Displays of Optimism

Whenever I’m asked my impressions about India, one of the things I always remark on is the sense of optimism that permeates the culture.

Whenever I’m asked my impressions about India, one of the things I always remark on is the sense of optimism that permeates the culture. I love hearing people talk about how their lives, the lives of their neighbors, and the state of the entire country is improving year after year. They believe their ventures will scale and they see the movement of social enterprise taking off all around them.

In the past, I’ve had a harder time finding that same optimism in Kenya. Especially since the elections, people have seemed skeptical of lasting change. They saw that in a few days, so much progress could be destroyed.

I’ve been thrilled to spend time this week with four amazing organizations – groups piloting projects to increase access to clean drinking water in low-income communities. When talking about their projects, they speak with such conviction and hope about the impact their work will have.

Umande Trust and Maji na Ufanisi are community based organizations working in the informal settlements. They are deeply embedded with the community members and are working with them to start businesses to sell and deliver water. The communities have been integral in the design of the pilots and are now owning them and taking them on as their own. They are excited both to serve their communities and to have an additional source of income. They see these pilot sites as just the first in a larger initiative.

PureFlow and Kentainers are private-sector companies that make water filters and storage tanks, respectively. They are both developing water kiosks in peri-urban areas to sell bottled water quality branded drinking water for a fraction of the price. They are run by ambitious entrepreneurs, for whom scale is a given. They believe they can both serve low-income markets and make a profit, and won’t stop working until they do.

The progress these organizations have made in the past four months (from initial conception of the idea through the pilot phase) is incredible. They’re moving fast, proving their models, and truly serving the needs of their customers. And, they are right to be optimistic about what the future will bring.

- Jocelyn Wyatt

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Adam White – Groupshot Africa 310 days ago

Hello Jocelyn,

I've just stumbled upon your story nearly a year later, here in Nairobi. I was in India just the other month too and I agree about this national sense of optimism and growth, particularly, but not exclusively, in the broad middle class.

In Kenya, with the election date finally set, there are strains of optimism and fear about the direction things will go in the government. But after nearly two years of travelling and working in Kenya I am still stuck by the optimism of 'entrepreneurship' everywhere in Kenya. The number of young people I meet from all different backgrounds who want to start or invest in their own business, from tech start-ups to a neighborhood restaurant.

Here in Kenya this type of optimism seems to be growing and the whole world seems to be following Nairobi, reading stories about mPesa or Ushahidi. This creative, aspirational, optimism could lead to amazing things--if it is not too risky or too misdirected. I wonder how we this individual optimism can grow to the national scale you are describing in India. Most Indians can feel how important India is, but I don't think many Kenyans can see how exciting Kenya is (and many aren't part of it yet).

-Adam

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Jocelyn Wyatt – IDEO.org Africa 309 days ago

Hi Adam,
This is a great provocation and I'd love to hear what ideas people have about how to spread that sense of optimism to a national level in Kenya. It does seem like the stories of great entrepreneurialism and innovation aren't being told at the national level and that the country would really benefit from the government embracing and sharing them.

Jocelyn

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Sanchita Jain 170 days ago

Hey Jocelyn, let me begin my saying that the concept of your project is so endearing, that I could not help but share my thoughts on it. Yes, Indians are quite an optimistic lot [I would personally give the credit to Bollywood]. But I clearly remember the comment by Gregory David Roberts. He said that in his experience, India is one of the most 'tolerant' nations. I have never been to Kenya, and I will try not to generalize, but in India it takes extreme incidents to shake us up- despite being a nation with the largest youth population. And that is something to worry about. I am so glad that in the course of finding optimism, you have found hope & care among the Kenyans. I am keen to know what the 4 organisations are working on now, and wish them all the success.

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