Dear Dalitso

Everyday lessons for tomorrow

Prisoner of Hope (Part 3)

I was young and now I am getting older. In my life, I have made both good and bad decisions. Along the way, I have learnt several important lessons around money, joy, and contentment. I come from a background of poverty, so I had no real point of reference in my family. Almost all the lessons I have learnt about capital accumulation have come either from the church or independent research and let me quickly add that I am still learning. One of the most valuable lessons to date is the teaching/wisdom in Proverbs 24:27 (Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field, and afterwards build thine house)

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January 15, 2024

Letter #33

Prisoner of Hope (2)

We are already way into 2024. In fact, the countdown of the number of days left in the year has already begun. So, what will you be in 2024? I urge you to consider being a prisoner of hope (see previous letter). I will use this quote from Jeff Bezos to summarize the essence of the previous letter. 'Complaining is not a strategy'. You must work with the world as you find it, not as you would have it be.

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January 12, 2024

Letter #32

A brand-new Opportunity

Opportunities come in many ways, which could be financial, relational, position, or time. A new year is always a brand-new opportunity or maybe shall we call it a brand-new canvas. It is a new year with unlimited possibilities. It is literally up to you to decide what you make of it. In this 3-part letter, I will look at what a new year means.

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January 3, 2024

Letter #31

Be Careful about the company you keep.

Yesterday we were invited to a private dinner purely by accident/chance. We booked for dinner at our lodge, but it turns out that out of the other 36 guests we were the only ones who made the booking for the meal. The chef was also organizing a dinner for a private party. Smart guy thought to just include us in the private party, hopefully after consulting with the big boss who was hosting the party. It was a lovely and a welcome surprise for me and the family.

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December 18, 2023

Letter #30

Moments of Doubt

I have my own moments of doubt. Am I doing enough? Am I doing the right thing? Am I in the right place? I have always believed that my mission is to fight poverty. But at times it looks so presumptuous when I put it that way. It’s like something (the devil) taunting me and asking who are you to think you can fight poverty? Remember this- poverty has been our permanent condition for many years. I have argued that the common thread behind oppressive systems is greed. The converse of that situation is that the common thread of the oppressed existence is poverty. My doubt is in the tools that we use to fight poverty. To others maybe we should share the little we have- give what we have to others. That may work- but is there enough to go around.

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December 12, 2023

Letter #29

Big Dreams

There are moments in history where fidgeting on the edges will not cut it. These are the days of seemingly insurmountable wicked problems. Where development (in whatever form) is under threat. There are more people falling into poverty than getting rich. We are in trouble. Our unemployment figures are too high. We face the return of nineteenth century diseases. Our cities are becoming like growth points. Others have given up and are urging young people to leave the country.

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November 24, 2023

Letter #28

Chenga Wose Mananga Hapana Risina Mhonzi (There is not a pumpkin without seeds, so value them all)

Chenga Wose Mananga Hapana Risina Mhonzi (There is not a pumpkin without seeds, so value them all). This is a deep Shona proverb. It literally means all pumpkins regardless of size are worth collecting from the field. At the very least, their seeds could be put to good use. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this proverb/saying is now available on the internet. I have learnt to apply the wisdom contained over the years. My take is- do not be too quick to discard/disregard a team member, an opportunity or a partnership based on the immediate disappointment. It is possible that at first you may not find what you were expecting from a person (member of staff). It could have been a rash decision to hire.

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November 22, 2023

Letter #27

No Shortcuts to Progress

The title is borrowed from Gorman Hyden’s classic on development challenges in Africa. In the process of building anything you will realize that there are indeed no short cuts to progress. We have come up with all sorts of hacks- but truth be told building an organization is not an overnight process and cannot be hacked. It is a complex process involving people (with different personalities and skills), financial resources (from various sources with different reporting/accountability requirement), a set of ideas, processes, and ways of working. These are stand-alone pieces that need to be brought together into a symphony.

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November 13, 2023

Letter #26

Where is the Profit?

A businessman who wanted to invest in our organization asked me a simple question-how does your organization make a profit. I stammered, stuttered, and mumbled something incoherent. I must say I had not thought about ‘profit’- especially financial returns. It’s a word that is alien in our work except when used in its negative- ‘non-profit’. A challenge of sorts especially when we consider that we set up our whole sector as focused on being non-profit.

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November 10, 2023

Letter #25

The Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

A day may come when you must make an important decision such as where will you live; will it be in your country of birth or elsewhere. We live in uncertain times or an era of uncertainty and this is most likely to continue for the next couple of decades. The grass almost always looks greener on the other side today. Fun fact though- the other side always remains even when you have crossed to the other side and tomorrow it may look like you have walked away from a place where the grass was just about to shoot. Many of us have had to deal with the question ‘…should I go, or should I stay’? The second question is usually What am I missing out on by moving or by staying

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November 8, 2023

Letter #24

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