OK – Comic interlude for the week:    Anyone remember the movie, Five Easy Pieces?  There’s a scene in it where the star tough guy goes into a diner and asks for an order of plain toast…the waitress (they were called that in the ‘old days’) just couldn’t get her head around the idea, saying they didn’t HAVE plain toast…they had sandwiches made with bread – but NO plain toast.  Finally in total exasperation the guy says something like: “OK, bring me a tuna sandwich – but hold the tuna, the mayo, the lettuce…”  I had one of those experiences today in a coffee shop at the Arcades Mall in downtown Lusaka – a really cute place called Mint.  This is about as close as you can get to a Starbucks combined with Panera – in décor of stripes and lime green.

After Lynn ordered a mocha latte, I opted for a simple iced coffee which apparently is served with milk in it, no sugar – as is.  It came, I drank – and it was good.  I also tried to order a cup of iced coffee with just sugar – no milk – for our taxi driver (a goodwill offering)…not going to happen. This threw what seemed to be half the waiters and the barista into a complete tizzy.  They just could not grok making a coffee without milk.  I would have felt worse if the weird drink was for me (the ridiculously demanding American), but it was for a Zambian!  It was so absurd Lynn and I were trying not to laugh.  After three valiant attempts by two different waiters, I ended up with what amounted to a cup of iced coffee with blended ice in it…no milk. No sugar. OMG.  The taxi driver was thrilled – if he only knew.

On the work front

I am now writing the story line and graphics for a brand new “Introduction to Smart Care” training module to be bolted on to the front end of the basic clinic data entry video modules Chrys has already created. It became clear after 500+ deployments that the early assumption that the staff who would primarily interact with the Smart Care system at the clinic/hospital level would mostly be people with clinical backgrounds was an erroneous one.  There are many facilities where there are data entry and client (patient) intake personnel who have no clinical training – and they have no clue about what Smart Care is or does.  I’m writing the “starting from Ground Zero” module.  I am also helping Machalo (the newest intern on the Smart Care training team – a Zambian who graduated from university in Australia and is now back home)  reformat and update the existing modules.  We’ll be working with some of the Zambian trainers as they can serve as content reviewers and advise us on any additional information we need to include in this v2 based on their experiences in the field.

A Lesson in Developing Country Small Business Start Ups and Marketing Imperatives: Majochrys Internet Café and Hotspot 

As a side project I am helping Chrys with an awareness campaign to help build the customer base of her new internet café.  I designed a flyer for her and she has recruited a young man – the nephew (or cousin) of one of the trainers to stir up business on the campus where the café is located. He’s starting tomorrow with the stack of flyers in hand, roaming the campus and targeting students and faculty to encourage them to try out the services – very fast connectivity (“Fastest in Zambia – like in America!”…really), printing and transcription, lessons in email and Facebook account set up, snacks and drinks. 

We’re even running a promotion – first 5 minutes free for new customers, and likely will try a “bring a friend, get 30 minutes free” approach in November or sooner.  We worked on an expense and revenue spreadsheet this evening to get a better handle on what’s potentially most profitable of the services, what pricing needs to be adjusted, etc.  Real startup action. Really, really fun!

It looks like I may get a new perspective on life in Zambia this weekend. I have been enlisted by Chrys to help out as a volunteer at a rabies prevention clinic that will take place in one of the townships. Chrys volunteers every year and while I won’t be administering shots I can help complete registration forms.  Should be interesting.

Oh, one last thing.  We have been having periodic power outages here today.  Not unlike in Southern California when there are rolling blackouts during the summer when power usage is at its height, here in Lusaka there are intentional “load shedding” under similar circumstances (picture thousands…millions of table fans whirling at once).  Yet, as I head to bed tonight my table fan is blowing, the cats are settling down, and melatonin is starting to kick in.

 Cheers!