Its been quite fun the last couple of weeks. What can i say, i came back from my holiday with a fresh attitude, and quite a few new opportunities waiting for me. After a while of not recieving anyone here in the southermost tip of south america, sharon arrived to support the process of organizational development. This has been great, after months of not really progressing i can firmly say that some important steps have been taken. Thanks sharon!
After a few weeks of making modifications and chasing the lawyer, our legal papers were finally sent to Santiago last friday, the 25th of april. This is an important step. Since then i have been calling the Ministry of Justice to see whether they have actually been handed in....which would be the next step, but alas, up to now they have not been. Looks like another round of chasing the lawyer.
On a conceptual level, sharon has been working hard to get a strategy on paper. We have worked on this together, and at the moment we have decided that it may be a good point to start taking to people and get further local input. As such, we presented Sustento to it members so as to give them an idea of what the main idea is. The recpection was positive and the presentation fruitful!
First step would be to make a website! We bought the domain name, but couldnt get sustento.org, because a pesky domian buying company has already registered it and wants a load of money for it! Maybe we can convince them its for a good cuase........But well, that hasnt stopped us asking a graphic designer to have a look at our logo. I like it as it is, but a lot of people have said that maybe some small modification could make it jump out a little more!
With all of this, that we hope ot have finished in about a months time, we well also have a content management system for free and obviously new email addresses! Ill keep you informed.
Sharon has been busy meeting people, and scouring the internet!
On the personal front, i have continued working for SERCOTEC and with my group of micro entrepreneurs which are now 6 months into their proyects. Some have advanced really well, and are already comercializing their new products and services. Others less so, but i am pleased, and so are they! There have been some administrative issues to solve, but i feel that that is well on its way now to getting solved. The same goes for the Sendero de Chile project. Mainly, it has been limited to concepual development and making example business plans for hypothetical activities which could be taken forward on the trail! This project should be ending soon, as the main activities have already been done. Whats left is not easy though, a validation workshop with all the stakeholders!
Just yesterday the president of chile, Michelle Bachelet, visited Magallanes for the 4th time this year. This time she came to sign the oil & gas exploration contracts with a variety of companies. This sets an intersting stage for future work. Their arrival to the region is being talked about more and more. Just last week i was part of a team that was going to facilitate a scouting visit for the company Total Energy of France. After all sorts of non starters, a last minute decision was taken by them not come to the region.
Last week i was also offered a new job. I havent signed anything yet, but it is quite a step up from what ive been doing. I mean, its still in the field of micro enterprise development but for CORFO. The consulting company that offered me the job has had loads of experience and does give some good opportunities for personal growth as they have done many projects in this field. Its a full time job and i get to work with Jose Luis Oyarzun, (for those people that remember him)!
I have also been in contact with Enviu, and in particular with Marieke. Hello! There are some interesting ideas coming and going!
Finally, i would like to update all of you lovely volunteers that stayed with us here in Chile with some general information! For a start i was in natales last week. Casa Anita, (for those that stayed there), has been completley gutted! Im not sure what their plans are but they have moved to the ex Enviu office in Blanco Encalada. Patty is always asking about all of you and in particular about "el italiano, Marie and Pepe". Randy has decided to leave Lakutaia, which is a bummer as i think he is full of positive energy and good ideas. I have seen christian morales quite a lot and he is closing up torres for the season. Hey! I heard Joanna might come back! Could it be true......
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
News!
Once again i have reached the end of my holiday. Its been good and i think that when i get back to Punta Arenas there will be a lot of work to do. While i was away i was offered participation in two separate licitations. I sent my cv, but have not heard anything since....ill see soon enough. I still have loads of other things to do anyway.
So what did i do on holiday, well, i was in Buenos Aires and i went to salta. Both where really great. I'm on my way back down south now. Visiting argentina is always great. I love it to bits, but you do have to be prepared to confront strange situations. Buenos Aires is changing. Although i didn't feel the insecurity personally, on the news you hear about all sorts of crimes that are going on, and not even so far from you.
Inflation is up. Prices of products rise on an almost daily basis. Some more than others. If you have foreign currency obviously your safe, but remember the dollar is also devaluating! Besides this the supermarkets have less products on their shelves as producing companies start speculating about the price rises. This really sucks, as it puts even more pressure on prices. I just hope things will be sorted out......
Salta was relaxing as usual. It rained quite a lot. Well, actually i have to say it has rained loads this summer. Apparently more than other years. I feel sorry for my sister that came for only 2 weeks to argentina, and in salta it rained for about 3, out of the 4, days she stayed. Then when she got to Bs As, there was a huge storm and the city flooded!
Well, i still got in the pool, and still loved it! When i was in salta i visited Fundacion Impulsar. I have visited them before but in Bs As. I wanted to see what there projects where like, so one day i went with the director of the salta office to a presentation she was doing to invite entrepreneurs to participate in their program.
The meeting was attended by about 35 people, and was pretty successful. Comparing their system, to the system used by SERCOTEC, it is much more relaxed. Its different though, Although there is an evaluation process of the presented business ideas, the main indicator they use to allocate funds is whether the entrepreneur has experience in what he, or she, is proposing. The chosen entrepreneur has to attend a course to develop the business plan. The most motivated entrepreneurs finish the process and start their project. those who don't, don't get funding......After that they get a monthly guidance for 3 years.
Similar to SERCOTEC, but sometimes no the best projects get funding, because in the end, it is a government tool, and must reflect government policy in certain areas such as gender issues, and age.
Very good!
In Bs As i met up with three very interesting people. One has made a very popular CSR Blog in Argentina and has found the way to make it economically sustainable through doing training courses. I also visited Siemens, (the company), to see what kind of CSR they were doing, and why. I also met up with Matias Rosenberg. I suppose you could call him a Social entrepreneur whom has a great idea and wanted to meet up and talk about it.
Well, very interesting all of it. Now back to Punta Arenas, and see whether things can get started again. Sharon is already there!
So what did i do on holiday, well, i was in Buenos Aires and i went to salta. Both where really great. I'm on my way back down south now. Visiting argentina is always great. I love it to bits, but you do have to be prepared to confront strange situations. Buenos Aires is changing. Although i didn't feel the insecurity personally, on the news you hear about all sorts of crimes that are going on, and not even so far from you.
Inflation is up. Prices of products rise on an almost daily basis. Some more than others. If you have foreign currency obviously your safe, but remember the dollar is also devaluating! Besides this the supermarkets have less products on their shelves as producing companies start speculating about the price rises. This really sucks, as it puts even more pressure on prices. I just hope things will be sorted out......
Salta was relaxing as usual. It rained quite a lot. Well, actually i have to say it has rained loads this summer. Apparently more than other years. I feel sorry for my sister that came for only 2 weeks to argentina, and in salta it rained for about 3, out of the 4, days she stayed. Then when she got to Bs As, there was a huge storm and the city flooded!
Well, i still got in the pool, and still loved it! When i was in salta i visited Fundacion Impulsar. I have visited them before but in Bs As. I wanted to see what there projects where like, so one day i went with the director of the salta office to a presentation she was doing to invite entrepreneurs to participate in their program.
The meeting was attended by about 35 people, and was pretty successful. Comparing their system, to the system used by SERCOTEC, it is much more relaxed. Its different though, Although there is an evaluation process of the presented business ideas, the main indicator they use to allocate funds is whether the entrepreneur has experience in what he, or she, is proposing. The chosen entrepreneur has to attend a course to develop the business plan. The most motivated entrepreneurs finish the process and start their project. those who don't, don't get funding......After that they get a monthly guidance for 3 years.
Similar to SERCOTEC, but sometimes no the best projects get funding, because in the end, it is a government tool, and must reflect government policy in certain areas such as gender issues, and age.
Very good!
In Bs As i met up with three very interesting people. One has made a very popular CSR Blog in Argentina and has found the way to make it economically sustainable through doing training courses. I also visited Siemens, (the company), to see what kind of CSR they were doing, and why. I also met up with Matias Rosenberg. I suppose you could call him a Social entrepreneur whom has a great idea and wanted to meet up and talk about it.
Well, very interesting all of it. Now back to Punta Arenas, and see whether things can get started again. Sharon is already there!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The silver lining
So, i never knew there was order in chaos. I thought it may be a good idea to go off on holiday during february and march. Its been a year after all. According to the planification this wouldnt be possible, due to my contractual obligations of the work i am doing. However, due to x, y and z reasons its seems that i can take a whole month! Yipee! Im off. Indeed i am. The 15th im going to Buenos Aires and then the 21st to Salta. Laze around the pool and take in some sun....lovely....i cant wait!
So, i have a week left, and lately i have been back on the questionnaires. Mainly at the airport and with tourists. This is for the Sendero de Chile project. The idea is to estimate the potential demand for the trail. I have done 46 questionnaires, and i still have 4 more to do.....initial results indicate that about 60% have never heard of Sendero de Chile, and 99% have never heard of the existing sections in the 12th region. Oh, and i had to go to the airport because in Punta Arenas itself everyone ignored me when asked if i could do a questionnaires with them.....you guys wouldnt do that? Would you?
Well, so there is that. The follow up with the entrepreneurs is going well. At the moment i am between contracts. You see, my initial contract was for 3 months. This job was given to me directly. But the consultant that was to take forward the following 4 months, had to be decided by public tender. So i prepared my proposal......and won! It was difficult i have to say, it was the first public tender of the year and about 8 other people and consulting companies from Santiago applied!
A new volunteer will be arriving soon. Her name is Sharon Hesp and she will be helping me out on strategic development. I think its pretty cool, and shes willing to stay for a long time! Lets hope she doesnt change her mind when we get into the lovely patagonian winter! She should be here the 9th of march.
The new name of the organization is Sustento - Corporacion de Emprendedores Sustentables.....tell me what you think, but keep your criticism to yourselves....hahahha, its too late to change it now....but yeah, thats the new name and i hope you like it. The new logo is also pretty cool. Ill see if i can post it.....So thats what well be working on. I just hope it all works out.
To this end i am also looking for new members of the corporation and i have actually found some interesting ones. Pati is included! So now she really will be our mother.......
Alright im off to Isla Riesco for a BBQ!
So, i have a week left, and lately i have been back on the questionnaires. Mainly at the airport and with tourists. This is for the Sendero de Chile project. The idea is to estimate the potential demand for the trail. I have done 46 questionnaires, and i still have 4 more to do.....initial results indicate that about 60% have never heard of Sendero de Chile, and 99% have never heard of the existing sections in the 12th region. Oh, and i had to go to the airport because in Punta Arenas itself everyone ignored me when asked if i could do a questionnaires with them.....you guys wouldnt do that? Would you?
Well, so there is that. The follow up with the entrepreneurs is going well. At the moment i am between contracts. You see, my initial contract was for 3 months. This job was given to me directly. But the consultant that was to take forward the following 4 months, had to be decided by public tender. So i prepared my proposal......and won! It was difficult i have to say, it was the first public tender of the year and about 8 other people and consulting companies from Santiago applied!
A new volunteer will be arriving soon. Her name is Sharon Hesp and she will be helping me out on strategic development. I think its pretty cool, and shes willing to stay for a long time! Lets hope she doesnt change her mind when we get into the lovely patagonian winter! She should be here the 9th of march.
The new name of the organization is Sustento - Corporacion de Emprendedores Sustentables.....tell me what you think, but keep your criticism to yourselves....hahahha, its too late to change it now....but yeah, thats the new name and i hope you like it. The new logo is also pretty cool. Ill see if i can post it.....So thats what well be working on. I just hope it all works out.
To this end i am also looking for new members of the corporation and i have actually found some interesting ones. Pati is included! So now she really will be our mother.......
Alright im off to Isla Riesco for a BBQ!
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