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Global Consulting Practicum in Kenya: Students Arrive Just as Election Riots Begin
Over winter break, five Wharton MBA students — Sushant Mukherjee, WG’09, James Hogarth,
WG’09, Jennifer Akpapuna, WG’09, Kathy Park, WG’09, and Sachin Kaushik, WG’09 — went to
Kenya for their Global Consulting Practicum project and found themselves in the midst of the
country’s dramatic post-election events. Sushant Mukherjee describes his team’s trip in the
following article, which first appeared in the Wharton Journal.
The Wharton team had converged on
Nairobi from locations as far-flung as
Kathmandu, Minneapolis, London and
New York, to begin work on our Global
Consulting Practicum (GCP) project. Our
clients were Philip and Katy Leakey,
members of one of the most famous
families in Kenya. Our task was to grow
the U.S. sales of the Leakey Collection,
thereby promoting its sustainability
as a business and its ability to make
an enduring impact on the lives of the
Maasai people.
The Leakey Collection is a rural social
enterprise employing more than 1,000
Maasai women who make stylish contemporary jewelry from drought-resistant
grass beads. For the Maasai, the enterprise provides a valuable alternative
source of income while allowing them
to retain their traditional lifestyle. Philip
and Katy Leakey have a longstanding association with the Maasai. Philip’s
parents, Mary and louis Leakey, are
renowned archaeologists whose discoveries in the Olduvai Gorge of Tanzania
were critical in establishing human evolutionary development in africa. Their
work brought them in close contact with
the pastoralist Maasai people.
As luck would have it, we arrived in
Kenya on the evening of Election Day.
We had known about the elections, but
hadn’t dwelt on potential dangers, based
on Kenya’s reputation as a bastion of stability in an otherwise politically troubled
region. nonetheless, from the window
of the taxi, the normally bustling city of
Nairobi seemed unnaturally calm.
The next day, with the election results
still up in the air, we flew to Malindi on
the Indian Ocean coast, and then made
our way down the coast to the sleepy
beach resort town of Watamu where
the Leakeys had arranged for us to unwind prior to the business end of our
trip. as we drove up and down the pot-
holed road looking for the right house,
a lithe Maasai warrior loomed in front of
us, holding a wooden club with a heavy
knob at one end. He motioned us towards a rusty iron gate, beyond which
a dirt trail led town to a thatch beach
house, which was to be our home for
the next five days. in Watamu, we spent
our time soaking up the sun, swimming
and snorkeling. But in the back of our
minds, there was always unease about
what was happening in other parts of
the country. On new Year’s Eve, the
chairman of the Electoral Commission
announced that the incumbent, Mwai
Kibaki, had narrowly won the election,
and half an hour later he was sworn in
for a second five-year term. That day,
laid-back Watamu was galvanized into
activity. When James Hogarth and i went
to the local grocery store to stock up on
supplies, the parking lot was overflowing
with others who were preparing for the
worst. inside the store, we foraged for
whatever supplies we could, while tense
expatriates exchanged the latest rumors
and warnings.
The next day, we departed for Malindi
airport in the hope of catching flights
back to Nairobi to finally meet with the
Leakeys, only to be informed that the
flight had been overbooked and we
were unable to board. it was the beginning of an exhausting, interminable vigil
at the airport. When we finally arrived in
nairobi, the Leakeys were waiting for us.
We squeezed the whole team into their
vehicle and set off for their tented camp
near the Tanzanian border, called Olkerii.
On the way, as dusk fell, we entered the
legendary Great Rift Valley, with its endless plains, punctuated by shimmering lakes and acacia trees, with thickly
woven weaver nests hanging from the
branches. The election riots seemed a
world away.
We stayed in the Leakey’s bush camp
for the four days, talking with them at
length about their ideas on rural enterprise and the future of their business.
We examined their production facilities, which included gas-fired kilns to
make porcelain, and workshops for cutting the grass beads. We watched the
Maasai women at work under the acacias, chatting animatedly as they strung
beads onto elastic strands. We spent
one memorable afternoon as guests
at a Maasai barbecue, where a goat
was slaughtered in our honor — even
Sachin, a lifelong vegetarian, duly
chewed on a small piece of meat to acknowledge their hospitality.
One moment during our stay at the
Leakey camp remains particularly vivid. in the middle of an intense discussion on the difficulties of shipping
products from Kenya to the U.S., James
broke off in mid-sentence, and shouted, “look — the volcano is erupting!” Sure enough, across the valley,
near the Tanzanian border, the volcano lengai was spectacularly spewing
smoke and ash. it was a magical moment, one that poignantly captured the
natural beauty of our surroundings.
The next day, after exploring various
departure options which included the
possibility of being airlifted from Olkerii,
we finally received word that it was safe
to return to nairobi by road, in time to
catch our flights. We flew home from
Nairobi the following morning.
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