Jessica Laporte
October 22, 2014
It’s been a busy couple of weeks since I (Jess) got back to Haiti from my first trip to the US since the Kouzin Dlo launch.
The best part of being away? Coming back to three community sites functioning with no major glitches.
This means that my three community managers continued their weekly activities without outside supervision or help. They performed key activities such as managing sales agents, marketing, and stock management. One manager even forged new partnerships for community outreach by visiting other organizations in her area.
It may not seem like a big deal, but it demonstrates that the organizational systems that we’ve been establishing over the first three months are actually working. That’s a win in our book.
Why does it matter that Kouzin Dlo's community hubs can function independently? The establishment of autonomous community hubs is the key to scale for Kouzin Dlo. We are building a network of clean water agents across the country but that’s not possible if we have to have weekly (let alone daily) oversight in each community.
I was nervous stepping away for two weeks to go to the US, but in the end it proved to be a perfect test and reminder that unless I do step back, I will never get to see just how well things are going.
