What is your ripple ?
GirlsTrek Kilimanjaro, June 2024 spends a very valuable couple of hours with Gemma Sisu at The School of St Jude.
I have recently taken up a new class for foot strength and mobility. You will here more about that Foot Collective in coming months. This world wide concept has landed its Australian headquarters almost in my backyard. A quick stroll across the park and above the local “bowlo”. The convenience is perfect. I can whip down from the office and squeeze in 45 minutes of learning to trust my feet again. It’s fun and I am meeting new people.
Including Deb. She and I have been throwing hacky sacks at one another with our feet and we laugh a lot! In my most recent session I said to Deb “see you in 3 weeks, I am off to Mongolia “, a quick remark that became a 30 minute catalyst to for a 30 minute conversation sharing what we both “did” for business.
Deb and her partner in life have an incredible business. The fundamentals are they ‘save’ medical equipment that is functional and relatively new however due to different government policies or rebates is being discarded from our medical institutions to be rehoused in landfill. How do they do that you ask? Her partner, Deb proclaims is a wizard with fixing these devices and updating their software so they are humming along smoothly. They are then sold to medical institutions in other countries who are very happy with a five year old heart monitor. I was enthralled by her story. She and her partner are literally saving people they will never know in countries they may never visit and they are helping to save the planet keeping major medical devices out of landfill. They are also earning a living from their good work and spending in their own community.
That’s what I call a ripple.
Visiting the School of St Jude in Arusha, Tanzania in June enabled me to meet the tenacious Gemma Sisu. A school she started with four students, unrequited ambition that comes with youth, a 2 hectare gift of land and a $10 donation. A school that now has 3 campuses, 2 boarding facilities and educates 1800 children from the poorest families in the region. When asked about her central driving force to provide so much to the Tanzania education system her answer is beautifully clear. You give one bright child in poverty an education and they will raise up their family, sharing what they have learnt and teaching their parents and their siblings. That family in turn will teach and raise up their neighbours , and their neighbours, a community. Such is the power of education.
That is what I call a ripple.
GirlsTrek has specific criteria about who we want to do business with. We believe in putting cash where the cash counts the most, with small businesses, preferably family run. We do it in Australia and the countries around the world we visit. Our experience is that small business is the key to strong, valued economic communities. They are the greatest employers worldwide giving opportunities for people to follow their passions. A small business person takes care of their own family and indirectly the families of all they employ. They strengthen the social fabric of their communities (just think about your local coffee shop or baker).
That is what we call a ripple.
What is your ripple? I would love to hear from you.