Fishing Expedition: One Intern’s Journey from Wall Street to Refugee Camps

July 15, 2009 (San Francisco, CA) — My internship began in early June as I boarded a plane for Kenya with Leila Chirayath Janah, Samasource’s CEO and Founder.

What I experienced on this two-week trip was life changing. I have previously traveled to developing countries and witnessed phenomenal economic growth juxtaposed with abject poverty, but I was not prepared for Kenya.

Nairobi, a city of contradictions

Nairobi, the nation’s capital, is a bustling city with many apparent contradictions — wealth and poverty, Muslims and Christians, nature and pollution, advanced and antiquated. Yet those descriptors do little justice. After all, how can I adequately summarize a city that is home to high rise office buildings, a week day market filled with goods from Maasai tribeswomen, a sophisticated cultural museum with the world’s oldest human fossils, a rotting cattle carcass next to a main thorough fare, trustworthy cab drivers and questionable hoteliers? The city streets were filled with vehicle exhaust, a healthy fear of carjacking, entrepreneurs (e.g. individuals walking between vehicles to sell things such as posters and car fresheners) and speed bumps –- some by design, some not. While navigating these streets, Leila and I had a whirlwind of meetings.

First, we attended the AITEC Conference, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, focused on outsourcing and shared services for NGOs and development agencies. Information, Communication and Technology Services are a top priority for Kenya’s economic growth, especially with the recent arrival of the fiber optic cable in East Africa. Conference attendees included U.S.-based consulting firms Accenture and McKinsey, which made me realize just how big of a market opportunity this must be.

Subsequent meetings included site visits to our existing service partners. From Adept Technologies to Preciss International, I was able to meet bright, qualified youth who are working for Samasource’s partners to provide quality services to U.S. clients (note: English is an official language in Kenya). Many of the employees are current college students, who use their salaries to pay for school –- ranging from engineering to nursing studies. Leila and I conducted a training session with the service partners to review Samasource standard policies and procedures as well as to garner feedback on the existing partnership. A photo from the training session, held at Enablis offices, is below.

Pictured (L to R): Nicholas M. (Beeline), Lakshmi M. (Ken Tech), Lucky V. (Ken Tech), Amos K. (Styles), Benson K. (Preciss), Mwangi M. (Beeline), John S. (Ken Tech), Eunice M. (Styles), Andrew K. (Flytech), Mugure M. (Preciss), Stephen M. (Daproim), Diana G. (Adept) and Leila

Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camps

After a week in Nairobi, we departed for Dadaab Refugee Camps. The camps are located in eastern Kenya, near the Somali border. We traveled by guarded convoy with CARE International. Various check points along the way reminded us that we were in dangerous territory. Our Kenyan hosts were incredibly generous and patient as I snapped endless photos and asked a plethora of arguably naïve questions.

Some 12 hours later, we arrived in Dadaab.

We spent the majority of our time at Dagahaley and Ifo Refugee Camps –- over 90% of the people there are from Somalia and include many women and young men. We trained them on the internet and gauged their interest in completing remote internet-based work, as a way to generate income. Many of the camps have very limited job opportunities and those that do exist (e.g. butchering and ice making) compete with limited resources. This leaves many of the youth susceptible to recruitment by militias. Similar to youth in Nairobi, many of the trainees indicated they would use the funds they earn to pay for schooling. As Leila blogged earlier, we met with one of the Lost Boys of South Sudan – Paul Parach.

After one of the training sessions, a young woman named Abdiyo insisted upon buying me a soda. This woman lives in a refugee camp where the average annual income is extremely low. It was the most generous and delicious soda I have ever received. To learn more about our innovative launch of the Refugee Worker Program, take a look at the following presentation:

Go fish

Two weeks and thousands of miles later, I found myself back in Palo Alto, California. As I commute to Samasource’s San Francisco offices, I reflect on the things this trip has taught me. Nairobi and the refugee camps are very different from my experiences in investment banking and private equity. While I am a novice when it comes to international development, I wonder if the some of the capitalism I practiced on Wall Street is applicable there.

And perhaps the only way to world peace and prosperity is through the creation of opportunities for sustainable, dignified employment.

Our slogan at Samasource, until about a week ago, was “Give Work, Not Aid”. The last portion is a bit controversial and we have wrestled with the unfortunate fact that it may be turning away potential supporters. Our new, simpler slogan, “Give Work”, is open to the idea that countries in Africa and other developing nations may require a two-fold approach. One of aid, to supplement “traditional” government services such as infrastructure and health care, and one of work – a way for individuals to financially support themselves and their families.

Samasource focuses on the latter part. Give Work.

As the proverb goes, “Give a man a fish and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. By leveraging technology to create jobs for the next billion, Samasource is teaching individuals how to fish. Fishing … I can’t think of a better way to spend my summer.