Hallo Sri Lanka!

So! I got selected by the British Council to be a contestant on a reality TV show in Sri Lanka called the IDEATORS. It's kinda like The Apprentice but more low-key and it's for students.

I'd been looking for an opportunity to go to Sri Lanka to complete my research all year, especially after visiting India in April - www.indianmade.tumblr.com - I knew I had to go to SL. Then this opportunity comes along and my tutor/professor says she thinks it's perfect for me. Ya, it is, but it's got a reality TV show attached to it >o o< . After much thought, I decided I wasn't going to apply - how can I be on a reality show? I'm shy, I'm not even a competitive person, I'll be away for 4-5weeks, I have my thesis to write .. I had various excuses. My pastor even told me that I'm throwing away a good deal but that wasn't convincing enough. The deadline passed and I breathed a sigh of relief. No more pressure, it's done, I didn't apply, I'm not going. Home free.

Two days later I go see my tutor for something unrelated, I walk into her office and in front of her is the application form:

Me: Lynne, I'm not going
Lynne: Don't be a silly girl, you are

And that was basically how the convo. went. 2/3 weeks later I get an e-mail from the show's production team telling me to pack my bags, I'm leaving in 7 days. SEVEN days... like it's Manchester I'm going to or something. The show was to commence the 3rd week of Sept but for whatever reason, they brought it forward by 7 days. Meanwhile my fiance had booked us a trip to our wedding destination for the 2nd week of Sept to make arrangements for the wedding. Wharrashocker when we discover we can't go anymore and we've basically lost our plane tickets and every other reservations and plans we made. Suddenly I'm rushing out of London .. and it's taking me a while to calm down and accept my fate. My family + friends are more excited than I am... of course, they aren't the ones going.

But yeah, going to Sri Lanka is great cos I'll get to do all my research at the factories I've been obsessing about - MAS Thurulie, Brandix, Hirdaramani and so on.  It's really a dream come true and so clear God is working his special miracles as usual.. you really cannot question a King much less the King of Kings. So a'ma just look on the bright side - I'm going o Sri Lanka, and I'm going to win. #thatisall

Work = Play

Today I did absolutely no writing at all. I'm so disappointed. Although I did enjoy scanning all the Ethical Fashion forums. And oh yeah, I sent an e-mail to the RITE group and looked at nice ethically made clothes from around the world. That's part of research right? :-)

Some of what I found:


Chichia has some fabulous stuff...

Ministry of Physical Planning

Yesterday my favorite architect, the one that is permanently attached to his cell phone, sent me a nice LONG e-mail explaining all the steps I need to go through to get approval for the development. In fact, when I initially called him, before I could even start a conversation he was like, "hold on... hello?" he'd picked up another call on another cell phone. SIGH. Dear architect.

I'm really grateful he responded to all my questions in an e-mail (which came 3 days later but never too late!). Ministry of Physical Planning is going to be my best friend apparently-- getting their approval is the very first step to this whole building development and it's really interesting all the little things they require. My goodness.. the approval process sounds like something that can really drag on. But God's speed shall be mine. Amen.

Now that I know what is required from an architect's point of view. Think I'll be calling my contacts in India tomorrow.. I just remembered I have them-- they are crucial for my next steps of what needs to be in the factory because those need approval as well.

This project just keeps getting bigger, more difficult but more exciting.

Another 2000 words added to my thesis today, not much for one day but I'm getting there. S small.

Surprise! :-D

Monday, July 4th

I'm getting ready to leave Lagos now, I've got 2 days left and I'm doing last minute stuff. I now decide to call the operations manager of a textile mill I'd interviewed over e-mail last October - to thank him again for the interview and just see if I can get anything else out of him :-). So I call him up and randomly ask if I can come and visit at the mill (the mill specializes in the traditional material called Ankara) and he says sure! mwahahahahahaha! I was so surprised and happy!!!!

Though thinking back now, I don't know why I was so surprised he would say yes. LOL.

Excited, I wasted no time and headed there. He was very welcoming and gave me an extended interview. Answered ALL my questions plus the ones I didn't even ask. It was like my best interview ever. He explained how the mill is operated, the fact that they use gas generators and not diesel ones -- electricity is a big problem in Nigeria and powering generators is usually the single most costly expense for every business. Many businesses have shut down or aren't able to start because of the lack of power. Diesel is extremely expensive but this mill/factory have made a heavy investment in gas generators which costs them a minuscule fraction of what a diesel generator would cost to run. The flipside is the generator itself is super expensive - the benefits are only realized after a number of years, and your site must be connected to the gas grid. This is not the case in many places in Lagos. Most people buy their gas (for cooking) in cylinders. For instance he says gas rates fluctuate frequently, but they've once paid about N200,000 per month on gas whereas with a diesel generator it'll have been about N1,000,000. I haven't asked the surveyor yet if the land/site for the factory is connected to the state gas grid but if it's not, God will have to connect it Himself cos this is definitely the route I'd like to take.

The manager spoke a lot about where they source their cotton and raw materials, how they are processed. Staff operations, costs of running the mill, and so forth. I was just smiling the entire time.. I couldn't believe my luck!

After the interview, he gave us a tour of the mill. I have a video clip which I'll upload later on, but here are are some pictures, thanks Eni:

myself and the operations manager

spun cotton

goes in as plain cotton, comes out on this end printed

going through the calendering process

The mill source their cotton locally, from Northern Nigeria. In the 1970s, cotton used to be one of Nigeria's top exports and back then there were over 100 textile mills in operation. Today, there are barely 20 mills left, and cotton production quantity and quality has dropped drastically. In fact, some mills are now importing cotton from China to be able to satisfy the demands of the country. Why isn't the government subsidizing such a lucrative cash product? >>> another question mark for our leaders. How will 20 mills satisfy the demand of 150mm people??? There's no wonder why people buy their fabric and clothes abroad!

Not to end on a bad note, this mill has a ZERO waste policy. All prints that go wrong during production are not chucked away but sold at itty bitty prices and usually there' a mad rush for them by Aswani textile sellers. Also they do not encounter any scrap waste as there's no 'cutting' of anything. Really happy to hear that... my new buzzword is 'Sustainable Development'.

Done! :-D

Focus Group

Sunday, July 3

Today, I organized a focus group to discuss the objectives of this proposed business with some ladies of varying ages, social groups and who live different lifestyles really. I got cakes and donuts and lotsa goodies + delish tea to get them comfortable and start talking.

It was really successful and I had it filmed as well (thanks Eni CC) .. so I'll be posting a 2min excerpt of the video shortly.

So! I'm done with most of my research in Lagos... or well, what I'd planned to do in the short time I had. On my list was to meet with a banker, visit the land, have meetings with the architect, NGOs+governmental bodies, conduct a focus group and if possible visit government libraries. The libraries didn't happen but I'm quite pleased with all the information I've gathered so far. I'm ready to return to London and start writing.

The Promise Land

Wednesday, June 29

I'm so excited when I wake up in the morning cos I'm finally going to The Promise Land i.e. the site where the factory will be built. My dad gifted the land to me and for many years had always talked about the acres he has somewhere in Ikorodu but we (his kids) had never been there before. But about 1 or 2yrs ago or so, he decided to divi up the land and give us an early inheritance which was great-- came in good time. So myself, my fiance, my business partner, the architect + driver stuffed ourselves in a car and started the drive to Ikorodu.

Now, Ikorodu is in Lagos but kinda away from "normal"/central Lagos; from the Island part of Lagos the journey time should only take about 30mins if there's no traffic. When we got to Ojota we met up with my dad at a gas station and continued with him driving in front of us.

Got to Ikorodu a few minutes later but crikey! See the traffic! So annoying.. it took us another half hour or so to get to our destination. Everyone was so happy when we arrive, they all got out of the car stretching, and I was just laughing to myself cos my dad had tricked us. He took us to our family land.. lol. Plenty plenty grumbles when they all found out that the actual place we're going is still at least another 30mins drive further into Ikorodu. LMAO. Then my dad really took his time inspecting the place, his sister dropped by... people in the neighborhood came around to say hi, they were all just chatting away like nobody was waiting for them. It was hilarious. The poor architect who I'd dragged away from his office, promising it'll be a quick trip was like... "really?? we need to get going!" lol. (BTW, the architect was on his phone talking business the ENTIRE time we were in Ikorodu, from when we picked him up at his office till we dropped him off 5hrs later - I'm not exaggerating)

Anyhow, we finally left and started the last lap-- boy was it a journey! Seemingly took forever to get there. Half way there, we met up with the land surveyor who led us to our final destination. The pictures should tell the rest of the story:

walking into the forest .. as it were...

my dad explaining stuff to us:-D

a random property in the BUSH aka Forest. Dunno what it's doing there

myself+biz partner .. notice Mr S the architect on his phone

on his phone as usual... with the land surveyor on the left

All of us discussing ..

I was pleased to learn from the surveyor that amenities like water, gas and electricity are already hooked up in/around the land, so I need not worry about that. As we saw, there is a house with people already living it in right in the center of the forest. I'd be worried about snakes if I were living there. We talked a bit more about zoning laws and what else may restrict the construction of the factory. Notebook out, pen out. Ready writer.

Finally, finally .. we started heading back. I was so filled with joy, expectations, hope! Glory! God is good to me :-)

My dad wanted us to go and have lunch before heading back but then he wanted to stop at the Baale's 'office' first before lunch.. errrr NOT (a Baale is a traditional ruler, like a mini-King, a King of a town/state has Baale's as his subordinates who each govern the cities. I guess like a president and his governors). So we left him behind and headed back to town.

Phew! Long but satisfying day. Thanks to everyone who was a willing participant, and special thanks to Eni CC who filmed and took pictures :-D

Finances, NGOs, the government

Wednesday, June 23 - 'finance' meeting

10.30am: had a meeting with an investment banker interested in this project. He gave me lots of good advice and answered my one million questions on how best to start this whole thing, from a financial perspective. He's given quite a bit of research to read and put me in touch with a couple people in the industry. So so grateful :-D

Tuesday, June 28 - NGO + LAWMA

Driving from my parents house to my sisters', I decided to give a contact at an NGO (US based) a call to see when I could meet with him, and lucky lucky, he was free at that very moment. The NGO deals with climate/pollution issues in Nigeria and works very closely with the government to reduce pollution. I turned the car around and headed to his office-- turns out the office sits in the Lagos State Waste Management (LAWMA) building due to their partnership.

We wasted no time with pleasantries and got into interview mode very quickly. I learned that the foundation does quite a lot in supporting small and big businesses in combating pollution, they provide solutions and advice and can actually get the government involved in your project. We spent a good hour talking about all the opportunities Lagos state provides and to what extent they support green projects. Have to say, I was quite surprised at the level of assistance the government gives .. because the economy is so messed up, it's difficult to see the few good things that are happening.

In fact foundation had recently helped a business start a recycling plant (for plastics) in Lagos. Because it was such a large scale project and one that the govt is really happy to support, Lagos state gave the business free land to build the plant, built new roads for easy commute, made sure they had proper connections to state water supply and electricity. Basic stuff in other countries but a big deal over there. They also supported in many other areas - documentation, speedy approvals and such. That was really welcoming news .. I left there a changed woman! LOL.

I also got the chance to interview a lady who's in charge of green projects at LAWMA, and similarly, she gave every confidence that tackling climate issues is a big priority for the government. She was excited to know that more and more people are taking this route and is happy to give any support that is necessary when I'm ready.

Good day. I'm so glad I went.