Kaizen

The guesthouse was great. It had a fridge, a cooker, a cold shower, even a water dispenser. Even better the rains had come so it was cooler than normal, still hot though, 24 C. Stephen called for me about 8:30am and we went to meet the bosses, Mr Seifeit and Mr Kivulli, and the rest of the Bombolulu gang who were all at a Kaizen meeting. Kaizen is a Japanese manufacturing methodology based on continuous improvement. We spent the morning reviewing the approach and reciting the Kaizen creed….because I was new I was honored with the task of reciting it and having the others repeat. We were divided into task groups. I would be working on stores/inventory improvements.

The rest of the day was spent in the storeroom moving inventory, red tagging old inventory and reviewing the inventory analysis tools with one of the Kaizen guys. They needed a summary of the last 12 months consumption so I spent until 7pm with Stephen working on getting the information from Sage to Excel and into MS Access for analysis.

The following day, Saturday, was more of the same with a wrap up meeting in the evening to review and set improvement activities for the next month and beyond. It was all very intense and I wasn’t yet sure were I fitted into the operation.

I strolled around Bombolulu and tried to properly orientate myself. There are a number of workshops, jewellery being the biggest, with tailoring, wood carving and leather. Also there is a cultural centre, with a stage for the cultural show, a restaurant, and a number of tribal huts from all over Kenyan and Africa. Near by there is a showroom/shop stocking Bombolulu and other Kenyan made crafts. APDK (Association for People with Disabilities Kenyan), the mother organization, also have offices on the compound. Behind the shop was the football pitch, and just beyond that was the Zimmerman guesthouse, my home for the next year.

As I cooked up a storm (pilau rice and vegetable curry) I felt a pang of homesickness. I’d be calling Johnny or Chicken man about now to see if they were around for a few pints. I thought, “I could fry an egg on the rocks, if I had an egg”, and laughed to myself. I was most probably dehydrated.

M.

Cultural Learning
When you go to shoot a goat sometimes you find a better target. – Swahili saying, badly translated by me.