The Pace Continues Unabated - Theodora Rising

 What does it feel like to be totally in the hands of fate? To feel like you are just a passenger along for the ride in some greater adventure? To my inspiring six superstars in Ghana who I am pushing as hard as one can imagine to grow and accomplish, I gave this analogy.

Imagine the seven of us are told we have this most important mission to undertake. We need to leave the West Coast of Africa and go over the Atlantic and get get to the United States. To accomplish this voyage we are given an incredibly powerful marine engine and propeller. We mount up and start crossing the ocean at prodigious pace. Water is splashing up and we are holding on tight, the speed is so great. Then one of us says, "Shouldn't there be more to this craft taking us across the ocean than just an engine?" We all think. By Jove, Yes! No one takes a voyage on just an engine. Someone says they have heard of something called a 'boat'. Another says they think it might be called a 'ship'. We take our devices out and begin searching (somehow in this analogy I decided we have high speed internet access no matter what). 

Yes! There are things called boats and ships. They are just the thing that we need to take this voyage...THAT WE ARE ALREADY GOING ON AT BREAKNECK SPEED. So we are trying to decide what kind of craft? What should it be made of? How big should it be? How should it be laid out? And on and on. We are getting building materials and tools airlifted to us (don't ask me how...it is my analogy...it is sort of like an awake dream) and we are frantically building the boat while we are still deciding just what the boat should be and careening forward.

Yes that is exactly what it feels to be running the Theodora Project at the moment. Those of you who know me, know I have not a bit of experience doing charitable work or doing developmental work in another country. Everything I've heard from others is that this kind of work can take years just trying to get traction. Here we are in just months not just getting traction but getting beyond liftoff to full Earth orbit. Now we are plotting our true voyage with a feeling of more and more momentum (yes I know I changed analogies...my blog, my rules).

I won't bore you with details. If you'd like them, I will be happy to send you detailed information. But here are the high points some of which are a bit repetitive from prior posts but I think are necessary to see the full scope of how this project has blossomed (ha, ha yet another analogy...analogy-a-mania!).

• In February, we thought we had an idea of how we were going to train our women. We had our money and were ready to start

• By April, that plan was blown out of the water by the pandemic. We had reinvented our training to on-line (don't even ask how hard it was to do that in days, in a developing country, with half our people not having computers or ever having used one, with only days to go before a lock down.) At the same time we undertook a massive project with my Trusted Advisor Network (TAN) to do 25 interview transcriptions in two weeks.

•  As June turned into July, it was clear that our women were progressing way, way faster than one could have anticipated. Our initial work with TAN had led to a few test client engagements. They were tough but the women power through and gain the hands-on knowledge they need. #3 joins as head of development, a huge addition. We put one of our women into TAN since all meetings are virtual now (even though she is terrified and the TAN members aren't quite sure what to make of her other than she is nice).

• By August we have gotten our 501.c.3 designation (which I find takes many organizations years). We are getting more new clients. And we really know what we can do for them. A number of our women are getting really good at delivering specific services.

• As September begins, the young lady who I put into TAN has now pulled in three new clients. She told me last week that the next one, she wants to make the pitch by herself. And she has proclaimed she wants one day to be the CEO of Theodora. I have two others who regularly interact directly with U.S business people without any active engagement on my part taking care of their client needs. In October we should bill 8 clients or $1,600 for the month.  That is two-thirds of what the women need to cover the salaries! 

• We should have our website up by the end of October for sure. Then we will be going after much more significant donor targets. We have new strong prospects for our Board. We have major organizational work to put in place between our Ghanaian entity and our U.S. entity. 

So much to do. We have come so far so fast. Our women, our beneficiaries, are growing from seeds to little trees before our eyes. A bow...doesn't a boat need a bow?