Background

Amigos,

You asked for the background on this blog and the whole story behind my trip. Here's a snippet to give you the why, where and when. For the past seven months, I have been working with large investment firm based in Switzerland on social and sustainable investments with a focus on energy, water and land use organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. Translation: green investing and a venture capital approach to charity.

Before I left my job in asset management/forestry with SYLVAAM, the next step for me would have been on-the-ground work developing carbon sequestration projects (Clean Development Mechanism and carbon credits), in places like Ghuizou province, China, Oaxaca, Mexico and Gabon, Africa. I had never worked in Africa (or China for that matter), and couldn't wait to get started. Sadly, that venture was ill-fated and the company dissolved in September, 2008.

I met Oliver K. of said Swiss investment organization through a mutual friend and colleague, Sahel Assar. I cajoled Oliver into letting me work on some African investments to gain more experience in the field on short term engagement, but after a few weeks, I was hooked and they happily kept the diligent worker bee. After reviewing several hundred organizations, we finally found two great candidates for Q1 2009 operating in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya: Living Goods and One Acre Fund.

As part of the evaluation process for investment; a due diligence trip must be carried out to be sure everything is in order and that the organizations walk the talk. And so, I'm on my way to Africa in a few weeks time to see how the developed world can impact the lives of the severely impoverished, undernourished, and disenfranchised (in one area of the world, at least). If we can support these organizations effectively, we will impact over 40,000 lives for the better. This is my motivation.

March 29th, 2009 I leave for Kenya and return on April 10th from Uganda. My wonderful, way too generous and supportive husband has given me an amazing camera to document the trip, so I should have some great images to accompany my posts!

'Til next time,
Hilary