2nd place at Nane Nane out of hundreds of exhibitors, behind a local chicken breeder project and ahead of a solar panel company, so we're now proud owners of a little metal cup!

The show today was overwhelming, there were hundreds of people crowding in around the tent, it was insane and claustrophobic...and kind of fun.

It was amazing to see Filemon, Oscar, and Chris show up with the trophy, and jump up and down and hug me. I think it was as exciting for them as the 100K was for us.

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Semyon, Tanzania

New and Improved Device!

2009-08-07T07:28:00.001-04:00

The Karam Engineering team have greatly improved upon our current device.

They worked several of their key people for 2 long days, and have completely re-designed the adapter. It's going to be much stronger, much lighter, and much cheaper to manufacture!

They finished making the first one, and the paint will be dry soon. The next one, which will be a grinder, should be ready by Tuesday.

We are extremely grateful for all of Chris’s help, from bush2beach.com Safaris, from helping us locate Tinco's Karam Engineering workshop to asking them to trust us enough to improve our product development both in speed and quality.

--
Semyon, Tanzania

Notes on Meetings-to-Date

2009-08-07T02:36:00.001-04:00

Met a couple of days ago with the Tanzania Country Director of CNFA (US-based org that works with a huge network of afri-dealers). He liked everything, but was very concerned with specifics, especially the bags per day number. He also alleviated some of the concerns about seasonality, because he said some people keep the corn on the cob and shell it as they need it over a few months instead of all at once, so there's always some shelling to be done late into the fall and winter, and by spring we can be selling units to re-sellers for the following season. He proposed a concrete next step: to have Jodie and Filemon bring a bike with a sheller with them on their next trip to a particular village on the August 18th. He said it was in an area that he thought is particularly in need of our tech, because it has lots of very small producers.

Today, I had the official meeting with the Office of Regional Agricultural Adviser for Arusha Region. This is the government-based effort for agriculture. The adviser already visited us at Nane Nane 2 days ago, and now we met officially at his office at the Regional government building. He made it clear that for official purposes, we need a different introduction, so I'm now working on our intro letter for myself which I will print on stationary and hand deliver to the right place.

The meeting went very well, I was there with Filemon which I think gave us the perfect blend of US-based and local flavor. The first part was taped by Katya (from Soldak Productions Company) but then she left to give us some privacy.

He totally agreed that we need to work with SACCOs, the small S&L banks in each district, because there's a huge number of them, and they have a complete picture of all the locals as they need to be "members" to work with the SACCO, so they know exactly how to make loans and control credit risk.

So the bottom line is that we have regional gov’t blessing to work with the district leaders to get to the SACCOs.

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Semyon, Tanzania

Meetings and More Meetings

2009-08-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

ok, i bought plane tickets so i can make both of the meetings below, as well as the trip to the maasai village if the new design shellers are working by sunday.

sunday night at 8 i'm flying on precision air turbo prop (wish me luck with that one) from kilimanjaro to nairobi, and monday night at 5:30 from nairobi to dar to make the tuesday meetings. i'm not getting a ticket back to arusha yet from dar in case there are more meetings there. but any additional meetings in nairobi monday will have to end by 2:30 so i can get to the airport by 3:30. follow up meetings in nairobi should be scheduled for jodie on the 16th, and i'll mention that during my meetings as well.

all 3 units here seemed beyond repair, the old and the new shellers after 2 days of demos at Nane-Nane, and the grinder which never worked at all. so I asked around and the expat business owners recommended Karam Engineering right here in Arusha. I spoke with the Indian father and son who own the place. They have lots of advanced machines of all types, 40 people working simultaneously all day, and in addition to extensive prototyping experience they are now running a large operation to produce every MoneyMaker pump sold in Tanzania, and gradually ramping up that production as those sales grow. I saw the factory floor where the pumps were being made. It was a very impressive operation, definitely African in appearance in terms of safety equipment and cleanliness, but nonetheless stocked with a full complement of all the necessary machines.

I left the bike with the new sheller with them, as well as a grinder and sample parts from our rahi. They said the design had 3 major issues that they could see immediately:
1. Much of the metal was too thin for holding the unit still and keeping the shaft from bending, considering the forces involved. They weren't going to do real finite element analysis or anything like we would do if we were designing it in the US, but they clearly had the experience to make a much better guess at component strength than we did.
2. The joint between the rahi and the sheller or grinder needed to have a bearing, and needed to be centrally supported in the frame right at that bearing, in order to once again keep the axis from eventually driving the upper gear out of alignment under the full force of the shelling or grinding.
3. The design had to accommodate different size shellers and grinders, and the ability to more easily switch devices.

They said that the current unit we showed them could not be repaired, and I agree strongly after watching Chris mess with it for a whole week. On the plus side, they said they'll have a preliminary design for us and a working prototype in 2 days, in time for the peak of Nane Nane on Saturday, and possibly for our Maasai village trip on Sunday. If they pull it off successfully and get us out of the jam we're in, I'll ask them to re-build the other sheller and grinder demo units next week, and if they succeed with that and give us a fair price, I will ask them to build all 30 shellers and 10 grinders that we currently have (or Jodie will if I'm gone by then).

In other news, the lawyers are now promising that the corporate registration papers will be finished tomorrow, and they are apparently sending people to Dar next week for some other reason, so they may be willing to file them for us for a fraction of the original $1500 they asked for. I don't feel like this is a rush, but it's nice to get it out of the way, so that Jodie can open a local bank account, and look for office space in Arusha as soon as she arrives.

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Semyon, Tanzania

Summary of meetings for Semyon coming up:
MONDAY
- Rockefeller/AGRA
- Acumen Fund

TUESDAY
- NMB
- Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives
- METL

Days 2 and 3 of Nane Nane

2009-08-03T08:58:00.001-04:00

Lots of people are stopping by now, slowly but surely the foot traffic is increasing, especially since Filemon brought his stereo, speakers, and TV, and wired it all up to blast some fun music. By tomorrow I'll be able to burn a DVD of our old video and then the TV will attract people even more. We're getting many dozens of names on the sign up sheets, with feedback, which is uniformly positive, except that 3/4 are still complaining about the price. Yesterday in a lull I left Alfonse and Oscar in charge of the tent, along with Chris and his assistant who were hanging out in case a sheller broke, and took Filemon on a trip to some bike shops. We visited 6 of them in the course of 3 hours. The owner's of the first were skeptical initially, but after seeing the video on my laptop, and hearing about how the bank may end up extending credit, they said they'll buy 2 at a nice discount, and re-order once they prove interest. The next 5 were all very positive, very excited, and all promised to buy a sample as soon as we could get them one. In other words, out of 6 bike shops, we got 6 yes's to buy at least one product, and to try to re-sell it. Had I not seen this with my own eyes I would have found it very difficult to believe. With a new product you would expect some early adapters, but also many doubters, and certainly not a 100% success rate in getting very cash conscous bike shop owners to front some money in order to be able to sell them. Later I randomly met some ex-pats who ran a safari company as well as a foundation, and they offered to take one of our bikes to a remote Masai village that their foundation is helping develop. With just a verbal description they said their foundation definitely wants to buy 2 ASAP, and they weren't even deterred by my saying that the product is still in beta and hasn't yet become entirely reliable.

Today Katya Soldak, the NYC based video journalist and my friend who arrived last night, was interviewing lots of people at our tent for a news piece for a French wire service. Again the feedback I heard Filemon translate has been uniformly positive. There's real excitement and a quick 'AHA' moment about this product for close to 100% of the people who see it, including lots of actual farmers who spend their days shelling corn by hand, or taking it on the dala-dala's to remote shelling centers.

If we can sort out the technical and manufacturing issues we'll have ourselves a quick homerun, no doubt about it.

--
Semyon, Tanzania

First Day of Nane Nane

2009-08-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

Below are pictures of the start of Nane Nane. Note: Nane Nane literally means "8/8" for the annual agricultural festival that is held from August 1 to 8.

(unfortunately, the name leaves off the final "s" in "solutions", but it still gets our name out there)

So we didn't quite get it together by 8am, but that was OK because the day started very slowly. Alphonse has spent about 3 days waiting in various lines to get us door passes, which are about as secure as a typical passport, complete with requiring passport size photos on which you may not smile, and the lines are par for the course in Tanzania.

Our tent was up, and by 9 the sides and the decorations had been attached as well, and we laid out a partial tarp floor that we purchased separately. The banner was hand painted the night before with only minor errors, as printing would have been prohibitively expensive. Tying it on proved more difficult than I expected, though I think some of our team was on to this which would explain their insistence on waiting to tie it until later when more people are there. Instead however it fit nicely over the two tables which arrived already. We didn't get the offset printed brochures in time, but sensing the delay we got a few dozen laser printed ones to get us started, and had picked up the stickers from the printers the day before. By around 10 we realized that the 3rd bike with a grinder wouldn't be ready, so Filemon brought down the two bikes with shellers. One unfortunately had a giant stand welded on rendering it very un-bike-like, and the other was painted 2 different colors, but we quickly bought a saw and some paint, and addressed both issues very effectively. By midday we had a very nicely arranged tent displaying two bikes, were staffed by myself, Filemon, Alphonse, Oscar, and an assistant of Chris's standing by in case something broke, equipped with brochures, business cards, and clipboards with info sign up sheets. All that were missing were the visitors who were probably held back by the draconian gate pass procedures. Alphonse and Oscar wanted to wait until tomorrow to being trying to find people, but Filemon snatched up a passing businessman out of thin air, and with great excitement led him into the tent. The guy became quickly engaged and was very interested, and suddenly several others appeared out of nowhere, forming a small crowd which didn't dissipate until I left half an hour later for a meeting with our lawyer. From what I could tell, almost everyone who saw it loved it, got it, and wanted to buy one at the first opportunity, with the only problem being the high price. It was very early, and there were very few people at the show on the first day, but I saw more than enough to know that the demand is deep and broad, and that we'll have our hands full trying to meet it. Furthermore Filemon proved himself amazing, one of the best people I've ever seen at jumping into a startup full force in 15 years of starting companies. He not only executed all day long on all cylinders, but also showed an innate superstar sales ability. I can easily see him growing into the role of our VP of sales and marketing for the country.

Tomorrow the paint will dry and hopefully the stands on the bikes will be repaired, so that we can begin demonstrating the shellers, or possibly even a grinder. We have a bag of corn waiting in the back of the tent. Also the independent video journalist from New York should arrive by the afternoon, so we may be giving some interviews and generally shooting video of all the action around our tent.

Meanwhile the lawyers started the process of formally registering our US LLC to do business in Tanzania, which is not usually done at such an early stage here, but I decided it's best to spend a little upfront but go by the books on this one. To save money, we're going to be sending Alphonse to Dar es Salaam instead of the lawyers, as apparently the task there consists entirely of 3 days of waiting in lines in order to get the paperwork filed with the appropriate offices.

The undersea cable bringing fast Internet to the region has thus far failed to materialize, and I'm not holding my breath. The cellular device for laptops won't work with my mac, and I have been unable to get the wireless password out of anyone at the Spiritan house despite several attempts, but I did find a hotel not far away with free wireless at half way decent speeds.

My general impression of Arusha is that it's poor, highly polluted, dusty, and truly dangerous after dark. But the people are friendly and humble. The only problem has been the fly catchers who approach every white man in the center with endless demands for fake friendly interaction with many handshakes leading to the obligatory hard sell, and don't take no for an answer. However I seemed to have stumbled on the winning formula to contain this menace: without even replying to the "Hujambo rafiki", I launch straight into a hard sell of my own: I'm here to sell you this amazing corn grinder with a bike, you can use it to grind corn and then another one to shell it, and make money in the country. Some of them have in fact shown interest when I explained that they could get a bank loan, but more importantly they all recognized me as a fellow salesman instead of a mark, and the reputation is clearly spreading, to where in a few more days I think I'll be left alone and be able to walk around town in peace.

Time to head back home for dinner. Missing veggies and meat a lot, but still haven't gotten sick aside from an annoying neck cramp, which is something to be thankful for. Yesterday the power went out from about 7 to 10, but to my great luck my laptop was charged, so I was able to use it as a lantern and get some reading done.

--
Semyon, Tanzania

Investor's Circle Application

2009-07-31T20:00:00.000-04:00

The deadline for Investor’s Circle is tonight. Wish us luck!

--
Alex, Boston

First Satisfied Customer!

2009-07-30T22:57:00.000-04:00

We've completed a sale to a man in Uganda who works with an orphanage that has 450 students. He originally approached us a few months ago and described their pain:

"They harvest a lot of corn. The kids spend hours removing the corn from the cob for grinding." Enough said.

They received our shipment, have assembed our devices, and say they work very well.

--
Alex, Boston

Press

2009-07-30T13:25:00.000-04:00

Looks like we got a little press.

Not sure if the fact that it made the writer go "hmmm" is a reflection of the vague language on our website.

--
Semyon, Tanzania

On-Site meeting with NMB

2009-07-29T13:19:00.000-04:00

Meeting with Vicky tomorrow 11 AM (EAT). She is the branch manager for NMB. The bank director sent her our report and she will be able to take a decision herself for a small pilot.

Good luck, Semyon!

--
Esmeralda, Belgium

Pricing the Bikes

2009-07-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

I talked to the TZ company manufacturing the Phoenix bikes.

(NABICO, Nat'l Bicycles Company, has been acquired by METL, one of TZ’s largest businesses, so I actually talked to METL.)

I asked about the price, which is $60, which is pretty good I think. He is open to negotiating further if we buy in bulk. There is an office in Arusha and they cater to farmers, which could be useful if we decide to work with them.

We need to check if these bikes are robust enough and if the Rahi can easily be hooked to it. If that's the case, I feel that selling the package with a Phoenix could help us since the price is so low. Maybe we could sell the whole package in their stores.

--
Esmeralda, Belgium

Update on Operations in Tanzania

2009-07-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

It's been a while since I've written. I apologize for the silence. IDDS has been very time-consuming, but it is amazing! The people are amazing and I feel very lucky to be here. Talking to my fellow participants, they have much to say on GCS and we will give them a chance to do so...read on!

The shirts have been ordered (dark green with white print, upper right corner has company name and logo, back has website), will be done in a week, will cost around $100 and be delivered to Alphonce.

I spoke to Jodie and Joseph on testing the machines again. There is no guarantee it will be tested by Nane Nane. I have been told that the corn from the farms is not ready to pick yet, but maaaaybe some people have some corn left in their homes and Joseph will send his brother,
working for us in the workshop, to ask around in the village and convince them to let us use a few. If we don't test by Nane Nane, I agree it is not best to sell, but we cannot legally anyway. We must register in Tanzania...We can however take orders!

I have begun working on a customer feedback email/form, jotting down questions I consider very important to know and I can send for review tomorrow.

I have been in contact with Alphonce and working out renting the tarp and night guard.

Semyon, Jodie and I will compile extremely useful information for so that you are more prepared in Arusha.

Michael and I have joined forces again and may try to build a Rahisisha here (with a grinder bought in town) if time allows. I have been told there is corn in the villages we visit weekly, and I myself have seen a huge diesel-powered miller, milling maize. I can push to have this done for some testing!!! More strict engineering testing can be done through my Measurements and Instrumentation class (project requirement- lots of resources). Also, Jodie will be presenting the awesomeness of GCS and pedal power systems in general and holding brainstorm session to gain feedback from all these experts and local people surrounding us. We're encouraging ideas for useful or needed attachments, for example, and pointing people in the right direction if they are interested in obtaining one. Other than that, there is the potential for many different of pedal powered technologies in our conference design challenges- keeping my eyes on
the look-out!

--
Lisa, Ghana

Great meeting with President of NMB!

2009-07-09T10:58:00.000-04:00

Esmeralda and I (Semyon) just had a call with the president of the National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania, which operates through 135 branches across the country. This is the bio of the man we spoke with, just to give you all a sense of Esmeralda's accomplishment in arranging this.

Mr. Ben Christiaanse understood and valued what we were trying to do. He suggested strongly that we sell bikes together with our adapters, which I said we could retail for under $200, because if someone were to approach them for a microloan for a rahi+sheller or grinder, they might as well get a new bike as most bikes there are in sad shape. He said a loan would typically be for 6 months, and carry perhaps a 20% interest rate. We need to further investigate the possibility of selling a complete solution, perhaps still partnering with the bike shops so that they procure the bike, but they would then assemble it all together and sell it for one price. I'm sure that bike shops would be most interested in working with us if we can promise them not only a new product, but also better access to loans for their customers. In any event, Mr. Christiaanse promised to set up a meeting for me with the NMB Arusha branch manager as soon as I arrive, so that we could hopefully create a trial partnership to mention right at Nane Nane.

Great job, Esmeralda!!

Semyon, Boston

Meanwhile, at IDDS...

2009-07-08T01:05:00.000-04:00

To Everyone,

I just wanted to let you know that Lisa and I (and Michael...our 8th team member whom Lisa will introduce) are now in Ghana, and tomorrow at 7AM (in 5 hours), we will hit the ground running with the conference. We do not know the projects yet, but we will be sure to let you know, especially if any of them are pedal-powered!

Anyways, I'm very excited about everything to come.

All the best,
Jodie

Ending on a Fun Note

2009-07-07T17:12:00.001-04:00

Hi Again,

I thought maybe I should add some other fun news. My last week in Tanzania, Joseph took me to many great places to eat - especially one called G&T with fantastic pork and good chipsi (french fries) that is rumored to be one of Jodie's and Tish's favorites. On Saturday, after all our work was done, we went to have celebratory drinks at a hotel that also has....a zoo! There is a huge compound for animals like ostriches, peacocks, zebras, antelope and a variety birds and fishes. They had so many little monkeys in the trees above the buildings and open spaces too. There was also a pen of porcupines, alligators, an eagle, a very funny looking bird that you can find in the Uganda national seal, and a giant monkey that hopped over the fence and walked right by us to the trees. That night we saw a live show of a band and hip-hop breakdancers at a popular bar (whose name I can't recall).

So overall- I did a lot of work but enjoyed my time there as well.

--
Lisa, Tanzania

Wrapping up in Tanzania (for now)

2009-07-07T16:58:00.000-04:00

Mambo!

It's been a while since I've written. My last couple days in Tanzania were crazy ones. I was busy taking care of unfinished business. We have a trustworthy, hard worker in the workshop quickly completing parts for the remaining 50 and attaching grinders sent from Javier; a driver who will pick up the corn shellers for us from Kilimanjaro airport when they arrive and Semyon when he arrives late July; and two more newly hired Tanzanians to help us for Nane Nane. There was a lot of driving back and forth between the town and the workshop, running around to meet people, negotiating prices, buying missing things, and figuring the most reliable and cheapest way to ship our product according to the buyers wishes.

We have officially sold and sent our first product! One completed set was sent to Uganda by bus and instructions for assembly were sent by mail. It should arrive in Kampala early Monday for pick up from the customer who purchased it. As our first customers, their feedback will be extremely valuable. However, while bussing is a reliable and cheap way of shipping products in East Africa, we'll probably have to begin paying border taxes when we begin to send many at once kept in nicer boxes.

I feel I did a lot of work in Tanzania, hopefully leaving behind a good start for GCS when Semyon and Jodie arrive. I hope Nane Nane goes smoothly and the word gets out for GCS.

Ghana promises to be as wonderful an experience as Tanzania was. The event officially begins tomorrow and according to our schedule, every hour of our day is planned with some activity until about 6PM. We will have time late in the month to present our technology to the Conference participants (many come from organizations or local centers that have, make, or equip the centers with appropriate technologies). Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring some of the machines to Ghana, but likely, the person completing sets in the workshop can ship some in time for our second visit to the rural villages. The event organizers have some bicycles, but they are in use by those organizers. I would like to measure the dimensions of the organizers' bicycles and look into for how much and where I can buy a bicycle to hopefully attach the Rahi and show the participants and the villagers.

Hope all is well back at home. Kwa heri!

--
Lisa, Tanzania

Welcome Alphonce and Oscar to GCS

2009-07-06T23:49:00.000-04:00

Greetings Alphonce and Oscar!

Thank you so much for joining the GCS team for these next few weeks! We are very happy to have you with us at Global Cycle Solutions, and we look forward to hearing from you regarding your successes at Nane Nane.

As for who I am, my name is Jodie, and I am the managing director/"CEO" of Global Cycle Solutions. I have worked in Tanzania extensively these past two years, where I have been developing the technology you will be selling at Nane Nane. Najua Kiswahili kidogo. Nijaribu kufanya mazoezi KiSwahili yangu kwa sababu KiSwahili yangu ni mbaya sana.

In August, I will be coming to Tanzania to implement our technology during the harvest system. My plan is to sell many shellers and even ride our Rahisisha na Baiskeli to gather village reactions and prepare for mass production.

On behalf of GCS, we look forward to working with you both in helping us grow and reach our goals in Tanzania.

Karibuni sana na tutaonana.

Wasalimie,
Jodie

Version 2.0 Offer

2009-07-06T22:49:00.000-04:00

Great News! Version 2.0 Communications just offered to take GCS on as their annual pro bono client. And we accepted the offer (of course). They will be guiding us in our launch plan and providing much needed PR assistance.

--
Alex, Boston

Connecting with NMB

2009-07-03T19:09:00.000-04:00

Hey all,

I am in contact with the CEO of NMB (National Microfinance Bank), the largest bank in Tanzania. NMB has 120 branches, and is located in more than 80% of Tanzania's districts so it might be a great partner for us. I sent the CEO the business plan and he might be able to meet with Jodie and Semyon.

He is based in Dar and his assistant suggested August 4th, 11am when she called Lisa today, but since we will be preparing for Nane Nane, she will check the CEO's agenda for another slot.

--
Esmeralda, Belgium

We're Incorporated

2009-07-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

Just thought you all should know.

--
Alex, Boston

Connecting with CNFA

2009-06-22T18:56:00.001-04:00

I just spoke to Tom Campbell at CNFA, the US-based organization that supports small-scale farmers, and works with 5,000 agri-dealers in Africa. He wants Lisa to go and meet the representative in Arusha and show her the bike!

He likes our solution and could see it being used in the field but finds it very expensive and says that it costs much less than what we are asking. We discussed various scenarios and he believes that it might be possible for the dealers themselves to rent out the bike to farmers (dealer = entrepreneur).

Anyways, he will write an intro to his colleague in Arusha. Jodie and Semyon could perhaps then approach the dealers when they arrive.

--
Esmeralda, Belguim

Construction Progress

2009-06-21T16:20:00.000-04:00

Mambo!

I'm just delivering my small update on a nice calm, quiet Sunday night, but unfortunately the internet is down throughout the hotel. I am sending this via the Priest's usb internet service from a local phone company. Last Friday I left off nearly completing the first 10 attachment interfaces. With nearly all the necessary metal pieces cut, I began the details- holes, grinding, bending, and welding- on those pieces 10 at a time near the end of week. Jospeh, while in Dar es Salaam has been purchasing the necessary bicycle parts- much cheaper there than in Arusha (the Arusha bicycle stores get their spare parts from Dar). Those should be arriving Monday night. This weekend has been pretty relaxing, only making arrangements with Shaibu's help for Semyon and a local Tanzania crew to represent GCS at Nane Nane. GCS will have its first local hires to help with Nane Nane! Over dinner Friday he gave me the form and we talked. This early evening, after dinner and a game of pool, I gave him the form to turn in Monday (the office of TASO, Tanzania Agricultural Society who annual hosts the event is near Tumaini Cycles) and he promised to talk to Mwalimu Charles and to trusted Tumaini Cycle students who supported Jodie last summer about working for GCS during the 10-day Nane Nane event.

Jodie came up with a brilliant idea that we plan to pass by Bernard fairly soon- to showcase his own inventions at GCS' Nane Nane lot! I think this would be great for Bernard- a chance to be seen, and sell his machines while helping us to promote our social mission of spreading appropriate technology.

I received a phone call today from Geoff with the NGO ___ . They have been working on various projects including promotion of small businesses in Mufundi in the south eastern part of Tanzania. He heard about our machine, checked out our website and contacted Jodie. In the phone call, he expressed interest in purchasing a few of our products and having them transported to Mufundi through their own service (they have books from a library in Arusha regularly transported to their location in Mufundi and it would go along with that). He also asked who was our target customers and how we are planning to proceed with our attachments. Of course I explained our model of encouraging small businesses with them or use through groups and communities, which he seemed to approve for their purposes. He affirmed they widely use Phoenix bicycles there as well. He asked me if we had the grinder yet, because, while the sheller sounded good, he felt the grinder may be even better of use to them in Mufundi (some people would still shell corn by hand, but would really appreciate the help of the grinder) and was also very interested in the water pump idea. That was interesting input for future use. He then asked about pricing and readiness and I told him I could give him a price estimate of per bicycle attachment/Rahisisha soon and more information on when they will be ready for purchase. I am working to tabulate how much it has currently cost to make the 50 here, and have the team decide a sale price to the NGO- you'll see in email in a day or two on that. (Woohoo, potential first sale!!)

This week I plan to continue toiling in the workshop putting together as many Rahisisha's (as they are now called, and not Geuza). My palms are getting tough and my arms a bit stronger as it is becoming easier and easier to do some things, like double bend small flat stock pieces that were once very difficult for me- and hold the grinder for about half an hour! (Geez, it is heavy). Jospeh will be around to help in construction and Shaibu will occasionally come after his work. I look forward to a really exciting and productive week as we complete our Rahisisha's and prepare for the 16th annual Nane Nane!

Until next time,
Lisa
Arusha, Tanzania, Africa

Pictures and Learning Swahili

2009-06-17T08:18:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone,

As promised, footage of our new Tanzanian model! I hoped you could all view the video, but it's too large to send via this internet. I'll try again later on the wireless. Attached is a picture of the ensemble with a clear view of the modification to the design.

Small change in plans; the Father at the house offered this morning to tutor me everyday after dinner for 45 minutes in Swahili. Much simpler arrangement than with Daniel's brother. They tell me the Father is a good teacher and has even tutored the other American guest at the house (who speaks quite fluently). This will be great!

I had quite an adventure this morning. After making arrangements this morning as to when and where to meet Benard in town, I hop on the daladala as I normally do. I tell the conductor "Chama" my stop to Mobility Care, give him my fare and sit back. I must of not noticed when we passed the stop, but the lady next to me asked me something in Swahili about chama and points backward. I took that to mean we passed chama. Suddenly, everyone in the bus starts screaming at the conductor about the "mzungu" (white person) and chama and they stopped the bus. The started asking me something in Swahili. I think they were tryign to tell me that I could wait on the bus and get off when it turns around (based on hand signals), but someone noticed I didn't understand much Swahili, (I understood that much when she said it, lol). So I said "Kiswahili kidogo" (more or less that I speak very little Swahili). Finally, one of the ladies told me in English that the conductor planned to have another bus in the opposite direction take me back to chama for free and it wasn't far. Which they did and I finally got to Mobility Care.

Anyway, I thought it was a bit funny.

I'll keep you posted of any news!

-Lisa
Arusha, Tanazania, Africa

Good-Looking Models

2009-06-16T13:54:00.000-04:00

Hey Team,

Mini-Update: The model works beautifully!! I had Daniel's brother on
the bicycle and cycling with the corn sheller- chain doesn't fall off
either! The hub works well and we may keep that in the design. I will
take some video and pictures tomorrow and send them at Mobility Care
(they have a faster connection than the hotel).

Benard is helping get a few tools tomorrow in town to help make
product building much faster, then coming by the workshop again. I
plan to ask him if we can pass by the hardware stores again for
ordering 46 or so corn shellers. I'll continue cutting, grinding edges
and marking holes tomorrow. I almost down cutting all the metal. The
angle iron mounts is what is taking the longest. Phew. Well the
machine does most of it, haha, but it's a slow machine.

Next week: bending (using a homemade die), welding and ordering
missing bicycle parts in bulk. (And more depending on what's left)

Non-building update: Daniel's brother is a secondary school Physics
teacher and has experience teaching Swahili. He offered to tutor me in
Swahili (free! I asked first.) after the workshop closes, a few days
the week, for two hours. I may take him up on that offer if my after
work schedule is not too busy.

Other than that, I plan to ask around about microfinance organizations
to pass along the contact information.

Don't forget to look out for my email when you wake up tomorrow! Stay tuned!

-Lisa
Arusha, Tanzania, Africa

Getting Down and Dirty

2009-06-14T10:07:00.000-04:00

Mambo!

I'm doing well and moving along quickly! Here is what I've been up to:

This past Wednesday we went to town to buy all the materials I would need. We first shopped around for all the prices, compared our offers and went with the best. However, we were having a hard time finding a pick up to help us take all our purchases to Mobility Care. Their connection was too far and Joseph's connection had his pick-up at the garage. We were left to ask around pick-up drivers we didn't know and who were looking for work, near the Central Market. We had yet to find a good deal on the pick-up when Benard joined us. We had lunch and then he took us to the hardware store that sells corn shellers. They had promised Benard to have a stock of 50, but they ordered the wrong item- sprinklers! They had 3 corn shellers in store however and we bought those (leaves me with 4 total - the one Jodie bought last summer plus the new ones). The shop owner would not tell me where he buys his stock from, naturally, to protect his business. All we know is that they come from India and there have Chinese symbols on each sheller. Maybe Jodie or Alex could help figure out what it says?! The second hardware store that may have had shellers was closed for the day. We'll try again next week, putting in a wholesale order of 46. Then we headed over to a bicycle shop that sells parts at good price and from whom we can order sprockets and chain “wholesale”. We bought only two boxes of chain (we want to confirm the needed length first) and two kid's single speed pedal cranks (for the sprockets- they only had two in store). They are not the exact size we used at MIT, but they are not much different and easier to work with. The chain and sprockets will be ordered wholesale as well. We bought steel directly from a supplier at a pretty low price and found a hub and Phoenix bicycle at a good bargain. The Tanzanians prefer the Phoenix bicycle because of its availability, strength and low price. It's structure is similar to the WBR bike, but the rear rack is a bit smaller, a bigger rack can also be found, but I think its current rack should be fine. I proudly slapped a GCS sticker on the green beauty on the top bar between the handles and seat. After being in the workshop, however, the white of the sticker began to look rather dirty. It still seems to match and look gorgeous to me.

With very little time left to get everything to Mobility Care before they closed, we found a pick-up driver who gave us a good deal and drove quickly with all our parts to the workshop (us following crazily behind). We made it and stored it, ready to be used the next day!

Working at Mobility Care was definitely a good decision. The workshop space is fantastic and the people are always ready to help. They also have a large and decent set of tools to share. We have nearly completed the first product model to work from, adjusting the Geuza- now Rahisisha- size to the Phoenix bike - and testing a new design change. It incorporates a hub in the ensemble. It looks promising but Monday we will begin the first tests! Joseph helped out at the workshop Thursday, and Bernard came on Friday (Thursday he had an emergency). He will come again on Monday to help finish the first one, the model. Meanwhile, I have been cutting all the recently acquired metal to prepare all the parts and I will continue to do so this week.

The workshop is closed for the weekend, so I decided to work on my updates and future plans and enjoy Lake Manyara, one of Tanzania's beautiful National Parks!

Future Plan summary: By the end of next week, I should have all pieces cut and marked and hopefully have begun all the small detail preparations (some holes, the bending, the welding- there have been a few changes to strengthen the ensemble and they seem to prefer the welding than having many many bolts).

-Lisa
Arusha, Tanzania, Africa

Production Update

2009-06-12T13:27:00.001-04:00

Mambo!

I'm doing well and moving along quickly! Here is what I've been up to:

This past Wednesday we went to town to buy all the materials I would need. We first shopped around for all the prices, compared our offers and went with the best. However, we were having a hard time finding a pick up to help us take all our purchases to Mobility Care. Their connection was too far and Joseph's connection had his pick-up at the garage. We were left to ask around pick-up drivers we didn't know and who were looking for work, near the Central Market. We had yet to find a good deal on the pick-up when Benard joined us. We had lunch and then he took us to the hardware store that sells corn shellers. They had promised Benard to have a stock of 50, but they ordered the wrong item- sprinklers! They had 3 corn shellers in store however and we bought those (leaves me with 4 total - the one Jodie bought last summer plus the new ones). The shop owner would not tell me where he buys his stock from, naturally, to protect his business. All we know is that they come from India and there have Chinese symbols on each sheller. Maybe Jodie or Alex could help figure out what it says?! The second hardware store that may have had shellers was closed for the day. We'll try again next week, putting in a wholesale order of 46. Then we headed over to a bicycle shop that sells parts at good price and from whom we can order sprockets and chain “wholesale”. We bought only two boxes of chain (we want to confirm the needed length first) and two kid's single speed pedal cranks (for the sprockets- they only had two in store). They are not the exact size we used at MIT, but they are not much different and easier to work with. The chain and sprockets will be ordered wholesale as well. We bought steel directly from a supplier at a pretty low price and found a hub and Phoenix bicycle at a good bargain. The Tanzanians prefer the Phoenix bicycle because of its availability, strength and low price. It's structure is similar to the WBR bike, but the rear rack is a bit smaller, a bigger rack can also be found, but I think its current rack should be fine. I proudly slapped a GCS sticker on the green beauty on the top bar between the handles and seat. After being in the workshop, however, the white of the sticker began to look rather dirty. It still seems to match and look gorgeous to me.

With very little time left to get everything to Mobility Care before they closed, we found a pick-up driver who gave us a good deal and drove quickly with all our parts to the workshop (us following crazily behind). We made it and stored it, ready to be used the next day!

Working at Mobility Care was definitely a good decision. The workshop space is fantastic and the people are always ready to help. They also have a large and decent set of tools to share. We have nearly completed the first product model to work from, adjusting the Geuza - now called the Rahisisha- size to the Phoenix bike - and testing a new design change. It incorporates a hub in the ensemble. It looks promising but Monday we will begin the first tests! Joseph helped out at the workshop Thursday, and Bernard came on Friday (Thursday he had an emergency). He will come again on Monday to help finish the first one, the model. Meanwhile, I have been cutting all the recently acquired metal to prepare all the parts and I will continue to do so this week.

The workshop is closed for the weekend, so I decided to work on my updates and future plans and enjoy Lake Manyara, one of Tanzania's beautiful National Parks!

Future Plan summary: By the end of next week, I should have all pieces cut and marked and hopefully have begun all the small detail preparations (some holes, the bending, the welding- there have been a few changes to strengthen the ensemble and they seem to prefer the welding than having many many bolts).

--
Lisa, Tanzania

Quick Update of On-Site Tasks

2009-06-09T12:59:00.000-04:00

Wednesday:
Buy Materials in Market with Bernard and Joseph- 1 Phoenix Bike, 100 Sprockets, 2 Hubs (to test design change), Metal (all of metal amounts calculated)

Take materials to Mobility Care using arranged transportation through Mobility Care

Thursday:
Work at Mobility with Bernard

Friday:
Continue working

-Lisa
Arusha, Tanzania, Africa

Arrival and Setting Up

2009-06-05T19:32:00.000-04:00

Hello All,

I arrived in Tanzania safely! Joseph picked me up and has been very helpful since then, helping me make many many connections and figure out some accommodations, etc. We have been trying to figure out where is the best place to work and with whom (and where to stay for a month). Affordable hotels for me do not have internet, hence, I've either been mooching off nearby houses in his friend's grandfather's hotel restaurant (haha), and some Internet cafes but its not always reliable there (my first cafe, we had a blackout), second cafe, its temporarily not working. I think the potential centers may have internet, but I'll see on Monday and Tuesday. Just a note to all, I'm 8 hours ahead. Hence 9AM is 5PM and so forth. Joseph may be able
to help me find internet for my little laptop with camera for skype somewhere on Tuesday. This wireless I'm mooching off is too slow for that.
....

I met Shaibu and Joseph met with Bernard for me when I was figuring out my first hotel... They really really want to help us out (talented technicians). We are meeting with them Sunday afternoon. They work at the bicycle workshop in the Vijana Center, but they can
contribute to the design and future fabrication of the Geuza. We will figure out more details of their relation tomorrow. They are coming to Ghana too.

I'm having a very good time with my host, seeing things here from the perspective of someone local.

-Lisa
Arusha, Tanzania, Africa

Leaving for Tanzania today!

2009-06-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

Our teammate Lisa will be traveling to Africa today and arriving in Tanzania. She will be doing some in-house manufacturing of our prototypes and setting up our supply chain and distribution channels. Basically, her efforts will help us pave the way for this fall when our founder Jodie will be in Africa full time.

Wish her (and all of the GCS team) good luck!

-Alex
Boston, MA USA