Life vs. Break Even

On Friday I made another visit to a small business that sells a strange combination of goods.  This company sells beer and concrete.  But I guess it’s not that strange since I don’t know too many guys in construction that don’t like beer.  Fila, the consultant that I went to Soyo with, set up the business visit and asked me to come along.  After some searching, we found the business on a dirt road about 30 minutes from the office (meaning about a quarter a mile away – seriously).

The business is located on the second floor of a less than stellar looking building.  However, as with many buildings in Luanda, the inside looked much better than the outside.  As we walked in, a sweet lady named Adriana greeted us with smiles and handshakes.  She runs the business.  Her son, Jose also gave us a warm welcome.  We sat right down at a little table in the corner.  I took out my notebook and prepared to listen to Fila give his talk about CAE and what we have to offer.  Well, it didn’t exactly go down like that.  Fila calmly explained that I would be asking them questions to learn about their business and figuring out ways that we could help.  Fila stopped speaking and turned towards me.  Adriana and Jose turned towards me.  I wondered why Fila hadn’t mentioned the plan to me earlier.  I asked my first question.  Adriana looked at me funny.  So I asked it again with less of a southern accent and more of a Portuguese one.  She answered.  Then I was off to the races.  Well, it was a really slow race with many stops for directions, some side cramps, and walking breaks. But I finished, nonetheless.  On a side note, before I got here I wasn’t big on hand gestures, but I have since become a big fan.

It turned out that Adriana and Jose were huge fans of CAE.  Adriana beamed as she pulled out 5 certificates that she had received for completing CAE training courses.  It was great to get out and see how CAE is impacting local businesses.  When I’m in the office all day working on creating new processes and writing “memorandums of agreement” the end goal can become a little fuzzy.  Business visits like this one make it much clearer.  Adriana and Jose were grateful just to have Fila and I come to their office.  

In a way, days like Friday make me wonder if I’m really doing enough.  Small business people here, in Nicaragua, and Benin have taught me about persevering, maintaining a positive attitude, and being successful when faced with years of war, oppression, government corruption, and other challenges I can’t even imagine.  On the other hand, I teach them how to do a break-even calculation.  It’s not tough to see who’s getting the better deal.

Below Alex (far right), Fila (2^nd from right), and I (taking the picture) work with a small business in Soyo.