05/26/2021
AFRICA Day!
:
You say “it’s tough!”
Imagine it is 1961. You are an African woman and you have no real education beyond the first two years of High School. You leave your village in search of a better life in the city where your sister lives. Then you get drawn into the public protests of the times, resulting in a beating that leaves you half dead.
You flee to another country because half your friends have either been killed, are in jail, or have also fled. Some of your young male relatives leave to go to be trained to be part of the struggle, never to return alive.
In this foreign land you are not allowed to get jobs that might compete with locals. You try to start something, buying and selling second-hand clothes, but the authorities raid and take your stuff, more beatings.
But somehow you save a little, here and there. And before long you can set something up provided you can keep it away from officials and others who want to loot it. You move from second-hand clothes to furniture, then you start to make the furniture. Next you diversify yourself a little, to protect yourself.
You never borrowed a single cent in your life, and there were no investors.
You work 20 hours per day. You have children, and you want them to go to good schools, which cost money. There is no such thing as a public “dole” to help, and most local leaders would take what she has in a heartbeat.
Within 10 years you have more money than most men in your district, but no one even knows. You drive around in battered cars to disguise what you have. You even send your oldest son to a private school in the UK.
I went to see this woman at the height of my troubles in my homeland. After listening sympathetically, she said to me: “If you really want to succeed, no one can stop a good person who is determined to succeed.” Then she reminded me of the need to always pray to God.
She was right. I trusted her because she is my mother.
You know there is nothing I can do to help you change the conditions in any country, but I can equip you with the you need to work and succeed in those conditions.
Homework: Where do you [and your business] plan to be next "Africa Day" [25 May]? Do you have your one-year plan in place? A few different economic scenarios?
Don't just "plan to plan". Everyone needs to jump to the quickly now. Write down three concrete goals and your proposed steps to get there. [You don't need to share them here].
Time is ticking away.
End.
Image credit: , african_portraits, in Ethiopia.
