Act 6: We’re In Business!

Act VI: Scenes I-II

Introduction:

This act describes the course of events the occurred during our team’s short week on site, due to Thanksgiving break. In order to provide the community members with the opportunity to show their skills, and also to provide our team with a test run, we implemented our business within the facility before we left.

Scene I: Stamping Out the Details

Backstory:

The team came into this week with a much more precise plan as we were much more conscious of the amount of time left in Langrug.  We had spent the last few days doing some of the harder and more labor intensive work.  While this was much different than our previous game plan but, it was extremely effective.  In doing this we had the opportunity to almost recharge the batteries of the community and ourselves.

Cast of Characters:

WPI WaSH-UP Business Operations team, Sidiniwe Savings Group, WPI Project Advisors, Trevor

Setting:

Langrug Informal Settlement; Mandela Park WaSH-UP facility

Scene:

Upon arriving at Langrug, we were met by some of the team members but, there were some team members missing which led to the team being delayed in starting.  After rounding up the rest of the co-researchers, the team began work.  We decided that if we finished the kiosk, the noise would distract the discussion of the constitution.  We decided it would be better to discuss the constitution as an entire group and do the construction later once we had gotten the paper work out of the way.  Although this was almost monotonous, it was quite helpful in figuring out the details that we may have overlooked in drafting the constitution.

After going through the entire constitution, the group took a break to walk around and relax a bit after the lengthy discussion we had had.  In doing this, we celebrated one of the co-researchers birthdays.  It had become somewhat of a tradition for the WaSH teams to bring a cake for birthdays of the co-researchers.  Today was different however since the ladies had gone into town on their own accord in the morning and came back with food.  When it came time to celebrate, they had a little surprise up their sleeves.  It turned out that Reed had had his birthday a few weeks back and it hadn’t been celebrated as we hadn’t done that except for co-researchers.  The ladies had actually bought him a cake that morning and some other gifts as a belated surprise birthday celebration.  To say he was surprised by this was an understatement and to say he was touched would be a travesty.

Reed cutting his birthday cake, with Mollie and Heather helping him celebrate (sorry Heather)!

Reflection and Learning:

Although this day was extremely helpful and useful in getting physical accomplishments done for the savings group and the team, we feel the emotional growth and bonding that happened could be more important for the success of this project.  While we had done some of this before, the reassurance we received from the ladies this day was monumental to all of the team members and gave us another wind to keep working and work harder because it solidified that everyone was invested in the project and its outcomes.  This day and experience will motivate the team further because it served two extremely important purposes furthering the project on multiple fronts.  This intertwining of success could not have possibly come at a better time for the team and will help us immensely in the home stretch of the project and in the short term ambitions that are necessary.

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Scene II: Kiosk or Bust!

Backstory:

Before arriving in Langrug on Tuesday, the team visited a vendor supplier store to purchase items to stock the kiosk. Our team was able to gather most of the necessary goods, but some were not available. After the goods and materials were acquired, the team gathered with the co-researcher team to prepare the kiosk for operation! The following scene describes the exciting day where the kiosk finally became a reality for our team.

Cast of Characters:

WPI WaSH-UP Business Operations team, WPI WaSH-UP Services team, Sizwe Mxobo, Sidiniwe Savings Group

Setting:

Langrug Informal Settlement; Mandela Park WaSH-UP facility

Scene:

On this Tuesday morning the team awoke ready for action! Both WaSH teams boarded the bus bright and early and headed to a local vendor supply store called Pronto. A few team members quickly went into the store escorted by Sizwe to purchase the top items on our kiosk items list. Luckily, many items were available and at a very low cost.

With our almost complete stock of items to sell, the team arrived in Langrug to find the co-researcher team ready to work. The team made one long trip to a neighboring town, Paarl, to finalize purchases for the kiosk. Once back in the facility, the team was on a mission: get this kiosk up and running! Despite the fact that this was a brutally hot day in the community, all hands were on deck and every team member gave their full effort to help finalize the details for the Kiosk.

Stephanie and Reed made the final modifications to the caretaker office to provide for a fully functional kiosk space. The two worked hard to erect all of the shelving units that would be used to display the goods. While the construction was being completed, Nicole, Kostas and the co-researcher team worked diligently to crunch some numbers and decide upon pricing of items for the kiosk. It was great to see how invested in the kiosk the women were and even more so, how knowledgeable they were about salesmanship! All of the ladies worked together to go through the items one by one, looking at the cost of the item and then deciding upon what price per individual item would be reasonable as well as generate a profit. Within no time, the group had devised a nicely written list of items and prices to be displayed outside the kiosk.

As soon as the pricing was completed, the shelves were up and ready to be stocked! The team quickly displayed the items and cleaned out the kiosk so it was in condition to operate. Finally, the kiosk was complete! The day ended with the team handing over the cash box for the kiosk to the caretaker responsible for overseeing the kiosk money and training another co-researcher on how to take inventory during the trial run of the kiosk. When the WPI team left the WaSH facility on this day it was a completely changed place. The walls were colorful, children were enjoying interactive and educational games, a kiosk was fully operational and the women were getting along and happy to be with one another. It was certainly hard to leave this day! But the team left with a sense of pride and hope that the few short weeks to come would be nothing short of spectacular.

Reflection and Learning:

This day marked a huge milestone for the WaSH facility, where both the kiosk and WaSH-UP Services’ aftercare programme became operational. As a team, we couldn’t help but feel a great deal of pride for all the work we have been able to accomplish since first arriving in Langrug. The kiosk also served as a very tangible product that the community members could get excited about, and it was evident that they were thrilled with the progress. All the work we have done is finally starting to show, and the spirits of everyone involved are at an all time high.

Above all, we couldn’t be more excited to see where the kiosk can take the community. We are hopeful that this small business will take off, and result in a significant amount of support for the WaSH facility, both in monetary gain and increased foot traffic to the facility itself. We are nervous to see how the community members will handle the responsibility of the kiosk, but we have the upmost faith that they will do a great job! We are confident that we are leaving the facility in the right hands, and we are looking forward to seeing how the trial run went when we go back to Langrug on Monday!