Success Road

Our time in Kumi was filled with great people and hard work. It was our starting point, our foundation, in an attempt to build our social business that fights the all-too-present waterborne diseases in Uganda. In Kumi, we were constantly reaffirmed of our mission—the demand for our filters was overwhelming. Our fledgling factory simply couldn’t keep up with demand. We needed to scale-up—and fast. It’s never easy to fly the nest, but we had outgrown our home and we had to fly. We were forced to say farewell to our friends at Kumi University and begin anew.

Kajjansi, our new location, is directly between Entebbe, the int'l airport, and Kampala

When searching for a new location, we knew proximity to raw materials, specifically clay, was our first priority. So what better place than Kajjansi?—which literally translates to “full of clay” in Luganda, the most widely spoken local language in Uganda. It doesn’t hurt that it is also only 15 kilometers (metric, I know, I’ve been brainwashed) or 9 miles from Kampala—the capital and by far the largest city here. This means now we have cheap clay, smooth roads, and access to the biggest market in Uganda. Let’s go.

Welcome to our new home!

I am not a superstitious kind of guy, so if I were to see a black cat while walking under a ladder and happen to break my arm later that day, I’d call it a coincidence. But when I noticed that our new factory was located down “Success Road”, I hoped beyond hope that I had been wrong all my life. This was indeed a good omen.

Co-founder John Kye supervising some welding work

Our lot doesn’t look like much at first. Where a chicken farm once stood, only a few vacant—excluding the mice, fleas, and cockroaches, of course—buildings remain. But we see immense potential. Our clay storage here, our kiln there, and oh, the long building on the left is perfect for an assembly line! It’s out with the old and in with the new. Out with the pests and in with the people. SPOUTS has a new home.

Filters and Facial Hair:

So happy to be using our Kumi filters here in Kajjansi. Both the beard and the factory are making good progress!

Now Now

When it rains here things shut down. Dirt roads become mud roads leaving vehicles spinning their wheels—so people wait. In Kumi, electricity inexplicably shuts off for days at a time. You buy a generator to keep the business going if you can afford it, but some can’t—so people wait. Public buses can’t make enough money unless they are crammed full of people. If a bus is empty, it won’t leave any time soon—so people wait.

'Licensed to carry 14 passengers' reads a taxi carrying 20

In country of unpredictability like Uganda, delays are going to happen, so people have gotten accustom to waiting. It’s no wonder that there is a culture of tardiness; the unexpected is always expected. After living here for a few months, I’ve come to understand this so-called ‘Ugandan time’but that doesn’t make it any easier to operate a small business with a built-in delay. Sometimes we need things done now—or should I say ‘now now’.

These roads get real slick when it rains...

‘Now now’ has to be one of my favorite Uganda-isms. Let me show you what I mean…

Me: “Moses (a popular Ugandan name), could you get a truckload of clay for the filters?”

Moses: “When?”

Me: “I need the clay now.”

Moses: “Now now?”

Me: “Now-nah-now-nah-now-now.” (what I want to reply because I still find the phrase ‘now now’ hilarious)

Me: “Uh huh, now now. Thanks.” (what I actually say because the above reply would be rude haha)

My next favorite Uganda-ism is ‘well done’. This phrase may seem rather ordinary but here it is quite the contrary. In Luganda (the most prominent local language), people greet others with the word ‘jebale’ which literally translates to ‘well done’ in English. Needless to say, I was deeply confused for a couple weeks wondering what exactly I had done worthy of praise, but if you want to improve your self-esteem, Uganda is the place to be—people congratulate you on sight!

Work at the factory has been going well, but big changes are coming soon at SPOUTS. I’ll tell you about it in my next entry! Get excited!

Mountain Man:

Since my dad recently completed hiking the Appalachian Trail for a month, I thought I’d reserve this week’s beard update to the mountain man himself, Steve Raseman. Congrats dad!!!