Its the 28th of July in Punta Arenas, Chile. The worst month of the winter is over, and lets get spring on! Well, we have to wait a little bit longer, but the days are definitely getting longer. Its been cold but sunny. I feel very very sorry for those Europeans which are living through the wettest summer in recent history. But Ive been told its not cold....
So what up?! You may ask yourself, (or not). What has ig been up to? I haven't heard from him for ages. Well lets start by saying that i have added some new pics to my website, (through the link). Work has been good. I got paid this week which was a plus and Sheila Saraiva arrived to volunteer with us for 2 months.
Sheila is from Sao Paolo, Brazil, and is freezing her $%& off, but she has a lot of knowledge about CSR and is very interested in product development. She thought our business plan was good. So i like her!
Carine is off to Peru, although today she is in Chile still. I do wonder whether that bus strike is still on in Peru......Well I'm sure she knows.
Since the last post the work for SERCOTEC hasn't really advance. This has not been my decision but a combination of factors which lead to things going slow. This week coming should see this change. There have also been some very interesting new licitations.
I suppose the one i have spent the most time on has been one for CORFO. They are licitating a research project with the aim of creating a base line for a new public - private agency that is being set up. This agency should act as a coordinating body between the different government tools for productive growth and focus them towards priority areas. It is these priority areas that the study we are applying for should establish. Obviously we are not doing this on our own. this is being done with a partner, and we created a little working team. The study should take 4.5 months.
Some other projects are also being licitated which we are considering. This includes one other for SERCOTEC, and another which is a study for the SAG about the economic feasibility of the erradication of the beaver. Pretty interesting hey?! The government seems to have a lot of cash lately!
There are some other as well, but i wont talk about them just yet.
We should know by next week if we got it. What i will talk about is the application Marieke and I are preparing for Impulsis. I really hope this one goes through. This application is almost finished although the budget section still has to be developed fully. I hope to send this off soon. FYI - it is focused on Puerto Williams, and would allow us to further develop the concept of the facilitating ME.
Hey! I'm getting myself a webcam next week, so lets meet up and look at each other on skype...just a reminder my sign in name is blanco.ignacio
Well for now that's it! I was wondering about Bart....where are you Bart!?
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Roller coaster
A roller coaster week like none other. Establishing an NGO is not easy, and this week has shown that. Damn is it frustrating. Its not that things have gone bad, its just slow.....
After the initial furor about the first sponsored position in PW, it has become clear that the funding body, CORFO, has decided to delay their decision about Lakutaia another month. Its just typical really. Hey........why don't we keep a bunch of people hanging on by a thread for another month! We are still fairly optimistic that this fund will be awarded, but its just that the certainty is not there yet. I have seen Randy Twyman loads this week. He is the new manager of Lakutaia whom informed me about this.
I participated in the "Jornadas de Analisis Turistica" organized by SERNATUR and Corfo-Pti. They were taken forward during this week at a really nice venue just outside Punta Arenas. Loads of people where there like, Randy Twyman, the governor of Antarctica Chilena, Fernando Paredes, all the ministerial representatives, people from CORFO and SERNATUR....well, just about everyone. It was more informative than really interactive. But it was good to meet people and see what progress is being made in tourism on a regional level.
Whats clear, is that its really on peoples minds. Whether this effort is all coordinated or not....well that's not so clear to me.
I asked about the issue of connectivity between PW and Ushuaia and got the answer from the minister of public works and the governor, that for this season coming up things should be sorted out. I don't believe them.....but i also discussed this issue with AustroChile and well, there should be some political clout from this sector.
At the sane time i finally finished and presented the project i developed on Beagle Channel development. This was presented to SERNATUR and its main objective is to create a common tourism product between PW and Ushuaia. The director likes it, and mentioned it during the meetings!
An answer from Cerro Castillo is still pending on whether we can take forward the necessary work to develop a tourism development strategy. We presented our idea about two weeks ago.
I have also been working on a funding application. Marieke identified this fund last week and mentioned it to us. Its called Impulsis and its from NL. Initially it seems like a good opportunity as the themes are relevant and NL also likes it! So great!
Also this week we realized that it will not be possible to re start our activities in PW or PN by September or October. There has been an incredible low amount of applications for this period. So basically we have decided that it is more feasible for January. We have to discuss this today. But i have to say that although PN seemed to offer a great amount of opportunities in terms of sponsorships for students,......i did not get that feeling when i talked to the stakeholders from there...and there has not been real progress in this theme for PN........
Anyway, we got some ideas on the go with CORFO, and lets see what this week brings us. OH! And i forgot to say that we finished the first stage of the SERCOTEC evaluation. I did the presentation of the results and it was all quite interesting. We also applied for the evaluation for a further 41 Business plans focused on tourism only. We Won but its not much money. Man.......its peanuts...almost......ok, pistacchio nuts......
Also we are applying for another job for SERCOTEC....(we are on a roll), that's for facilitating 10 ME in the implementation of their business plans. This would be for 6 months and would be more money but we have to win the licitation still. But its right up our street! They are ME owned by indigenous people and the winners of a Capital Semilla competition focused on this theme.
Ok that's it for now.......Cheers
After the initial furor about the first sponsored position in PW, it has become clear that the funding body, CORFO, has decided to delay their decision about Lakutaia another month. Its just typical really. Hey........why don't we keep a bunch of people hanging on by a thread for another month! We are still fairly optimistic that this fund will be awarded, but its just that the certainty is not there yet. I have seen Randy Twyman loads this week. He is the new manager of Lakutaia whom informed me about this.
I participated in the "Jornadas de Analisis Turistica" organized by SERNATUR and Corfo-Pti. They were taken forward during this week at a really nice venue just outside Punta Arenas. Loads of people where there like, Randy Twyman, the governor of Antarctica Chilena, Fernando Paredes, all the ministerial representatives, people from CORFO and SERNATUR....well, just about everyone. It was more informative than really interactive. But it was good to meet people and see what progress is being made in tourism on a regional level.
Whats clear, is that its really on peoples minds. Whether this effort is all coordinated or not....well that's not so clear to me.
I asked about the issue of connectivity between PW and Ushuaia and got the answer from the minister of public works and the governor, that for this season coming up things should be sorted out. I don't believe them.....but i also discussed this issue with AustroChile and well, there should be some political clout from this sector.
At the sane time i finally finished and presented the project i developed on Beagle Channel development. This was presented to SERNATUR and its main objective is to create a common tourism product between PW and Ushuaia. The director likes it, and mentioned it during the meetings!
An answer from Cerro Castillo is still pending on whether we can take forward the necessary work to develop a tourism development strategy. We presented our idea about two weeks ago.
I have also been working on a funding application. Marieke identified this fund last week and mentioned it to us. Its called Impulsis and its from NL. Initially it seems like a good opportunity as the themes are relevant and NL also likes it! So great!
Also this week we realized that it will not be possible to re start our activities in PW or PN by September or October. There has been an incredible low amount of applications for this period. So basically we have decided that it is more feasible for January. We have to discuss this today. But i have to say that although PN seemed to offer a great amount of opportunities in terms of sponsorships for students,......i did not get that feeling when i talked to the stakeholders from there...and there has not been real progress in this theme for PN........
Anyway, we got some ideas on the go with CORFO, and lets see what this week brings us. OH! And i forgot to say that we finished the first stage of the SERCOTEC evaluation. I did the presentation of the results and it was all quite interesting. We also applied for the evaluation for a further 41 Business plans focused on tourism only. We Won but its not much money. Man.......its peanuts...almost......ok, pistacchio nuts......
Also we are applying for another job for SERCOTEC....(we are on a roll), that's for facilitating 10 ME in the implementation of their business plans. This would be for 6 months and would be more money but we have to win the licitation still. But its right up our street! They are ME owned by indigenous people and the winners of a Capital Semilla competition focused on this theme.
Ok that's it for now.......Cheers
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Step 1
What a week, what a week. All sorts of progress has been made. Well, they are small steps, but i think they are good ones. Ill start with the progress, and then with the reality check......i hate reality checks!
Anyway, so what i forgot to say in my last post is that i also completed a course in business plan development taken forward by CORFO. It was simple, but really good. I learned some basics on project design, how to make cashflows and balance sheets. The latter i have already applied to some things and hey i got a 6.5/7 for the course....pretty good hey!
I had two meetings with Lakutaia this week and they agreed to sponsor a student in PW! This is really great news and the position that is related to this is very interesting indeed. As i think i have mentioned Lakutaia is implementing a program aim at fortifying local producers and service providers in a bid to strengthen its supply chain, and create opportunities for local industry. This is a 3 year program funded by.....CORFO.....and they are really enthusiastic about it. Lakutaia has new management by the way, Paulina and her husband have left and the new manager is a young guy from Santiago. Really accessible and enthusiastic. Also, the directors of Lakutaia have changed and it is no longer J. Vasquez. Now it is the owners of DAP. Also a very nice guy.
I had actually applied for two sponsored positions, but as it is one company, they said they would sponsor one volunteer, and then offered discounts or some, (to be determined), amount of free flights to PW. So great!
Also spoke to Jacqueline whom is a young professional that has applied for the ME position in PW, and she decided that she would like to take forward the volunteer position with Lakutaia. So there are a few details to work out, but it seems that things are going ahead.
So, this is the first of 5 we need in terms of sponsored positions. In Natales things should work out. Christian has asked for 4 volunteers. Not all at the same time, but first two and then their follow ups. Marnix was in Natales, and he has some possibilities with Mr Gomez of waste management, Chile Emprende and Alfonso Lopez. Lets see what this week brings.
Apart from that I talked to Pesquera Productos Marinos/Torres del Paine/Whiteland and they said no to sponsoring a student. Apparently the fishery sector is really doing badly this year. This is due to various reasons which include an appreciating Chilean Peso. So basically he would like to...but cant now....also CONCAR has actually closed their plant in PW.
Carine has also been busy. One of the initial applicants for the coordinator position distributed some positions in her network of contacts. This was the Brazilian girl. Sheila. And we received about 30 applications from Brazil in one day! Carine is filtering them now, as the conditions may not be so clear to all of them.
Also in terms of creating the foundation, basically we have our signers and are close to continuing the process.
Now for the reality check! During our Friday afternoon meeting in the Cabo de Hornos we realized we have loads to do still, and very little time. Our first volunteer is arriving the 5th of September.....so you do the math! We can do it...but the next two/three weeks are critical i think....So fingers crossed all goes well!
Besides that we made some project proposals in tourism development for SERNATUR and Cerro Castillo, both on demand....ill keep you informed.
Ah yes, i added some pics......and im on skype...my username is blanco ignacio, (i think)
Anyway, so what i forgot to say in my last post is that i also completed a course in business plan development taken forward by CORFO. It was simple, but really good. I learned some basics on project design, how to make cashflows and balance sheets. The latter i have already applied to some things and hey i got a 6.5/7 for the course....pretty good hey!
I had two meetings with Lakutaia this week and they agreed to sponsor a student in PW! This is really great news and the position that is related to this is very interesting indeed. As i think i have mentioned Lakutaia is implementing a program aim at fortifying local producers and service providers in a bid to strengthen its supply chain, and create opportunities for local industry. This is a 3 year program funded by.....CORFO.....and they are really enthusiastic about it. Lakutaia has new management by the way, Paulina and her husband have left and the new manager is a young guy from Santiago. Really accessible and enthusiastic. Also, the directors of Lakutaia have changed and it is no longer J. Vasquez. Now it is the owners of DAP. Also a very nice guy.
I had actually applied for two sponsored positions, but as it is one company, they said they would sponsor one volunteer, and then offered discounts or some, (to be determined), amount of free flights to PW. So great!
Also spoke to Jacqueline whom is a young professional that has applied for the ME position in PW, and she decided that she would like to take forward the volunteer position with Lakutaia. So there are a few details to work out, but it seems that things are going ahead.
So, this is the first of 5 we need in terms of sponsored positions. In Natales things should work out. Christian has asked for 4 volunteers. Not all at the same time, but first two and then their follow ups. Marnix was in Natales, and he has some possibilities with Mr Gomez of waste management, Chile Emprende and Alfonso Lopez. Lets see what this week brings.
Apart from that I talked to Pesquera Productos Marinos/Torres del Paine/Whiteland and they said no to sponsoring a student. Apparently the fishery sector is really doing badly this year. This is due to various reasons which include an appreciating Chilean Peso. So basically he would like to...but cant now....also CONCAR has actually closed their plant in PW.
Carine has also been busy. One of the initial applicants for the coordinator position distributed some positions in her network of contacts. This was the Brazilian girl. Sheila. And we received about 30 applications from Brazil in one day! Carine is filtering them now, as the conditions may not be so clear to all of them.
Also in terms of creating the foundation, basically we have our signers and are close to continuing the process.
Now for the reality check! During our Friday afternoon meeting in the Cabo de Hornos we realized we have loads to do still, and very little time. Our first volunteer is arriving the 5th of September.....so you do the math! We can do it...but the next two/three weeks are critical i think....So fingers crossed all goes well!
Besides that we made some project proposals in tourism development for SERNATUR and Cerro Castillo, both on demand....ill keep you informed.
Ah yes, i added some pics......and im on skype...my username is blanco ignacio, (i think)
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