With all the recent developments in the Tabora project there are many new habits we’re trying to instill. Generally the past few shifts been going well. The largest difficulty for the partners is our new pumzica (rest) rotation. We’re having the partners go home for an hour during the shift in order to make lunch for themselves and their families. This eliminates the number of children in and around the kitchen during the shift, as well as keeps the partners from cooking lunch during the shift. There have been instances where partners have decided not to take their pumzica shift but will have food brought to them later. The hope is that with more micromanagement these small occurrences will be less frequent and the rotations will be used as intended.
Another issue that I’ve been seeing these past few cooking shifts is having the partners who are supposed to stay in the storage room, sneaking into the kitchen and cooking. This goes along with the partners desire to have everyone feeling the heat of the kitchen in order to be fair. However, We’ve seen that in the past this leaves leeway for error and it is a habit we are trying to veer away from. The good news is that when I do ‘catch’ them, they realize right away that what they’re doing is against the new system procedures and they’re quick to head back to the storage room.
I understand that change is difficult and it’s not easy for the women to change habits they’ve been practicing for the past few years. The difficult part is going to be to prove them that there is value in the changes we’re proposing.
A highlight of the week is that we’re using a lot less oil! A LOT less. While it’s taken quite a bit of micromanaging on my end, it’s proving to be working really well. Our profits will hopefully show huge advances during profit calculation. Also we’ve been receiving large orders these past few weeks. One buyer received 200 bags on Friday and again on Monday. This is really exciting for our hope for growth.
2Seeds Network's Tabora Project 