The Final Day

And on the 11^th day, the ADE Ghana team rested. We spent the first half of the day at the beach, eating and goofing around. From there we went to the market and put our negotiation skills to the test. Satisfied with our findings, we returned to the IDE offices and kicked back, and that night we made curry and ate our last meal together as we planned our journeys to the airport.

With that our trip drew to a close. Since arriving 11 days ago, we sold a grater of the new design, refurbished one already deployed, expanded our contact book of potential buyers, and co-designed press interaction with our users. We also thoroughly tested and validated the name of the grater, defined more clearly the grater’s role in chop bars, and investigated the possibility of mobile money payments and franchise modeling.

Looking ahead, we really need to finish deploying the grater venture, so that we can focus on the press more. To do so, the next team must focus more on sourcing, quality control, and larger scale manufacture and distribution. Regarding the press, we gained a lot of information that will be applied to the next iteration of the press, so that we’ll definitely have one for Auntie Akosua next trip.

Jianhan enjoying the beach

The team (minus Ben)

Off to the Villages Once More

Team ready to deliver grater to eagerly awaiting owners

It’s time for our second and final village trip. Early in the morning we peeled some (now rotting) cassava and fed it into the two finished graters. Fortunately both graters performed as expected, rendering them ready to ship. We had our last breakfast at the guest house and set off. Our first stop was the village in Odumase to deliver our first new grater to Samuel and company. We were able to meet more of the gari processors as we delivered and demonstrated the machine. The meeting was short, since we needed to be in PKK soon afterward, so we exchanged contact information, took pictures, and said goodbye until January.

Ben and Auntie Akosua lifting a 60 lb rock off of fermenting cassava

When we arrived at PKK, we found Auntie Akosua and the rest of her family preparing mounds of cassava in anticipation of her new and improved grater. She approved of the changes we made and soon began grating as we all waited for Tsikata and his wife, a couple in a neighboring village who wanted a machine after seeing Auntie Akosua’s. Since we could only get one new machine working, we were planning to explain that they were our top priority for next time and would receive one no later than January. Though after meeting them, we conversed and found that they had no access to electricity currently, and would be looking to move into a village on the grid soon. Consequently we exchanged contact information in hopes that they would become future grater owners. As the team waited for Irene and Anna to return from repairing Auntie Ama’s grater, Auntie Akosua—displeased with our distinct lack of a press this time around—ordered Ben to lift the pressing rocks with her, so that he remembers to “come quickly” with her press next time.

When the team regrouped, it was time to say all our goodbyes: First to the wonderful people of PKK, then to our fantastic partners Joe and Jerry, and finally to the whole Ashanti Region as we made our way to Accra in the evening. Exhausted by the rush of the past week, many of us slept as bus traversed across Ghana, finally reaching the IDE offices in Accra as night approached.

Glamour shots of our graters before delivery

Many gather for the new grater demonstration in Odumase

Auntie Akosua studying the performance of her refurbished grater