The Big Time

Woot woot! We are finally doing it. After relocating our factory, spending months and months of setting up a new one and getting our production just right, we are finally selling our water filters. We’ve even opened up a shop just outside of Kampala. To get to this point, we’ve had to be mechanics, microbiologists, kiln experts, production managers, grant writers, potters, log splitters, human resource workers, and now, we can add marketing and sales to the list.

Employees Tina and Stephen are all smiles next to our filter

I’ve learned firsthand that running a small business is not easy. As any budding entrepreneur will to you, to be successful you have to take risks, make mistakes, and just keep going. And hopefully, you have some great people at the helm. At SPOUTS, that is definitely the case. I can’t believe the kind of foresight, dedication, and straight up guts it took for John and Kathy (my friends and SPOUTS co-founders) to start up a social enterprise halfway across the world in Uganda.

John giving his pitch. He's so good I swear he was a used car salesman in another life. 

By no means are we out of the woods—not by a long shot—but it’s a great relief to get to this point. We’re confident in what our filters can do: they are affordable, safe, low-maintenance, and culturally acceptable. The tough part is convincing potential customers that is the case. Because ceramic water filters are a new technology in Uganda, it’ll take some time before they catch on. It’ll take a lot of wheeling and dealing, but we’re up for it!

I don't think I've ever been so happy about boxes!!

Pupdate!

So you’re probably wondering what happened to the puppy army we had over here. Well, after giving some away and a couple finding new homes on their own, we were left with a more manageable number—three precious pups: Mzungu, Mingo, and Scamp. And I loved each and every one of them. Sadly, within the a few weeks Mzungu got really really sick. He became a shell of his usual self. In a panic, I called a vet to make a house call and basically spent a month’s salary on vaccinations and vitamins. But it was no use. Mzungu passed away the next day.

The late Mzungu having a blast gnawing on his bro's elbow

Fortunately, Mingo and Scamp, are in great health! And since dog food is hard to come by here, they have me as their personal chef. Their gourmet cuisine? Sardines and sweet potatoes. We even built them a nice little dog house. Of course, they prefer tunneling into the pile of sand nearby and napping in their makeshift cave. I can’t blame ‘em. Living in a cave would be pretty sweet.

 

Scamp (right) and Mingo (left) chilling near their sand cave