ROI

This post is about investing. It is not a rant about how the financial institutions got away with breaking the financial back of the working class. Nor is it a diatribe about the over-mortgaged middle and lower middle class that got rescued from the errors of their ways. Nor will I complain about how those of us who didn’t have credit card debt, didn’t have a high-risk mortgage or didn’t take positions on both sides of risky deal got no break from the federal government. No, that’s not what I’m thinking about.

I’m actually thinking about old-fashioned, long-term investment. The kind that financial advisors strongly advocate for…steady, consistent investment that produces a positive yield over time and hopefully provides supplementary income when it’s needed.

Capital is often spoken of as financial, human, intellectual and even social. Nowadays, it’s tossed around in corporations to describe the investment that employees make of themselves. Today,.it felt like all the capital we have invested had a tremendous return.

Over the past five months, it has often seemed as though the project was going nowhere. We were unable to move forward on construction because we had no title to the land. We were unable to raise money because we couldn’t demonstrate that we were making progress with the building…because we didn’t have a title and couldn’t start. We have been diligently and carefully building a website, which is ready to launch except that we are awaiting our certification from PayPal. We have had meeting after meeting but only a few of them produced tangible outcomes, usually in the form of yet another person that we need to meet. Every aspect of the project seems to have been blocked by something. Nonetheless, Nathalie and Paul and I pushed forward: meeting people, showing up, talking about the dream of a healthier Senegal. The obstacles have been many; the victories few. We have been very frustrated, and at times, I personally have wondered if my five-month investment has been worth it.

This week, after two weeks to think about the situation while Nathalie and Paul vacationed, we collectively put our heads together and decided to put the hospital facility aside and to refocus on our mission, which is to deliver healthcare. We don’t need a building in order to deliver healthcare. We need to be wherever the need is…where the people with diseases, injuries, pregnancies, newborns and chronic health issues are. In order to meet those needs, we need a vehicle, a doctor, a nurse and medical supplies.

So we’ve refocused on field operations, delivering care where care is needed in the rural area around Bargny. As we demonstrate our efficiency in this new model, we will win funders and friends who will help us build the hospital. But most important, we won’t let a building…or the lack of a building…stand in the way of our mission. The change of direction has made us giddy with excitement. We have a garage full of medical supplies, we have cash for hiring a physician and nurse, we have contacts that can help us procure a vehicle. And best of all, we have the blessing of the Ministry of Health! Today we met with the secretaire generale to the minister and got an endorsement, encouragement and direction about the next steps we need to take.

He complimented us for all the work we’ve already undertaken, noting specifically that we have met all the right people and produced all the right documents. He likes our plan, our thinking about mobile care and our determination. Our return on investment is growing.