Dear team,

While I’m used to crisp fall weather, pumpkin spice lattes and the transition to winter jackets at this time of the air, I’m experiencing quite the opposite this year as the hottest and most humid days are quickly dawning upon Dar es Salaam. I spent the past month becoming a SQL ninja in efforts to turn our project statistics into meaningful numbers, and likewise, turning those numbers into digestible reports. In summary, it was a great month as we hit our December target on November 24. This month was spent making necessary improvements to the eVoucher program, fighting many, many unforeseen fires and beginning to adjust our plans for 2012. Professionally, November was a great month.

Personally, I’ve been thinking about the difference between passion and purpose. We talk a lot about passion. About finding our passions, living life passionately and acting on our passions. We’ve also talked a lot about why being passionate in itself is not enough.

Passion is a creative engine that forumaltes reasonable ideas in your mind and much further than that, it’s the driver of these ideas. Passion is emotional. It keeps you awake at night, wakes you up in the morning and has the potential to provide but joy. Purpose, on the other hand, is practical. It’s built on the foundation of necessity.

Purpose is the milestones achieved as a result of passion. It goes beyond emotion (note: not meaning that purpose is not emtional) and works to fill economic or social voids.

This past month, I turned 25 (side note: for some unknown reason decided to Google ‘top 25 under 25‘ to benchmark myself) and this age bracket, I’ll be putting my efforts towards answering the question of purpose based on my knowledge of my passions. Doing what I love is still only about me. Doing what the community, city, country or world needs from me, that is truly self-less.

Peace & love / kris

eVoucher launch!

Dear team,

What keeps you awake at night?

While at Deloitte, we’d often ask our clients this question in hopes of identifying the company’s most critical problems as well their biggest aspirations. Similarly, this question can also be asked on a personal level. From time to time, thoughts regarding decisions and aspirations have inhibited me from a regular sleeping pattern. The restlessness of ideas such as “Social Consultants” (circa April 2009), decisions such as moving to Tanzania and the excitement of heartwork are all thoughts that kept me awake at night.

This past month, despite my eyelids being heavy from working through my time zone and EST, I haven’t been able to sleep at night due to the following thoughts:

I just launched a national program. It better work.
Oct 17 marked the launch date of the eVoucher program and while the nights leading up to the launch were sleepless due to the preparations, the following nights were sleepless because I realized that this program is mission critical. There’s no room for power outages, network failures, system crashes or functionality errors which we were encountering. For the first 2 weeks, the program was going wonderfully. We met our monthly targets with 4 days to spare and the feeling of watching users use a program which you built was so wonderful. Over 80% of women are redeeming their vouchers for mosquito nets on the same day that they receive the voucher and that’s a great testament to the goals of the project. However, just when I was getting comfortable and satisfied with the system performance, we experienced some major setbacks today. And so continues the loop of celebrating victories and fighting fires. Soon, I hope to translate that loop into one stable, positively sloped line.

If I had a penny for every mHealth pilot, I’d be rich.
It’s well-known that pilotitis is the biggest disease in mHealth. I’ve attended a number of mHealth working group meetings and this month, I attended the mHealth in Tanzania working group meeting where members shared the projects they were working on and almost every “new” project generated a response as “Oh…this [organization, person] is working on something [related, same].” Almost every single project. The lack of communication, duplication of efforts and pilotitis are the plagues of mHealth. These are the realities. Realities that undoubtedly have to be worked at. After working in the micro-level, this month was a reality check at the macro-level of m4d. Through iniatives like Failfaire and through the trend of transparency, these realities are quickly becoming identified but now require work, especially from the top-down. Currently, I’m working with the Tanzania mHealth Community of Practice on the priority of “Transitioning pilots to scale”. Change has to start somewhere.

I’ve found my heartwork. What next?
This question is the one I think about the most which means I will probably write about it the least as I don’t have any answers. In the spirit of transparency, I do see myself living in Toronto in the long-term so I’m hestitant to consider a career in international development. Undoubtedly, there are organizations who do this well (based in a Western city but work internationally), but Toronto also boasts itself of great companies and organizations affecting local change. In addition to the question of finding the intersection between what you do well, what you’re passionate about and what you can be paid to do, I’m now adding a layer of how you can be most efficient and effective to influence a positive impact. Because life is not complex enough as it is.

I am surrounded by people who love me.
I’ve so pleased to have three rounds of visitors willing and wanting to come visit. I lie awake at night thinking about our itineraries: showing my heartwork, eating at my favourite local places, and catching up in Dar’s most beautiful beaches. I’m too spoiled and extremely blessed.

So team, I’ll throw it back to you. What keeps you awake at night? What are the uncertainties, dreams and aspirations that consume your mind?

Peach and love / kris

Hati Pungunzo recipient

Dear team,

The end of my first month in Tanzania approached quickly and as we’ve all recently had experiences in taking a leap of faith and going headfirst into something new, you can appreciate how defining the first month is in many ways. This past month has been one filled with opportunities that I’ve been eager to grasp with open arms. In my excitement, I have taken on (or been assigned) the following roles:

Stakeholder for eHealth in Tanzania
I attended the eHealth in Tanzania Visioning and Strategic workshop where I sat amongst mHeath leaders to develop a Vision Statement and Requirements for an end-to-end logistics management information system. This purpose of this platform is to provide insight and manage the supply chain of medicines across the country. The driver, as can be guessed, is the stock outs of vaccinations and medicines at clinics. I happily contributed where I could (the Security & Privacy of the platform) and will be involved in developing the Project Charter over the next few months. Within one month’s time, I’ve had the opportunity to shape the direction of eHealth in Tanzania.

Project designer
The jump from consulting to project design is a challenge that requires the use of parts of my brain that haven’t been frequently exercised. The projects involve many market actors and use cases, creating various layers of complexity. I’m completing the first design iteration, taking into account human agency, fraud and corruption as best as I can guess. The next step is to pilot the program is 3 regions across the country.

Deloitte Alum
Circumstances are quite amusing. I found out that Deloitte Tz hosted an mHealth workshop shortly before I arrived and with that excitement, emailed the project lead and had a great conversation with him. The project will launch in two weeks and I expressed my interest in the intersection of mHealth and security so I’ll be meeting with the project lead to see how I can get involved. I’m proud that Deloitte is innovating in this area and wish that I had known about this many months back.

M4D University Program Coordinator
My involvement with the Institute of Mobile Technologies (IIMT) in Toronto has evolved into somewhat of a Global Program Coordination – as the founder mentioned. In partnership with ITIDO, IIMT will be launching a mobile app development workshop in the next 6 weeks to be followed by a weeklong bootcamp beginning with a local university. Our local partner has expressed the need to train the next generation in M4D and I am excited to have an opportunity to talk and teach m4d.

Photo geek
My wide angle lens is a giveaway of my interest in photography and Tanzania is a wonderful place to photograph. I’ve been asked by friends working in two local NGOs if I’d be willing to shoot photos for them since I enjoy it so much.

Food lover
No matter where I am, I can always find great food. I’ve always enjoyed food tours in various cities, so I pitched the idea of a Dar Food Tour to my friend working with Dar Tourism and got a verbal commit. I’d love to introduce people (and also indulge) in the local eats of Dar es Salaam.

I guess it’s no surprise that this is my longest post to date. Team, I’m so excited about all of the above and want to learn everything I can while I’m here. My heartwork and I have found each other and together, we’ll inch closer to my long term goals. I hope that one day all our heartworks will collide and we’ll find ourselves working together, doing what we love and what we do best.

Peach and love / kris

Dear team,

I am taking a leave from Thinktiv to focus full-time on HourSchool. HourSchool has been gaining lots of interests and traction since our beta launch last month. Balancing a full-time job and full-time school was hard, but balancing a full-time job and trying to build a business at the same time is impossible. “You can’t be a part-time entrepreneur”, as those would say. The amount of mental energy required to switch between tasks, the decision fatigue I was running into, and simply wanting to give HourSchool the time it deserves, this needs to happen. I feel it in my gut.

So uh, hi guys, I guess I’m officially a social entrepreneur now? Entrepreneurship is a loaded word. There are all sorts of hype and baggage that come with that term. They make me cringe so I don’t want to call myself an entrepreneur – it’s weird. All I really want is a way make things happen – the attitude of doing whatever it takes, the spirit of balancing passion and profit, or simply just having a container to hold our idea in. At around this time last year, I made the decision to leave my job to venture into this design world because I wanted to turn vision into reality. This year, here I am again, making another decision to leave my job to venture into this start-up world – because I want to continue to turn vision into reality. It seems like the logical next step.

My friends seriously inspire me and make me a better person. The day when I was having an internal debate whether to go for this or not, that was also the day when Kris was going on a plane, leaving a comfortable life behind, going to Tanzania, working on mobile technologies that are affecting the eradication of malaria, all of this and without knowing “the next step” when she returns home. I thought about the passion and perseverance I’ve seen in her for the last 2 years, and the answer as to whether I’m taking a big risk all of a sudden became a non-issue. Of course there is an inherent risk when you follow your passion, but perhaps there is an even bigger risk if you choose to not follow your passion.

Let’s just start looking at life in one year increments. Career is just a weird thing. It makes you feel like you have to have a defined path, work your way up, have funny titles, or be this one thing for the rest of your life. And when you don’t, the world makes you feel like you’re behind, different, and left out. I am really trying to get over that. These days I use the words “life work”. I have also started looking at these 1-year increments as my “work life”. Making decisions for the next 1-year feels awfully easier than “making the biggest career decision of my life”. So make small decisions, don’t make big decisions. I firmly believe all these 1-year work life pieces will probably somehow someday fit together into this life work of mine for which I won’t know until you know, later.

I’m so frigging proud that we are all taking steps working towards our life work. We have all taken different paths in which we feel are most appropriate for us. We’re no longer just reading about stuff, or saying we’re going to do stuff, but we’re actually doing it. Everyday. It’s just so awesome that we’ve successfully turned “I like the idea of this” into “I’m currently doing this”. I love the work I’m doing. I love being a designer.

Alright. That’s some August updates from Austin. Back to the battlefield

Love & peaches,
Ruby

Dear team,

Jambo! Dar is beautiful. The people are constantly welcoming us with Karibu, the weather is warm with a cool breeze and my cubicle is overlooking the Indian Ocean. And myself, I’m becoming more accustomed to the culture, more excited about the work and being a bit more ok about being away from home as each day passes.

Admittedly, and as is typical with new places, I found myself in sincere withdrawal from all things ‘home’ for the first few days. Although I’ve spent many months overseas and away from home before, this time, for many factors, is different. The Toronto withdrawal was enough to make me question my decision to come here.  I have not had more than a 4h night’s sleep because while my body is in Dar, my mind still straddles between being here and Toronto. Although I shouldn’t be, I compare Tanzania to Malawi, Dar to Toronto, myself now vs myself two years ago. And I also wonder about the short term and the long term. I’ve always been one to have a clear directions, always knowing not the next one, but the next two steps I need to take. However, each day that passes brings to surface new reassurances and signs that Yes, this is right where I need to be. If I’ve stumbled upon any profound revelations in my wakeful hours, I’ve realized that the line between fear and excitement depends on where you draw it.

And so team, I have been given the opportunity to work on developing mobile technologies that not only will, but are, affecting the eradication of malaria in Tanzania. I will be working on three projects, two of which are funded by a public-private partnership between the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Acumen Fund investee, AtoZ (a mosquito net manufactuer). One project involves the development of an e-Voucher program for subsidized mosquito nets using SMS, the second involves tracking the distribution of mosquito nets using SMS, and the third is using Samsung tablets and ODK for the monitoring and evaluation of the two previous projects.

This is what I wanted. Thanks team, for your sincere love, support and encouragement. Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to get on the plane. I would have remained comfortable and in the state of ‘I’ve always wanted to’ instead of ‘I’m going to’.

Also, I’ve been published! Check out the Data Integrity Guide I wrote for FrontlineSMS (no need to read, but please at least comment on the great graphics!). And my last update, M4Drinks Toronto #2 was a repeat success, with 30-40 attendees.

Peaches & love / kris

Note: the above photo is a placeholder of the view from my room. I will soon replace it with the view from my office (:

My family at Lake Louise, Alberta - August 2011

Dear team,

So I have decided to head back to Waterloo for the fall.

After a lot of reflection and trying to figure out next steps in my life, something about returning to Waterloo for the next little while feels right. Only this time, I am returning back to the city where it all began with a lot more experience, but more importantly, a broader perspective of the world and the realistic possibilities and opportunities that are abound.

I also know a lot more about myself—I know exactly what it is that I am capable of having pushed the boundaries of my personal comfort zone numerous times this past year driven by a sense of restlessness as well as a curiosity to explore the world. I have discovered that I am my own worst critic and often times in the past, this has gotten in the way of my own success. One key lesson that I have learned is to ease up a lot more on myself—to strive not to be a perfectionist and to JFDI (a play on Nike’s Just Do It). On this note, I know that there are still a lot of significant areas of improvement in my own personal and professional development, but as the saying goes, it is never too late to be the person you could have been.

Although I can’t say much for the time being as nothing is set in stone yet, I will be working on a number of exciting projects within the Waterloo Region including a number of community building projects similar to TEDxWaterloo and Ignite Waterloo that I have had experience with in the past. I am also hoping to pick up a number of paid freelance consulting gigs or short-term contracts in the Waterloo Region and Toronto areas, so if anyone has any leads, I would sincerely appreciate an introduction.

In the meantime, I will also make sure to set aside dedicated time each week to read, research and complete my MA dissertation with the goal of submitting and graduating with a Masters degree in hand from ISES-Corvinus University of Budapest by the summer of next year. I will treat this as my own personal consulting gig where I am my own boss—this will require a lot of self-discipline and is something that I am prepared for as returning to Europe sooner rather than later is a trip that I am already looking forward to.

There is absolutely no substitute for hard work.

With my youngest sister Lorel about to begin her studies at the University of Calgary in September and my other sister Loubelle about to finish at the University of Western Ontario this coming year, it seems that times when the whole family is together have been limited to 2-3 weeks every summer as well as reunions over the Christmas holidays.

If this past month in Cranbrook has been characterized by a conscious effort not to spend a lot of time ‘online’ doing ‘work’ but instead, spending time with my family hanging out at home as well as on family road trips to Vancouver, Calgary, Lake Louise, Banff and Drumheller, then the next few months back in Waterloo look to be the exact opposite.

Tomorrow morning I embark on another cross-country road trip. This time with the destination of Waterloo, Ontario in mind where I hope to be on Friday.

I can’t wait to create and make magic happen with some amazing people, both in Waterloo Region as well as in Toronto.

My road trip itinerary is listed below. Let’s do this.

Peaches,

Renjie

View Larger Map

• Monday, August 29: Cranbrook, BC to Regina, SK
• Tuesday, August 30: Regina, SK to Winnipeg, MB
• Wednesday, August 31: Winnipeg, MB to Appleton, WI
• Thursday, September 1: Appleton, WI and Chicago, IL
• Friday, September 2: Chicago, IL to Waterloo, ON

Look! We found each other!

Dear team,

This past month, I made a difficult decision that both makes my heart stop and warms it at the same time. In one month from now, I’ll be headed to Tanzania to help develop a mobile health technology and strategy.

Heartstopping
Almost two years ago, I joined the leading firm in Security and Risk consulting with a number of audacious goals. Within 3 days of joining the firm, I was quickly engaged on one of the firm’s high-profile engagement. I failed often, learned quickly and developed technical skills and business acumen that will serve as the foundation for my professional career. I was blessed to be mentored by leaders who would allow me to interrupt their days with my concerns, entrusted me with more opportunities than I deserved or thought I was capable of and supported any ideas I had to blur the lines between profit and for-profit. This decision was heartstopping because it’s risky and incomprehensible. Why would someone give all this up? I’m leaving behind a service offering I’ve been leading, speaking opportunities at the Toronto Board of Trade and a steady paycheque. All this and a recent promotion(!).

I’m leaving behind a promising career, loving friends and family and Toronto restaurants. Am I crazy?

Heartwarming
Also 2 years ago, I had just returned from Malawi and my passion for mobile for development (m4d) quickly grew from an interest I would passively read about, to a passion that I would actively participate in. When I think of this upcoming opportunity, it’s the perfect intersection of not only my passions, but my skills and values. While it was easy for me to explain why this decision makes my heart stop, the simplest explanation for why it warms my heart is that it just does. This opportunity is truly me. It’s m4d, it’s using private resources for public gain and it’s using my core skills to positively effect change.

Perhaps I’m influenced by the footsteps of my much older teammates (just kidding), who have bravely taken large leaps of faith and have left what was comfortable for the unknown. Who left Toronto with equal or greater uncertainty and are now currently travelling the world to speak at conferences and to promote peace.

This is an opportunity that I would forever regret if I didn’t pursue it. It’s an opportunity where I know it’s right because it’s the one that scares me.

Peaches & love / kris

welcome back renjie / we miss you ruby!

Dear team,

Summer in Austin is so hot that my months are melting together. This city is simply amazing, fun, and got creative energy bursting everywhere all the time. Here’s to some june some july updates :]

In the last couple of months, our paper submission was accepted to a conference.
Since that trip got me thinking about interaction design and social change in Hong Kong so much, I googled “social innovation china” and found out about the ICID conference. The theme of the conference this year happened to be “looking at how interaction design is moving beyond human-computer interaction to creating delightful and responsible individual, social, and organizational experiences.” I will be going to Hong Kong again this November to speak about how design should be delightful and responsible.

In the last couple of months, HourSchool went live.
We launched the MVP (minimal viable product) of HourSchool. It’s proven to be very hard to keep up with the momentum without the intense rigorous ac4d schedule and support network. But we knew we needed to put something out there first and keep iterating. We are now stepping back and re-examing the larger picture of what we’re really trying to build, figure out how to gain speed, and most importantly, not losing sight of the social mission.

In the last couple months, I felt well, and happy.

• thought and wrote about what wellness means to me.
• contributed towards a teaching kitchen and a documentary on kickstarter
• went on a full moon midnight bike ride with 300+ people. it was pretty epic.
• cooked chinese food for 11 people before some two steps dancing for a night we called “Far East meets Wild West”, wishing chap and maura farewell as they head off to their 4-month road trip
• climbed lots of rocks out at Reimer’s. i love rock climbing.
• had the best weekend in New York getting my city fix, hung out with my favorite person, saw family and old friends, met new friends, and tasted the best lobster roll I’ve had in my life.
• reminded by care package what amazing friends I have in my life.
• felt very fortunate that the people I work with also happen to be great mentors and great friends.
• met a boy. he’s very sweet. hope y’all get to meet soon.

We say this every month, because it’s important to say it – I would not be where I am without you guys. Cheers to living life to the fullest, being the best we can be, and making a difference to the world.

Love & peaches// ruby

Dear team,

For my June update (and throw in May for good measure), I wanted to share with you a blog post below that I originally published on my own blog, that captures and articulates exactly how I envision my life to be in the years to come. It’s taken me awhile, but I believe I may have just narrowed down my life strategy into one sentence.

It sounds simple enough, and yet, may be harder to pull off in reality (but certainly not impossible!)

For all of the personal struggles and challenges that I have gone through to realize some of my dreams and ambitions these past two years since we first came together back in April 2009, you have all been there every single step of the way, and I wanted to thank you all for that. I am truly excited to see where we all end up 10, 20, 30 and even 40 years from now, as it seems that we are each on our own remarkable personal journeys towards, what Seth Godin calls, running away from the mediocre middle and changing everything.

One of the core values that I really appreciate about this team is how we are all able to support each other, even if we are all separated by vast geographical distances. We also challenge each other to ensure that we ourselves are sure about the individual career and life altering decisions that we’re faced with. But once we’ve made the decision, I know for a fact that we’ve got each other’s back.

Let’s make magic happen!

Peaches & love,

Renjie

***

On the outset of leaving for Canada in just over a week for an ‘extended period of time’ after having spent an incredible year living in Hungary and traveling around the world, meeting and re-connecting with some amazing people along the way in the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates and across Europe, I reached a moment of clarity the other day where it dawned on me that this is the life that I truly want to lead until the day I die: I want to live an interesting life in different places all around the world, but more importantly, I want to make a positive difference in the lives of the people and the communities around me.

I may never have your typical 9-5 office desk job and everything that comes along with it, including the security and stability that so many people dream of. At this point in my life, I am perfectly alright with that. I can handle uncertainty, having pushed myself to the outermost limits of my personal comfort zone when I decided to leave everything I knew behind last year and venture into the unknown to see what I was capable of. All of this in an attempt to make a name for myself somehow. Mixed with some initial fears and overwhelming excitement, this combination is what continues to keep life exciting and rewarding, helping me to move forward towards achieving some of my larger than life dreams and ambitions.

Living in an Age of Uncertainty

The very idea of ‘security’ and ‘stability’ that many people of my generation strive for after recently graduating from university and landing a job, any job, with a steady paycheck in order to keep up with mortgage payments and maintaining a consumer-driven lifestyle, seems all but an illusion to me now. We only have to look closely at the world around us to realize that the world is going through massive upheaval on many different levels, and the scale and level of complexity of this change is unlike anything that we have seen before.

This includes the decline of the industrial revolution where the 80 year long run that brought ever-increasing productivity (and along with it, well-paying jobs for an ever-expanding middle class) is coming to an end. As we speak, the nature of geopolitics in the Middle East and North Africa is being shaken to its core; the global financial crisis is still being felt in many parts of the world today, including Europe with its euro zone debt crisis calling into question the very existence of the European Union itself; rising food prices that are sparking food riots in many countries across the developing world, not to mention the untold millions of people worldwide that go to bed hungry every single day; and the increasing frequency of natural disasters worldwide together with the further degradation of our environment that is leading to unprecedented numbers of climate refugees.

In this day and age where nothing is for certain anymore, not even the world’s energy supply of oil, and where long-held beliefs and assumptions in ideas such as democracy, freedom and the role the media plays in shaping our perception of the world around us, are being challenged and called into question, we are told that the people and organizations who are best able to manage change, diversity and uncertainty, will be the ones who succeed.

I am certainly placing all my bets on this and have come to realize that with this given mindset, so many opportunities do, in fact, exist out there. And if those opportunities somehow do not exist at all, there is simply nothing to stop you from going ahead and creating those opportunities on your own.

To quote Seth Godin,

“Every individual, self-employed or with a boss, is now more in charge of her destiny than ever before. The notion of a company town or a stagnant industry with little choice is fading fast.

Right before your eyes, a fundamentally different economy, with different players and different ways to add value is being built. What used to be an essential asset (for a person or for a company) is worth far less, while new attributes are both scarce and valuable.

Are there dislocations? There’s no doubt about it. Pain and uncertainty and risk, for sure.

The opportunity, though, is the biggest of our generation (or the last one, for that matter). The opportunity is there for anyone (with or without a job) smart enough to take it–to develop a best in class skill, to tell a story, to spread the word, to be in demand, to satisfy real needs, to run from the mediocre middle and to change everything.“

So my question now becomes, how do YOU want to live your life?