After the happy realisation that the hostel showers worked again and having pancakes with awesome fresh pineapple, it was time to start the 4th working day.
Every day we reflect on our feelings and learning points. To give a feeling of today, we want to start by showing our reflection. We reflect by describing the day in one word on a sticky note, and then placing it on a scale from really bad to really good. Then we explain and discuss based on the words. Not an easy task when every day feels like a roller coaster, but super helpful for team dynamics and gaining new insights.
The main focus of today was to start exploring the current situation of co-working in Kampala and Makerere. We started by visiting two co-working spaces nearby our hostel. We discovered that maybe it's not fancy things that create a good co-working atmosphere. A room with tables, chairs and Wi-Fi can be enough. At the same time, bringing the right people together is challenging, and it's important to recognize the motivations behind establishing co-working spaces, and understanding what the business model is like. We paid attention to these aspects when we visited Resilient Africa Network's location in Kampala before lunch. The network is funded by USAID and they do a lot for coupling students and professionals in projects that build resilience in communities.
Later on the day, we interviewed several people on what a perfect co-working space would be like and walked around the campus in search for current and possible future places for co-working. We found some interesting spots, let’s see what tomorrow brings us in this culture where something unexpected happens every day!
