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So I did an audit a couple of weeks ago to see how many hours I spent at work. It turned out that I worked 6 days and put in a little over 64 hours!  I always tell y’all that I’m working harder here than I’ve ever worked before.  But I’m also more proud of the fruits of my labors than ever before.

One example is a young lady by the name of Miriam from Kenya. Miriam was in my second-year Leadership & Entrepreneurship class last year. She was a quiet but very thoughtful learner. Together with her partner in crime Caroline they worked that year on a culminating project, which for them was running a social venture aimed at transforming the educational opportunities open to South African children.  Every week they served at a local informal settlement area called Refilwe and worked to augment the learning curriculum with a special after-school program they had created.  Miriam as part of  my class had to craft mission & vision, design and implement a strategy and SMART goals, as well as manage a team of 4-6 first-year students every week.

Well Miriam ended up taking a gap year after she graduated from African Leadership Academy, and here’s what she’s doing with the skills she developed and practiced with us… she’s selling toilets in the slums of Mukuru, Kenya. So very proud of you Miriam!

Miriam Atuya has pioneered much of our Fresh Life Toilet sales process. As we approach selection of the first Fresh Life Operators, Miriam reflects on the the relationships she has built with local entrepreneurs – and the inspiration that they have given her.

As we have introduced the Fresh Life Toilet into the slums, the Sanergy sales team has met all of the challenges of culture, competition, and personal preference that typically accompany a new product launch. To respond to these potential obstacles, we had to understand the community that we were entering. To learn the area’s norms, we met with many community-based organizations and their prominent local leaders. To learn how the existing successful businesses acquired their market share, we spent countless hours with companies like M-PESA and Coca-Cola and with their local franchisees and vendors.