More on Andrew Gerber...
1. How did you find out/ become involved in MBAs without Borders?
During the past year I was getting my MBA from Purdue University in
the US through joint studies at GISMA Business School in Germany. I
had been down to South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga primarily) on
two previous short-term trips to observe and help in disadvantaged
communities, and I decided to make another trip during a break in the
MBA program to see how my future career path and the development
sector might intersect... After a great trip, I returned to Germany
and found an email from the career services department listing new
MBAs Without Borders positions... and the posting with Kageno in Kenya
sounded like a perfect fit. I applied, and within a month ended up
here on Rusinga Island in Lake Victoria.
2. Please can you tell me a bit about your experience and the
actual project you're involved in?
My undergraduate degree is in Information Systems Management, and I
did a Master's program in Rhetoric & Public Address. (Both in the US)
After that, I worked in Europe, managing IT for 7 manufacturing plants
in a group of companies. When the opportunity came to meld all of my
experience and studies together through Purdue's MBA program in
Europe, I leaped at the chance.
I am working with the community, local staff, and volunteers to shift
Kageno Kenya to a sustainable source of funding. Kageno Worldwide is
starting their second project in Rwanda, and so I'm focused on
building capacity in the local income generating activities so that
the project can continue as Kageno Worldwide expands to other needy
areas.
Specifically, I'm working with the women's group that takes water
hyacinth, a destructive weed that blocks ports in Lake Victoria, and
produces crafts. We've secured an initial order with Tuskys, the #2
retailer in Kenya, to produce an initial order of laundry baskets, and
pending our successful delivery of that order, they have promised
additional orders which should lead to an income stream that could
potentially cover up to 100% of the operating costs of the project
within the next year.
I'm also working with the fishing industry, starting with Kolunga
Beach where we're located. The industry has many problems and so we're working to see
what we can do to effectively restructure the marketplace to ensure
fair access to the market.
Additionally, I'm working on drafting a forward-looking business plan
for Kageno Worldwide and also for Kageno Kenya. Each day I'm using
different parts of the body of knowledge that I gained from my MBA,
and there's definitely no boredom.
3. What has been your hardest challenge yet?
I think the biggest challenge for me has been to let go on many
issues. Thankfully, I'm very often rewarded to see the locals I'm
working with rise to the challenge. My role here isn't to do things,
but to grow capacity and work with people to ensure that anything that
is accomplished while I'm here continues in the future.
4. How has the project changed you as a person?
After living and working with the local people here on Rusinga Island
for 2 months (and with 2 months left to go), I think that the project
has profoundly reinforced the importance of empowering the
disadvantaged members of a community in a problem solving approach to
the problems they face.
Living in a local mud house here has also shown me that the standard
assumptions we make about our needs are often inflated--while I look
forward to having running water, a microwave, and a flush toilet
again, I do fine with chlorinated lake water, a propane burner, and a
latrine. I think it's been a healthy experiential "reset" of my
expectations and needs.
5. Where to next?
I'm always up for a challenge and enjoy a lot of variety in my working
environment. I will most likely pursue management consulting, either
on my own or by joining a consultancy. I'm pondering where in the
world I will head to next, with South Africa being a very attractive
location, providing both a vibrant and rapidly growing economy
together with a desperate need for creative development solutions.
Andrew on boat in Lake Victoria with Alphonse, Kageno Kenya's project director.
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