Abdur-Rahim Syed

Ghana 2007

I spent this past January in Ghana volunteering for Amend.org, a scrappy and effective NY-based non-profit dedicated to reducing childhood road injury in Africa – the number one cause of death and disability in Africa for the 5-21 age bracket. I left Ghana a little humbler, a little prouder, and much enriched. Volunteering abroad made me realize how diverse the human experience can be, how I can make a difference for others and for myself, and how hungry I’ve become to go back.

My three fellow MIT MBA students and I sought to solve a problem familiar to most non-profits: cash flow. We designed an earned income initiative that will export premium dark Ghanaian chocolate, helping Ghana climb the value chain of chocolate production and helping Amend.org CEO Jeffrey Witte concentrate on childhood road injury prevention programs, not on constant fundraising. We researched the market, negotiated with chocolate producers and shippers, and designed the supply chain. The plan remains on schedule: fundraising to kick-start the initiative continues and the first order is soon to be placed.

Sounds productive? You have no idea. Ghana was like no other place I had ever been to. We’d order food at a restaurant and then wait up to an hour for it to appear. Our base of operations was a literal internet shack down a dirt road. A couple of meetings would consume the whole day – the clock ticks much slower in Ghana. And yet the people smile – wide, carefree grins to write home about. Pleasantries held real meaning, hospitality was much more than a byword, and perhaps for the first time I felt like a guest, not a tourist.

Please visit Amend.org ; Jeffrey Witte, the CEO, can be reached at jwitte@amend.org.