With Hassan at home celebrating the holiday and most of the market closed for the day, the team took the opportunity to debrief at the World Hope office and work through some logistical details related to the venture. Most importantly, of course, we had some team laughs while playing a new card game that our teammate and Housing Czar Sage taught us: it’s a combo of Crazy Eights and Uno, and it involves giving each other dares whenever a Joker card is played. For example, Cassidy had to stand up every time her name was said, and Naakesh has to read and comment on a 23-page business paper that Sage wrote months ago! Ha!
OK, but down to business. The team accomplished several vital tasks today, the first of which included figuring out the details of Hassan’s employee contract and analyzing our team budget for the next 12 months or so. We ran through these numbers with Khanjan, and after some helpful suggestions, we are on the right track! The meeting was a huge win for the team AND the environment, as Khanjan even agreed to provide Ukweli Health Workers with boxes to collect the used test strips! Who would’ve thought!? But in all seriousness, we preliminarily approved Hassan’s commission-based salary and the various items needed to conduct proper trainings for UHWs, which was one of our big goals heading into Sierra Leone so that we can leave the country with all the financial-based details in place.
Zach and Naakesh worked on the accountability files (whatever that means) for the venture, while Cassidy and I laid out the spreadsheets Hassan will need for his two bound ledger notebooks. One of these notebooks will be for Hassan’s job tracking information, including the amount of fuel used each month and the phone credit he used each month. The other notebook, however, will be for Hassan to track information including the number of test strip boxes sold and the number of positive and negative screenings found at PHUs and other health facilities. The team plans on buying supplies like these notebooks and clean cups for the urine on Tuesday when the market reopens after the holiday.
On an unrelated note in terms of Ukweli, but a very related point in terms of cultural immersion and personal development, the team had a very exciting day interacting with some local Makeni children. Much to our surprise (and pleasure!) several local children came into our conference room and hung out with us for the day. They thoroughly enjoyed my hair and Rohan’s card magic tricks. Cassidy and I also had a fun time playing frisbee with two of the children, and we all found out we were actually better at forehand throws than we had anticipated!
Sage and Children
Stay tuned tomorrow for more wins and progress as Ukweli lurches forward!