Inspired by Danica Ilaneta, “The Arc of Support”
I’ve never thought about how the knowledge we learned at school would actually be applied to the real life. All those business concepts and theories, even the huge piece of business model canvas sound totally unrelated to anything but assignments. I’ll never thought about using the knowledge from school to interact, or even help a business. However, the presentation of Arc Initiative last week has, indeed, terminated my thoughts.
The Arc Initiative project is definitely not a “lets save Africa” project that any NGO in the world could easily accomplish, it indeed establishes a bridge between students in Sauder and business entrepreneurs in Africa, helps them set up more coherent plans using current knowledge from school. It provides a environment that students are really being part of, by living, staying and talking with all those young and passionate entrepreneurs in Africa. One thing that interests me a lot would be Tesfaye Mekonnen and his banana paper. It is a brand new product in Africa’s paper market, and very cost-efficient and eco-friendly. Being made out of different parts of banana trees, this kind of paper would have a variety of colour selection and unique look compared to wood papers.
I was surprised by how creative those entrepreneurs in the program were, and different stories they shared about their businesses. However, what attract me even more would be the combination of learning a brand new culture as well as the application of knowledge learned back school. The Arc Initiative would really become the arc that connects Sauder students and all those brilliant people on the other side of the world.
References:
http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative
https://startanevolution.ubc.ca/projects/the-arc-initiative/
http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/Global_Reach/ARC_Initiative
http://www.sauder.ubc.ca/News/2012/Sauders_Arc_Initiative_mentors_entrepreneurs_in_Ethiopia