Shipping off to Africa
In 24 hours we fly to Uganda, and the Visa company is telling me that our passports have accidentally been returned to the US. The latest in a whirlwind month of ups and downs. Planning and re-planning. On again, off again.
I have no problem stressing the situation over the phone: If we don’t get those passports back by 9am tomorrow, we forfeit $5000 in flights. Our investor Ed may not be pleased.
The project’s consultant, wonderfully knowledgeable Boris Mann, gives a wide-eyed look to acknowledge the insanity of our predicament.
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Our Visa applications and all documents do somehow return to Vancouver that day, minus our booklet of vaccination stamps. I’ll pick that up in the morning at 9am, suitcases and all, then hop on a Skytrain to the airport. We’re cutting it pretty close.
My travel buddy Jamal Alawes has a more hectic morning, still. He’s at the police department at 8am starting his criminal record check. We’re entertaining a travel option that would allow us to stay in Uganda for an extended period as investors.
By 9:40am, we’re both in the airport enjoying coffee and laughing about the whole ordeal. There’s a mix of relief and amazement. We haven’t begun any real part of our adventure yet.
As we board the plane, Jamal, a recent graduate from Lighthouse Labs, asks me to review the script we’d prepared for Ugandan customs. Were we entering the country as tourists? Or investors? We’re hoping for few questions.
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Our raison d’être ici in Uganda is to stabilize and extend banking software. An investor from Vancouver has bought into a little startup in Kampala, Uganda.
African countries are near the back of the pack in terms of financial infrastructure, and this company is looking to lay the groundwork for credit unions and minuscule village savings groups.
In rural Africa, there’s been no reasonable way to take out loans or transfer money digitally. To see how money you owned, you’d physically count the Shillings under your mattress.
We land on a Thursday evening around 11pm, and start work Friday morning. Wish us luck!
