Nov 21, 28

(Spelling correction on Adjen’s name – its actually spelled Agyen – I didn’t change it for consistency – but here goes… Adjen is Agyen)

November 21

The training has developed to a new stage. I intended to bring more structure, which I did to a degree, but the training organically reverted back to work-mode based on the project demands. I see that this is good. I see that the mechanics are indeed learning in the process of doing. Whenever they have a question or encounter a problem, I come and work with them, and maybe call everyone together to teach them something new – semi-structured. I’ve had challenges getting enough concrete work for the sales staff, but they have recently become proactive in helping to organize the workshop. I know that once the business formally opens after the arrival of the next container, they will have more than enough work. We are planning a business administration and accounting training for them with a government small-business-support agency, which will help set the foundation for the books and establish the systems.

We’ve been busy with store developments. Since the training started, the level of organization of the workshop and storage room was on an as-needed basis. Since we started work-mode, we’ve experienced the need for more organization, so this became a major priority over the past weeks. We started by pulling out the boxes of seats and pedals, all the forks, organizing them, building a big wooden frame to hang the forks, repacking seats and pedals. Organizing wheels (unfortunately due to minimal funds, we haven’t built a wheel hanging structure, but this is #1 on the list as soon as the money flows in the new year). Organizing the remaining stock of bikes according to priority builds, with low priority stacked 2-high in a row along the back, then another row of next-in-line bikes, and separate stacks of built-bikes to be checked over, finished bikes, and customer bikes. In the workshop, we had a huge pallet to 2 x 6 hardwood. We took it apart, and used half of it to build a major strong workbench for the big vise. Unshakable. A galvanized metal sheet for the table surface, angle iron along the rim, a thick plywood toolboard (Julius and I joined forces on a Saturday to do the carpentry, finished with the metal on Monday). Fully operational. We’re using the bike stand we built early on before the training – 2” pipe welded into a T set in a tire filled with concrete, with old-school jaws for old-school small diameter steel tubing, padded for larger tubes with 6 layers of inner-tube. Currently we’ve got 3 equipped workbenches, 3 workstands, ready for more efficiency. Also built a table for the truing stand (way back), a frame for the sink, and two “companion” tool bin-tables (to keep essential tools and parts close by to the mechanic and easily accessible) – one on wheels.

We also organized all the parts. This is no small job. In the beginning we did a rough organization, and I suppose that our current state of organization would also be considered rough by many, but now we’ve categorized parts. Front derailleurs are divided by 2-chainring road and 3-chainring mountain, cranks are divided into cotter-pin, 1-piece, square-taper doubles and triples, seat posts by diameter, tubes by size, bottom bracket and headset parts, freewheels, everything, organized. We’ve reached a milestone this week, and next week will mark a new stage in our work – focus on efficiency in an accessible workshop, institute basic system of workshop operations – parts for the bike being worked on in a bin under the bike, put away tools at the end of the day, put random parts away or in a holding bin to be put away as time allows. We can definitely work well with our current system for a while, but further refinement will come.

November 28

For about a month now, the shop has been in need of money very seriously. We calculated our remaining bike stock, the other resources we can sell (fencing) and realized that we could meet our mark for generating the cash to clear the next container coming in January. Thanks to all the BNB volunteers and staff for making this happen! Then, we also realized that in order to build the bikes we need to sell, there must be more efficiency in the workshop (hence the developments described in the previous section). We put more time into shop organization than expected, but it was critical and the result is extremely gratifying. Last week was tough and bit of a reality check – no bike sales all week (though a few repairs). This week however has been consistent with one or two sales a day, and is an example of weird fluctuations in the demand. I expect that we will experience this very often, for shorter and sometimes longer intervals. The key to our success will be our name tied to the quality of our work. I realize that a name travels so far here. The best advertising is from people who recommend us, but we’ll also make a scene with our storefront and publicized bike advocacy. This past week was efficient, productive, and set a precedent for the positive rhythm this business can embody – something we’ve tasted at times before. It justifies our labor, makes us feel that we are good enough, that we are earning our living, makes us believe in our potential and in what all this could become.

Quick updates on the workers (we are phasing out of referring to the trainees as trainees, and instead as workers, because they are earning this title):

Miriam:
During the shop organization phase, Miriam took to cleaning and organizing parts – bottom brackets, headsets, hardware etc. She did an awesome job on a much needed task, but I observed that she felt kind of pushed out of the workshop by the men – not deliberately by them, but I think she felt “in the way.” At that time we had only two functioning workbenches, and the mechanics were working in pairs. (Though Agyen wasn’t around because of his shoulder injury, so it was just Miriam and the boys – Sule and Julius.) Miriam had told me that she would like to work on her own bike at her own stand. It became one of my goals to work and make this happen. This prompted the building of the heavy workbench. For the past week, Miriam has been working on her own bike at her own bench and stand. I wasn’t sure how she would do, because she never built a bike up completely by herself. The male mechanics were very supportive of helping Miriam to gain more experience and confidence in the workshop. Little did I know that she would build the bikes faster, cleaner and more systematic than the boys. Miriam never ceases to impress me. The two bikes she built this week (each mechanic averaging about 2 – 3 full bikes a week) were excellent. Her rotational system adjustments were right-on, cables routed well, good brake and derailleur adjustments. (The bikes, as the bikes built by all of the mechanics, need to be checked-over by me before they are released to customers. I usually put in about 30 minutes to an hour of fine-tuning adjustments, test-riding, etc., so there’s still a ways to go to increase mechanic skills, but more time at that. We’ve only been working on bikes for 3 months, and we’ve got about six to go before I leave.)

Agyen:
About one month ago, Agyen got into a bike accident with a car. Probably around 8:30 pm, he was cruising down the main road in his town and a taxi u-turned into him pushing him off the road – scraping the hell out of his arm and giving his shoulder a serious hit. He came into work the next few days, and I could see that he was troubled, though when I asked he told me he was fine. Then he didn’t come one day – he called me in the afternoon and told me he was in the hospital waiting to see a doctor. It turns out that there was injury to Agyen’s shoulder. He was advised to not use his arm for a few weeks. Agyen took a break from the work and only recently returned this week. Now he is doing better, back to his old antics – disturbing Maude and Miriam in good fun – everybody’s little brother. Also back to working on bikes. I’ve got the plan to work with Agyen to check-over built bikes before I look at them, because I don’t always have the time to put into the bikes. Agyen values precision in his work, also, he can test-ride the bikes. If he can check-over the built bikes, this is one more shop dependency on me that is reduced. After building the heavy bench, we set-up the pipe and tire bike stand – one jaw facing the bench, and one jaw facing a pile of parts. Well, this pile of parts has been put away and now is a clean space rimmed by organized shelves – just enough space to work on a bike. We now have four operating bike stands – each mechanic to a bike – beautiful efficiency. We are going to build a small mobile toolboard/box that will hold the core tools. Right now, Agyen is sharing tools with Miriam, which is working, but it would be better to set him-up with wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.

Sule:
During the initial training with the 12 trainees, Sule was working 24 hour shifts at the shell station every other day, so he could only attend about half of the that training, which was more like one-third. It was Sule’s character that made this appropriate. He is a fighter for Freedom and Justice – the words inscribed into the big Ghana independence monument in Accra. He’s got fire inside of him. At any one of our shop meetings, when I ask the question: does anyone have anything to say about that?, Sule is the first to speak, to open the discussion inviting others to join, he is an important member of our group. There is some small antagonism between him and Julius, though I see this antagonism becoming a playful expression of respect, which I’m grateful for. They are two strong personalities. I talked with Julius about it and he said he would never let it escalate to damage the shop dynamic (I trust Julius on this cause he’s so amazingly reliable.) As a mechanic, Sule has lots of intuition and enthusiasm to get bikes built. I am working with him each day on and advising him on the bikes he builds, to give him a demonstration and an explanation of bike systems, stuff he missed from the first part of the training. I’m feeling confident about his level of bike understanding at this point, but there’s a bit more to go, as with all of the mechanics. Since we’ve become more efficient building bikes, it allows more opportunities to learn more things and to develop understanding and technique with practice. This will hopefully lead us to a point of practical competency and theoretical knowledge that can be expressed, in, say, an exam (score only to test one’s own knowledge, not to rank mechanics). We’ll build up to it. I want everyone to do well, so I’ll help them to thoroughly know the work.

Julius:
From the first day that the trainees saw the shop, I knew Julius had my back. I remember it was July 1st, after the wheelchair basketball match – I was exhausted (the container un-loading happened well into the previous night) and as we were casually chatting, trying to imagine the drab brown metal door garage style stores with dirt, weeds and rocks in front become a fully functioning wheelchair accessible bike workshop. I was lightly overwhelmed, and Julius said to me, straight into my eyes from deep behind his own, if you need help with anything, call me and I’ll come. Julius did come, continually, reliably, even on a Saturday to build the workbench. When deciding the timeframe of the workday, Julius suggested 7am to 7pm. I was on the part of the majority that voted on an 8 hour workday. Often when I stay late, Julius will stay with me. In terms of mechanics, Julius is good and systematic, though there are still some areas that need to become stronger. Julius is a craftsman, a kente cloth weaver, an amateur metal-worker, a shoemaker, a carpenter, a designer, a problem-solver. Julius always tells me that he can make anything. He will just think about it for a few days, figure it out, and build it – with a ferver he describes as complete, to the point that when he starts his work nothing can pull him from it, not even his loving wife (a wonderful woman). He tells me that his small-boy sits down and watches him work, gradually learning, the same way that Julius learned from his father and uncles. Julius is my good friend. I work with him at times, advise him on problems he encounters with his bikes. I am extremely confident that in time Julius will become a tremendous mechanic, forming a backbone of skills for Ability Bikes.

Torsutsey:
The sales staff, Maude and Torsu, are doing their best to run the business, considering how extremely abstract this is until there is plenty of practical work to do. I am trying to give them a lot of encouragement to take initiative on determining what needs to get done to build this business, and whenever possible practical business related work, but so often I’m drawn into the workshop and the bikes, supporting the mechanics. Maude and Torsu have been dealing with most of the bikes sales and repair sales, asking me about final prices on bikes, asking my advice on repairs (though I’m bringing the mechanics into the pricing of repair parts and labor). I want them to feel the need to make money for this business as acutely as I do, and it must be a bit overwhelming for them, but I think that with experience and more personal investment they will make a good team and will be able to handle this responsibility well. They have been keeping thorough records of income / expenses, and are looking forward to the business training. We are gradually developing a system of pricing – its like some intuitive process of valuing based in part on market research but much on what customers are willing to pay, and what we are willing to accept. We have allied ourselves with another bike seller in town who has hosted us at his shop on a few occasions and advised our pricing. We currently have a handful of bikes built which Torsu and I send out and lock-up on the street each morning. Torsu and I have developed a symbiotic relationship between Ability Bikes and a cold store (meat and fish freezer), that only operates in the early morning and late evening, so during working hours, we’ve got a dirt lot right on the street that can potentially hold up to 30 displayed bikes. Torsu has a strong body, and has been my partner in lifting heavy things (Torsu has one very short leg that fits into a prosthesis which is straight as a pole from his hip to his shoe, but is allows Torsu to walk and carry loads very stably.) Torsu’s character is that of a salesman, and I know he’ll do awesome once we get things running. He’s smart, and very convincing. Its my job though, and his, to make sure he knows bikes inside and out. This past week, he and Maude joined the mechanics when the sales work was low. This worked well – keeping them engaged, and continuing to build their bike knowledge and experience.

Maude:
Great woman, great attitude, great laugh. When I visit her in the house, she is always working and smiling – cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, undeterred by her disability. She is a master of her legs, held straight when walking by her metal calipers, crutches naturally under her arms. I swear she could climb a mountain with those legs and crutches. In meetings Maude is very diplomatic and finds common ground between disputes. She was recently elected by the Ability Bikes workers as their representative, and will be part of a project management committee that will meet once weekly to plan and prepare for the project and business future. Maude has been instrumental in developing relationships with the local small-business-support-agency, with the church neighbors who let us use their toilet, and with customers who love and respect her confidence and kindness. I’ll tell you, we’ve got an awesome group of people at Ability Bikes. I’ll do everything in my power to develop the ideal conditions for all of this amazing potential to find full expression in the business. Maude and I have developed a no-fail bike pricing system. We just add 5 cedis to the price that we want, because psychologically, no self-respecting Ghanaian will pay the first price they are given – there must be a reduction. If we see a bike worth 50 cedis to us, its 55. We might sell it for 53 or 47, but in the negotiation, there must be a reduction. I’m going to try and focus more time with Maude and Torsu these next few weeks. If all goes well, we will be attending the accounting and business management training in mid-December. We need to prepare for the next container, get our finances in order, project a budget, so many things. I’ve made an effective push with the mechanics to develop the workshop and allow their work to flow. I’ll give them the chance to run with it during the next week while we focus on business development.