Preparation

In 2 days 5 Babson MBAs, 4 Babson Ugrads, 2 Olin College Engineers, and a Babson Professors will embark on a 30 hour journey to Entebbe, Uganda. Upon arrival we will meet up with Anand Virmani a Babson Ugrad who is flying in from India, and Rita Kuwahara who is a Wellesley Ugrad who will be arriving early and joining us in Kampala. Each of these students: Emmanuel Mukwaya, Stefanie Lang, Matthew Ace Brown, Minea Moore, John Mecham, Meredith McLeod-Sears, Anand Virmani, Sarah Sukumaran, Alex Souza Lopez, Matthew Boynton, Benjamin Salinas, Eric Munsing, Rita Kuwahara and Professor Thomas Sullivan will be taking part in BGOE's second trip, marking the organization's second year. A little over 1 year ago, in response to the December '04 Tsunami that devastated many areas in South East Asia, 2 students Michael Pearlmutter & Jason Dumbar wanted to do something; anything to help the victims. What they had to give was their entrepreneurship education obtained through the Babson MBA program. So they set out on an effort that included 6 other students and Professor Sullivan to visit Seenigama, Sri Lanka in hopes that they could build on the desire of local entrepreneurs to build a new life. After weeks of preparation and writing business plans then 2 weeks of building relations, learning and consulting all the students and many of the entrepreneurs gathered in one room in Seenigama to discuss what had transpired in such a short time. The results were incredible! Several of the local entrepreneurs dubbed the Babson students that helped them as miracle workers. These entrepreneurs had the micro-capital to help them start businesses, but still lacked the know-how. These students offered what these entrepreneurs needed most at that moment. Due to a relatively new travel warning in Sri Lanka we were unable to return this year. But as soon as the travel warning is lifted in Sri Lanka we hope to one day return and continue to work with the entrepreneurs we worked with 1 year ago. In the mean time we will begin to put our roots down in Uganda - a place that has been named as one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world (Babson GEM Report) and we will continue to improve our reach. Under the name "Global Outreach through Entrepreneurship" (GOE) we will one day become an organization that will connect NGOs in developing countries interested in economic development to the underutilized human capital lying dormant in college campuses across the world. Students stand willing and able to make a meaningful impact through accredited courses at their respective colleges. It's hoped that one day studetns, faculty, alumni networks and local universities will all partner in this worldwide collegiate volunteer effort to build healthy communities through sound entrepreneurship principles. As a team we look forward to being involved in this effort and blogging about it over the coming weeks, and hope that anybody that reads this blog will join us!