Looks like I'm going to be able to come back to Dushanbe on Friday instead of being alone in Khorog over the weekend, which is good. I can get on the day trip (helicopter-style) back over to Khorog on Monday. That means both a less lonely, less logistically complicated and burdensome to others, and likely a more productive weekend ahead. Good.
Also, today was fun. We drove around -- AV, Parviz, and I, along with Ahmad the driver and Jeonjon the regional market development guy -- to visit people all over Kulob and Shuroobod. We went to a micro-lending organization; a business development service center, where we heard an oddly unambitious business plan (more on that in a sec); and a couple of common interest groups, which are like proto-coops: one for honey and one for apples and pears. I got some stuff on video and took some photos but will need to be more proactive tomorrow about getting good quotes and keeping stray hands and shoulders out of the shots. And it's nice to talk to people about the work that they do, and what they appreciate about the help we've given them, and what more they need to expand or solidify.
About that business plan: The director of this BDSC told us he plans to start a sewing workshop with 12 women who have been trained at the BDSC. He plans to pull in revenues of 62,000 somoni a year, which is less than $10,000. His profit he expects to be about 23,000 somoni, or about $3,700. We pushed a little to try to make sure nothing was getting lost in translation, but it seems not. And then AV, Parviz, and I puzzled over it for a long time afterward. The math doesn't make sense. After figuring in equipment costs, taxes, and all that, you're talking about paying your employees something like $600 per year. This is a poor country but that is really, really low; the median per capita income here is just under $3,000. So he's talking about roughly the equivalent of paying someone $4,500 a year in the US.
Anyway, I'm wiped out now. Going to try to stay up a little while longer just to make sure I sleep through the night. 6:50 wakeup tomorrow and we're on the road again.
Also, today was fun. We drove around -- AV, Parviz, and I, along with Ahmad the driver and Jeonjon the regional market development guy -- to visit people all over Kulob and Shuroobod. We went to a micro-lending organization; a business development service center, where we heard an oddly unambitious business plan (more on that in a sec); and a couple of common interest groups, which are like proto-coops: one for honey and one for apples and pears. I got some stuff on video and took some photos but will need to be more proactive tomorrow about getting good quotes and keeping stray hands and shoulders out of the shots. And it's nice to talk to people about the work that they do, and what they appreciate about the help we've given them, and what more they need to expand or solidify.
About that business plan: The director of this BDSC told us he plans to start a sewing workshop with 12 women who have been trained at the BDSC. He plans to pull in revenues of 62,000 somoni a year, which is less than $10,000. His profit he expects to be about 23,000 somoni, or about $3,700. We pushed a little to try to make sure nothing was getting lost in translation, but it seems not. And then AV, Parviz, and I puzzled over it for a long time afterward. The math doesn't make sense. After figuring in equipment costs, taxes, and all that, you're talking about paying your employees something like $600 per year. This is a poor country but that is really, really low; the median per capita income here is just under $3,000. So he's talking about roughly the equivalent of paying someone $4,500 a year in the US.
Anyway, I'm wiped out now. Going to try to stay up a little while longer just to make sure I sleep through the night. 6:50 wakeup tomorrow and we're on the road again.
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