A day in the office

This morning we met with Jane and Dynas, the Morogoro Rotarians, for breakfast, then headed over to the office.  Today we were planning to meet with the Micro Finance staff in the MFI building to go over records, plans, etc. for the International Rotary Grant. 

Iringa Hope built the MFI building on the campus of the University of Iringa three years ago.  It was funded by a grant from the Peter J King Family Foundation – the same people who have been funding the construction of our IDCs.  The building is very distinctive with a red roof, white accents, and a brick exterior. 

We started the meeting by introducing ourselves and our functions.  There are now 6 full time people at the MFI – so with us and the two representatives from Morogoro there were 10 in our meeting.  We discussed our organization,

how we handle funds, how we operate, etc.  Jane and Dynas had lots of questions which the MFI staff answered.  By 1:00 we were winding down so we decided to break for lunch.

Normally we would have had lunch at the University, but classes are now on break so we went into town instead.   Our talks continued over lunch, and when we were finished the group broke up, with everyone going their own way.  Jane and Dynas decided to rest up a bit and get ready for

tomorrow.  Sandy went into town to get things for our time here while the rest of us went back to the MFI building to work on our long-range plans.

At Iringa Hope we tend to make regular 3-year plans.  These plans then guide grants we apply for, funds we raise, etc.  This year we have the additional complexity of our growing network of Farmer’s Coops (called AMCOS) and how they will operate and generate the funds they need.  By the end of the day we had an outline of what we need to do and how we might get it all done.  It took a long time to discuss, but now everyone knows what is expected.

As we were breaking up Itiweni told Tom that a group of government officials wants to meet with us.   They plan to give Iringa Hope a $30,000 plot of land for future use and wanted to talk to us to communicate how excited they are about our work.  Itiweni said that the group includes Regional, District, and local officials.  We are pleased to be invited to meet with them, but whether or not we do will depend on our schedule.  We will of course meet with them IF we have time, but members come first (members ALWAYS come first) so we will have to see if we are able.

Tomorrow morning at 7 we will have a breakfast meeting and then off to the villages.