The Presentation

Monday morning we met with the Subhalaxmi staff and representative from Access Development Services to present the initial draft business plan. The whole reason for traveling to India was to help them evaluate the feasibility of opening a spice processing plant as a way of establishing a social enterprise and obtain sustainability. You hope that you have captured all the pertinent information, that the recommendations make sense and that the presentation of such goes well. It certainly did. Randy created a short video capturing all the visits we made to members of the value change as part of our research, and two PowerPoint presentations. All I can say is that he nailed it. There was lots of great conversation and they appeared to be totally impressed. Now the numbers showed that their goals are obtainable but not without a lot of hard work starting yesterday and some continued financial support from Vedanta for another 12-18 months, but it was possible. To view the video go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6_leBsMWJQ&feature=g-upl. The presentation done was the first step, the final report will take a few more weeks but the initial presentation and recommendations were a huge success! We had more than met their expectations in our research, process, recommendations and presentation. All those afternoons working away in hotel rooms had really paid off and Randy did a truly outstanding job. One last visit to make to ensure we touch base with all the stakeholders. Vedanta Aluminum Ltd. It was because of their business that Subhalaxmi had first come to be, when they displaced nine villages to build their plant. As part of the displacement of the villagers they are mandated by the government to support the community through Corporate Services Responsibility programs. Their support is scheduled to end March 2013, hence our project! Plus can it be extended one more year???I have never seen anything like it. The company has invested 3 billion dollars (300,000,000,000 rupees) in the plant to date and they still aren't operational. They don't have access to the bauxite. Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. However the complex is simply gigantic. It includes: a township for the employees complete with school, hospital and temples, a hotel and conference center, power plant and roads and roads of warehouses, offices and plant building that I have no idea what they are, and more trucks than I have ever seen in one place. All this protected by intense security. As you entered and exited every section they searched your vehicle. We drove around the complex for what seemed like 45 minutes or more to get to the hotel where we would meet the head of Human Resources for what turned out to be a full three minutes. A good learning experience for us. While the Subhalaxmi staff had a message they wanted us to deliver to Vedanta ( re their success & need for one additional year of support) in the future we will ensure we find out and speak to the value of the partnership for the funding company. While the meeting was short it was very interesting to see the magnitude of the company. Now it was time to celebrate!The staff of Subhalaxmi were planning a special celebration for us as this was truly our last night in Jharsaguda. Not only had we met their expectations in delivering the draft business plan and presentation, we had truly become good friends with the team! They worked hard to provide us with all the information we required, arranged a multitude of visits and even took us sight seeing. We have never felt so taken care off, appreciated and respected and now they want to have a small party for us. We waited outside their office( remembered most of the team works and lives at the office) while they prepared for the evening. Table clothes, snacks and chicken like they prepare in their homes not restaurant food. We were truly impressed. We ate, sang songs, danced and laughed. Everyone let loose and really got into the spirit of celebration. Even the quietest members of the team were up dancing and having so much fun. I haven't laughed so hard for a long time and am sure I had a permanent smile On my face when we left that evening. During the evening they presented Randy with a shirt made from the official pattern of Orissa and for me material to have a dress made the next morning before we left. We were totally and completely moved to tears. As promised at 9 am the next morning they were there to pick me up so that I could get measured and have a dressed stitched for me. One of the wife's joined us and helped with the decisions and then invited us back to their flat for tea. The flat consisted of two bedrooms and a kitchen, so we sat on the edge of the bed as we enjoyed our tea and their hospitality. The interesting difference from tea in Canada was that while we had tea and cookies our hosts had none. When we were done a second members wife asked if we would come to tea at her flat next. So we went down a small path to her flat and again enjoyed tea and cookies while the family talked to us. We were so honored and believe that both families felt honored to have us visit their homes. Only three members of the Subhalaxmi team have their families living with them in Jharsaguda. The oher seven all live at the office and travel home every few weeks to visit their families. Not the type of relationship I would like but they do what is right for them and their families. Tonight we leave on the night train for Kolkata. This time we have booked air conditioned, two tier so we should both have room to turnover without hitting our heads and hopefully get some sleep before arriving in Kolkata at 4am......