Change the world with Musana Carts! / Changez le monde avec les chariots Musana !

Wow! This is what remained in my mind after the Musana Cart Networking Event. Musana do you remember what is it? In two previous articles I talked about the Hult Prize and Keisuke, one of the founders of Musana. Musana is a start-up created by three people of my Master of Social Entrepreneurship program. They are passionate, they are dreamers, and they are doers. Six months ago they started to work on a project to compete for the Hult Prize. In September, they will compete against five other teams during the Hult Prize finals. Today they have some prototypes of their solar powered carts that are being tested in Uganda. They have been working relentlessly to realize their dream. They have been working hardly to impact the lives of street vendors, but why should I continue talking when you can look? 

During the Musana Cart Networking Event, the team updated us on their journey. They continue to improve the Musana Carts based on feedbacks of the street vendors. They started an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign and through the support of other MSE students, families and friends, they have been able to raise $14,000 in just two days. But it doesn’t stop here. They need you to reach the $25,000 necessary to build more performant carts. You can donate as low as $5. You can share this article, share Musana’s story and contribute to change the world. As I already said, these 3 guys inspire me and I hope they will inspire you too to pursue your craziest dreams. 

Changez le monde avec les chariots Musana !

Waouh! C’est ce qui m’est resté à l’esprit apres le Networking Event de Musana. Vous vous souvenez de Musana ? Dans deux articles precedents j’ai parlé du Hult Prize et de Keisuke, l’un des co-fondateurs de Musana. Musana est une start-up créée par trois personnes de mon programme de Master en Entrepreneuriat Social. Ils sont passionnés, ils sont rêveurs, et ils agissent. Il y a six mois, ils ont commencé à travailler sur ce projet pour le Hult Prize. En Septembre, ils seront en compétition contre cinq autres équipes lors de la finale du Hult Prize. Aujourd'hui, ils ont quelques prototypes de leurs chariots alimentés à l’énergie solaire qui sont testés en Ouganda. Ils ont travaillé sans relâche pour réaliser leur rêve. Ils ont travaillé ardemment pour améliorer la des vendeurs de rue, mais pourquoi devrais-je continuer à parler quand vous pouvez regarder? 

Pendant le Networking Event de Musana, l'équipe nous a mis à jour sur leur aventure. Ils continuent d’améliorer les Musana Carts en fonction des évaluations des clients. Ils ont commencé une campagne de crowdfunding sur Indiegogo et grâce à l'appui d'autres étudiants du programme, aux familles et amis, ils ont été en mesure de lever 14 000 $ en seulement deux jours ! Mais ça ne s’arrête pas là. Ils ont besoin d'atteindre 25.000 $ pour construire des chariots plus performants. Vous pouvez faire un don aussi bas que 5 $. Vous pouvez partager cet article, partager l'histoire de Musana et contribuer à changer le monde. Comme je l'ai déjà dit, ces 3 étudiants m’inspirent et j'espère qu'ils vous inspireront également à poursuivre vos rêves les plus fous.

Challenge the slums with the Hult Prize!

“If you can create a real business, the beginning of a prototype, you can change the world.”

Muhammad Yunus - Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Last Saturday was the internal competition of the Hult Prize at the San Francisco campus of Hult International Business School. In case you never heard about the Hult Prize, it is the world largest student competition for social good. It was initiated in 2009 by Ahmad Ashkar, a former MBA student of the Hult International Business School. Every year, the team with the best idea (chosen by the judges) to tackle a specific global issue receives $1 million to develop a social enterprise. This year, the challenge is Crowded Urban Spaces. 

Started at 9:15am, the competition saw the participation of sixteen teams of three or four members from undergraduates to MBA students. The teams where divided into four groups and presented their innovative ideas to “build sustainable, scalable, and fast growing social enterprises that double the income of 10 million people residing in crowded urban spaces, by better connecting people, goods, services and capital.” The public could not have access to the first pitches of the day but after that round he judges chose a winner per room for the finals. 

One of of the final four with the idea of using dechets to create building blocks: Team Jengo

After the lunch, the jury announced the winning team per room and right after hearing their name, the members of each team had 10 minutes to convince all the judges that they were the best to represent the school at the regionals. At that point, every detail could have made a difference and it actually did… I was glad to see that two of the teams in the final round were from the Master of Social Entrepreneurship program and that the winning team was one of them. Composed of students from France, Uganda, Japan and India, Slum Dunk made the difference with their Musana Carts. 

Taliey Bita facebook account

Slum Dunk developed the idea of providing simple and affordable, modular and solar powered business carts to street vendors in Kampala, Uganda. The goal is to provide street vendors with access to energy, capacity and mobility in order to double their income and empower them by facilitating infrastructures within the informal economy. 

Group hug for the winning team: Slum Dunk

I believe that one of the reasons why Slum Dunk won the competition was the considerable amount of researches they have done and the feedbacks they got from their targeted population. As I already mentioned in my previous article also about tackling the issue of slums, it is not just about providing a solution, it is about bringing something that people would be interested in. And in order to have an effective solution, the people directly concerned have to be part of the process to find that solution.

Winning Team: Slum Dunk

The other teams also had great ideas that they can proofread and present again online for a chance to continue the journey. If you want to learn more about the Hult Prize, previous challenges and winners, or how you can participate, please feel free to check the website.

One the final four, all from the MSE program: Team Synergy

The most energetic team and holding the second place: Team Chakravyuh