Adventures in the Creation of Sustainable Business

Heading Home

2009-08-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Kat and Anni have arrived safe and sound back in the US, while Wade finishes up one last week in Lima. On the home front, Anni and Kat are preparing the receipts we collected of every purchase we made while in Lima to present to Philanthropiece - who kindly provided the funding for our trip.

The aquaponic system in Kat's back yard is in full production! The broccoli has already been harvested (and was delicious, according to Sam), and there are tomatoes and peppers on the vine, ripening in the hot Colorado sun. The marigolds act as a natural pest repellent, and make it a little easier on the eyes...

Wrapping it up!

2009-07-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Our time in Lima is quickly coming to an end. But before we go - we are squeezing in as much as possible! In Kat's last days in Peru, she has been conducting research at local grocery stores, and running a follow-up workshop with the tuberculosis patients in Pachacutec, Ventanilla. Aquaponics experts, and Organic Oasis partners, Tito and Jan Craff, attended the workshop as well. Tito did a great job of explaining aquaponics, and getting the families excited about building their own systems. Organic Oasis will have to continue this partnership from afar, but can rest easy knowing Tito will guide them well!

Moving Right Along....

2009-07-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Anni held a workshop for ISEAT, a partner organization of PRISMA working with tuberculosis patients in the community of Ventanilla (slums of Lima). There she presented the acuaponics project and held a workshop to start their own systems. This group of 15 families committed to taking on the aquaponics challenge to help feed their families! PRISMA will be providing loans for the community members to get started and Organic Oasis will be assisting in helping them to evolve as a small enterprise. On Monday, Kat will be holding a follow-up organizational meeting. We are thrilled to be able to team up with this community and others to come! Tomorrow Kat and Anni are making a presentation to the Rotary club here in Peru and then meeting with some more Peace Corps Volunteers.

Wade Unleashed!

2009-07-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Wade was sent on an errand by the group and had a very successful time meeting with two Peace Corps Volunteers and their town members in Bolivar, Peru. Bolivar is a small mountain town in a sub-tropical climate in the north of the country. Wade found it to be simple, peaceful, and quite beautiful.

The highlights of the trip included a 3-hour tour of some potential spots for a system with the town mayor and a very interested farmer named Manuel. In addition, Dave and Mike organized a town meeting, where Wade was able to pitch the idea of building a pilot system to 14 town leaders. After conducting a presentation (thanks for the translation Mike and Dave), running some focus group activities, and answering questions. The group gave unanimous support to going forward with a search for land, funds, and people dedicated to running the system. Wade, Dave, and Mike were all very pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

Next steps include connecting Bolivar with a Peruvian support team that understand construction and aquaponics, following up with the in-town research station of a local university to probe interest in supporting the system, and form a committee dedicated to writing the funding proposal and supervising construction. Dave and Mike will have their hands full, but they will have the full support and partnership of Organic Oasis.

Colorado, Lima and Beyond!

2009-07-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Wade and Anni attended a meeting with IPES- Promotion for Sustainable Development. After pitching the idea of aquaponics, the boardroom became very excited and informed us that they would like to see our systems filled with strawberries in Colombia! Gunther, Director of Latin American Programs, invited us to join him on August 13^th to build their first system. And the expansion begins!

To be continued…

Connecting the Dots!

2009-07-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Anni and Wade met with some Peace Corps Volunteer Coordinators to explore even more possibilities and received an invitation to lead training with community host representatives. They then made their way to visit the system at the Colegio Roosevelt and chatted with the gardeners to catch up on the maintenance. Looks like everything is running smoothly and will be set for the students when they return from winter vacation. Finally, Anni and Wade rushed to see Tito, our technical advisor for an afternoon meeting to discuss his position as a técnico for Organic Oasis. After receiving some valuable info and sealing our partnership, Anni, Kat and Wade had diner with Kat’s parents and Heather (GSSE Student). One long and productive day with a happy ending!

Busy as Bees!

2009-07-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well - Anni and Kat made it out of the Amazon (after making friends with the local Shaman, Don Ramon, an Achual Indian), and Wade made it off the mountain (after biking above 10,000 ft all day)! And as our team tends to do, we hit the ground running.

Yesterday, we prepared for our marathon meetings today, starting with a workshop for a group of teachers from a poor community outside Lima who came to learn about our system and provide us with some valuable market research about their town. They loved the system, and we had a great time getting to know them!

After that, Anni and Kat went to another meeting with Prisma, and came to agreement to move forward with the project supporting the tuberculosis patients! In the next few months we hope to get another system up and running with them. Wade has been working on the system at the school, and putting together numbers for a meeting with an Urban Agriculture NGO tomorrow. As tired as we all are, progress still feels pretty good!

To the north and back again...

2009-07-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

We arrived back in Lima safe and sound this afternoon after a 17-hour bus ride from Cajamarca. The Pacasmayo Marathon was a success in many ways - Anni beat her personal best time and came in 2nd place, Wade networked with Peace Corps volunteers, and Kat stumbled across a hydroponic lettuce company!

From the coast, our happy team headed into the hills, and spent two days exploring the beautiful mountain city of Cajamarca.

This fertile landscape is home to two eager Peace Corps volunteers who may install an aquaponic system at their site under our guidance.

One month down - one to go!

2009-07-03T13:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went with PRISMA to a workshop that focused on team work as well as how to prevent and treat Tuberculosis. Anni and Kat made friends by showing off their stellar Spanish, while Wade won them over as photographer. We hope to help these humble families improve their nutrition and increase their income with their very own aquaponics system!

Tonight we head 12 hours north to Pacasmayo, where a Peace Corps Volunteer is organizing a marathon - (Anni and Wade are running in it, and Kat is volunteering as a water table captain). Will also be a great opportunity to network! Before we head out, however, we went to the school to check on our system. So far so good!

Final Touches

2009-07-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today we put the finishing touches on our system! We got 6 male tilapia, 20 lettuce plants, and 5 strawberry plants from the Agricultural University, and fixed all the leaks. We left it in the eager hands of Pedro, the head groundskeeper at the school, who will care for it while we travel north for the next 15 days to Pacasmayo and Cajamarca.

We were also sent this encouraging picture of our original system, still going strong in Kat's back yard. Not even multiple hail storms can slow it down!

Progress, Padre Jose, and PRISMA

2009-06-30T13:37:00.000-07:00

Now that we have a system in place, we are eager to show it off! So, on Saturday, we jumped on a city bus and took it to the end of the line, to the community of la Portada de Manchay, high up in the sand dunes above Lima. We presented aquaponics to the priest, and will bring members of his community to visit our system at the school. Not only will we get great market research from their feedback, we will hopefully inspire them to buy their own system!

On top of that, we just returned from a very positive meeting with PRISMA, where we began to develop a partnership with them. We hope to bring aquaponic systems to recovering tuberculosis patients, and create a strawberry business in the sandy slums surrounding Lima! Here are Wade and Anni with Dr. Claudio Roncha Calderon, the Coordinator of the Project, and the Director of MicroFinanzas PRISMA, Dr. Diego Fernandez Concha Murazzi, showing off the future product.

Seeing is believing!

2009-06-26T19:39:00.000-07:00

We had more help than we needed, and both creativity and water flowed! All in all, a fabulous day! The pictures will tell the story:

BEFORE:

DURING:

AFTER:

Building the System

2009-06-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we began building the system! We purchased all the parts and brought them over to the school, and explained them to the 7th grade science class as well as the gardeners who will be helping maintain the system. After getting over their initial skepticism, and agreeing to move the system out of their prized lawn, they quickly began sharing ideas and excitement. Everyone we have met is intrigued by the idea, and eager to see it in action. Today we will connect the tubes and get the water running!

Moving forward

2009-06-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

We have had a productive week here in cloudy Lima. We have met twice now with a PhD student writing his dissertation on aquaponics, and he has been a tremendous help on the technical side of our system. Tomorrow, we begin purchasing the parts for the system and will install it this weekend at the school! We also have begun conducting some surveys with local corner store owners - such as Fran, in the photo with Kat and Anni. We asked if he wanted to take a picture with Wade, but he said he preferred the girls! :)

A partnership formed!

2009-06-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about our team is the variety of strengths we bring to the table. Anni's, for example, is as a magnetic sponge for contacts. On a jog with a running group here in Lima, she met the Director of Facilities and Development of the American School of Lima (Colegio Roosevelt). Yesterday, we visited the campus, presented our idea, and collectively agreed on a site for our pilot system! Middle school science teachers will be incorporating the system into their curriculums next year, and help us gather data to record the progress! Now we will get to work designing the system based on materials available here in Lima.

Hydoponics in Lima!

2009-06-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today we ventured out onto the public buses and found our way to the National Agrarian University of La Molina. They are home to the Hydroponic Research Center, run by our host, Alfredo Rodriguez Delfin. They sell what they produce, and students have the opportunity to conduct research on plant types, fertilizers, and soil/substrate options for hydroponic production. Pretty impressive, and a fabulous contact for us!

Mi Casa es Tu Casa

2009-06-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

Team Organic Oasis - together at last! Tim arrived safely to Lima, and we moved into our downtown apartment! After getting the lay of the land, making a trip to the grocery store, signing the lease, and unpacking - we finally feel settled in Lima. Right on time, too, because tomorrow we start presenting our idea to potential project partners, and we hope to begin building a system soon.

From Rags to Riches

2009-06-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we had a fabulous visit to one of the women's groups that loans money from PRISMA - some of which is financed by kiva.org. This is a picture of the neighborhood where they lived - wonderful loving people who fed us cakes and cookies and had sprinkled their sandy floor for us so it wouldn't be so dusty. They have been lending money and paying it off on time consistently for years.

Today however - was quite the opposite. From the Kola Real soda and beer plants to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then on to the ESAN Business University. We have met so many contacts and had so many offers for help in our research, that we are very optimistic. Tomorrow we move into our new home!

The Real Lima

2009-06-08T17:47:00.000-07:00

Today was a great introduction to our target market! We went out to the outskirts of Lima to visit some business owners and learn about the informal economies that have developed in the last 20 years, and have been legalized with the help of policy changes instigated by Hernando de Soto's organization ILD. Below are pictures of the neighborhood we visited - Villa El Salvador, and Anni and Kat with ILD's VP of International Operations.

Day 1 in Lima

2009-06-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

Anni and Kat arrived safely to Lima, and spent today exploring this historical city. We had lunch at a spectacular seafood restaurant and ate more kinds of ceviche than we knew existed! After that, we went on a city tour and saw all the major sites in Lima, including the Plaza Mayor, the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral, and San Fransisco's Monastery complete with terrifying catacombs!

Ended the day with the sun setting over the Pacific.

Tomorrow we will begin to find an apartment!

Lima here we come!

2009-06-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

And we are off! Anni and Kat leave tomorrow morning, and will meet up in Lima at 10:50pm! The CSU Executive MBA group graciously invited us to join them on their visits to local businesses and organizations in Lima. In between dinners at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and tours of the urban slums surrounding Lima with ILD, Anni and Kat will be finding a suitable apartment for the next 2 months!

We are leaving our blossoming aquaponics system in the capable hands of Kat's fiance, Sam, who will send us occasional photos documenting the growth.

Preparing for the Summer!

2009-05-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

The semester is over, and we are preparing for departure! Unfortunately, due to the Swine Flu, we will not be traveling to Baja, Mexico, as originally planned. Two weeks ago, we started developing a contingency plan to Lima, Peru, and today, that has become our reality. Anni and Kat leave June 5, and Wade will join them on June 13. In Lima, we will be surveying our target market, building a prototype system, researching the supply chain, and networking with universities, micro-finance institutions, and government officials. Our goal is to come back from Lima with all the information we need to make Organic Oasis a go!

In the meantime - we have been busy here in Fort Collins finishing up the semester, sending our business plan off to competitions, and building an aquaponics system! Not only did we come in 2nd place in a GSSE competition, we were also selected as one of 20 finalists to the CU Denver competition. Not to mention our system is running like a charm!

The great FLIPFLOP!

2009-02-28T14:06:00.001-08:00

We are turning from tourism and approaching aquaponics! Our first major business plan meeting will be this Sunday. Results should include an executive summary of our idea, a name, provisional logo, and possibly preliminary financial projections. We have found some great research about the effectiveness of growing fish and vegetables together, for instance…

· Requires 10% of the water used in traditional farming!
· Uses 70% of the energy needed for traditional farming!
· Capable of growth rates 3 times faster than traditional farming!
· Capable of outputs 8-10 times greater than traditional farming!
· USDA certified organic produce!

Welcome!

2008-12-30T16:58:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

As we start TipToe Travel, we want to open up a space where we can give updates, debrief our experiences, and share all we are learning and seeing!

More to come...

Enjoy!

TipToe Travel
Anni, Kat, and Tim