German Consultant Karin Stumpf visits the Uganda600 team in Kampala

Karin with Judith and Mohammed

Volunteering with Grow is a unique and fascinating experience.  Imagine having the opportunity after 3 years and 4 projects to go and visit Kampala. This is exactly what Karin Stumpf from Germany did, even finding time on her holiday to run two masterclasses with Grow clients. 


One Day in Kampala
"...A short ring wakes us: my husband and I have time for a short shower and a brief breakfast, before heading to the Grow Movement head office. As we don't dare to (yet) take the boda bodas, the motorcycle taxis, we walk for 15 minutes and are in sweat when we arrive. 

In the office we meet Judith and Mohamed again. Despite a long evening the night before, where we conducted two Master Classes that they had organized, they are up and running, and already having fun, with us, with themselves. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. We on the other hand are a little more tense, not really knowing what to expect from the day ahead of us: we are to join local project managers while they recruit some of the 600 entrepreneurs for #UGANDA600!

Karin after her masterclass

After a short goodbye to my husband, Hendricah and Mercy take me under their wings. We are heading with a taxi (actually more of a minibus stopping for any potential customer) to the north of Kampala. There I will meet a photographer, enter 3-4 women cloth shops, discover why photocopying and tailoring should be offered in the same shop (at least when you are close to students needing a graduation gown AND a place to have their thesis printed), see 20 PC shops one next to the other and yes, I will at the end also ride a boda boda. 

Karin in Enterprise Uganda

The day is over very fast and we three girls are exhausted. We have met around 8-10 entrepreneurs in 7 hours. Each entrepreneur has being introduced to the program, first questions around his or her pain points were jotted down, and we had also to reject some entrepreneurs.

I meet my husband back at the hotel. While I had nudged him to follow me in this adventure, he is full of stories and impressions. We both enjoyed the experience that gave us so much insight into businesses in Uganda. Uganda has one of the highest rate of entrepreneurs per capita, and we got to appreciate what it means to face such strong competition while having little financial flexibility. Good to know that we VCs  are helping make a difference in the life of hundreds of Ugandan Entrepreneurs..."

Thank you Karin for being a fantastic volunteer, for supporting Uganda600 volunteers in Europe as well as a Uganda600 client!