Friday, August 14, 2009

Partnership & Alliance ... ssssswwweeeet!!!


Heya!
Yea, thanks ... I'm good! And yourself? Great!

Laugh ... stuff that!

I am not as happy as i want to be ... things are picking up very quickly, and I oughta be happy, but one thing bugs me slightly right now ... and that is permanent office location.

So many people will like to meet with us, or just pass through un-announced, so they can ascertain that we are genuine ... but snag! No office. Yes, yes ... we had to register an office during the registration process, but at the time I was sharing my father's office - at Kokomlemle ... but with the kind of growth we are going through right now ... we have to get our own place ASAP!

But its a vicious cycle ... no money to rent an office, and without an office, few people will work with us now, and without the work, no money .... aaaand back to square one again! Go figure.

Now the GOOD NEWS!

So I went to El-Wak and Lincoln Community School, right? And i had a good look about those 2 locations, and finally decided to place my best efforts into LCS... thats Lincoln.

Thing is, they already have a community with the right mindset to propel this Green theme forward, they have a huge field that can comfortably host the 10,000 people we expect to attend the fundraiser event in October, and a swimming pool, and performing theatre to boot.
Now, I'm not saying they have confirmed the dates or confirmed usage of all these ... but i am a firm believer in negotiation and making offers that people can't refuse ... and I believe we can come to a very pleasant mutual agreement with LCS on hosting this event on their premises and utilising thier sports faciliies, as well as promoting the initiative through their staff and students and parents ... after all, i did tell them ... "Renting the field & Alliance possibilities".

So, most likely confirmation will be in 2 weeks, after the school has re-opened, and the school calender confirmed by the Superintendent and Principals of the school.

To be fair, they have been very supportive of such initiatives before, and their staff are well-trained and hospitable ... if anyone will partner us closely on this, I feel they should have the first go.

After this, we had another booster. One of our advisors, John Aqua (not his real name, but due to sensitive politics, he prefers to use this misnomer) connected us to his colleague Dutch country rep here in Ghana, with a very prestigious Dutch company which deals with Environmental Issues - water, engineering, consultancy, and investment ... in all its broad themes. We were slighlt hesitant at first about the positive effect of it, since most people write us of because of our youth.

We went to the meeting, Mercy and I, intent on learning everything from JK (as we will call him) ... even if he felt we were his latest amusement!
Thankfully, he took it all very seriously, even more so when he realised that we DID know our stuff! Hell, if we didnt! Sinking our own funds into something we don't know jack about? Not likely! lol

So we had an hour-and half meet of intensive information sharing, and in the end, not only did we acquire a pledge for expert advise, assistance to design a Plastic Waste Recycler, some man-hours from the company in our future projects, training of our staff, and support .... but JK also scheduled a trip to Komenda in Elmina, Central Region of Ghana ... where he and a partner company had set up a Plastic Waste Recycler. Further trips with him also included going to the Kwabenya lanfill, Waste Management offices, and any other crucial project he could sign us on to.

We were ecstatic that he could assist us design a Plastic WR, because it is our latest assignment ... we need to know what design to go in for, so that we can acquire the cost estimates for it ... BEFORE we would be able to set a clear target for the year on how much fund we aim to raise for it. Also needed to know all this before we could visit the local chief to grant us land on the outskirts of Accra for the location of the PWR, and the extra funds needed to build a structure to house the plant.

It was beautiful, seeing this phase also fall into place. He informed us on with Dutch cities had 'twinned' with which Ghanaian cities, in terms of funding and development, and how we could talk to those cities for assistance ...!!!!!

I am happy about things on so far ...

I don't know if i told you that on 10th or 17th October, this year, we will hold a walkathon-marathon-funfair at the LCS to raise $ 150,000 USD as part of the funds needed to set up the Plastic WR, its housing, as well as an administrative budget for Energy Solutions. I didnt? Oh well, in the next post, I should have acquired more confirmation and partners, and i can ttell you more about it.

Basically, we are bringing in solar lamps, lanterns, and mini-gadgets, and selling alongside the walk-funfair, and in alliance with Trashy Bags and co. We want to encourage the banks to give more solar loans, and Ghanaians to invest in solar gadgets or systems one step at a time ... and also raise funds for the PWR alongside.

Its a big affair of race competitions, marathons, swimming competitions, famous musicians performing to raise more money, and food and drink stands, people selling stuff, and all the fun possible! Of course, every part of it will be saturated with Sustainable Energy tit-bits .... !

I'll tell you all about it in a few days! Till then, keep supporting us, keep telling your friends about us ... we need funding, support, counsel ... everything!

Love!

4 comments:

  1. Sounds great. Will spread the word:)

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  2. And ESF will be indebted to you forever! Thanks, Miss Maxy!

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  3. Ms. Golda - I have a question....Did you ever work at LCS? And your dad too? If you did, I am really excited to discover your blog!!! If you're not the one, I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm still super excited about your blog!!!

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  4. Aa, Bubu ... no to the question.

    My relationship with LCS is one in which i formerly attended programs and fairs on their premises, then got to like them a lot (due to their way of handling events and people).

    I'm excited that you're excited about my blog!! Thanks you.

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