I
like to think of myself as young at heart, but the sad truth is that I am
steadily, relentlessly, getting older. The things that brought me joy in the
past have changed. I stopped enjoying rollercoasters in my thirties (they make
my bones hurt). In my early forties I found that the rush of adrenaline one
gets after a great session in the gym had lost its intensity. I just felt even
more tired after the session than I did before I squeezed into my lycra (and
squeezing into the lycra is almost enough exercise on its own). And now, as I
head towards 50 and the age of Grumpy Old Man-dom, I find that if I eat a whole
pack of Haribo (as I did last week on a long haul flight - don’t judge me), I
no longer get a glorious sugar rush. Instead I just feel a bit sick with a
bloated stomach. And my jaws ache.
I
have always wanted to age gracefully, but not joylessly. Fortunately I have
discovered a new form of entertainment: annoying my accountant.
Long
time readers of this blog (apologies for the hiatus by the way) will have
already heard about REEF. REEF is the name of the ‘foundation’ we created in
Isle back in 2012. It stands for the Revolving Economic Empowerment Fund. REEF provides financial support
to water and sanitation entrepreneurs in developing and emerging countries.
What makes REEF different to other charitable donations is that our
contributions are presented to the recipient as an unsecured loan, not a
charitable gift. Essentially we provide loans that no sensible bank would ever
endorse! The fund is ‘revolving’ because any money that is repaid is then
recirculated to other entrepreneurs (making the money work time after time
after time). Obviously since the loan is ‘unsecured’ the recipients could
simply treat it as a donation, but they don’t. Everyone who has received
support from REEF has treated the money like a proper business loan.
REEF is a marvellous entity and you
might think that this blog is going to be me sanctimoniously preaching about
how doing this sort of good deed brings joy to my heart, etcetera, etcetera...
However, that is not the case. Good though REEF clearly is, my real joy comes
from the fact that one of the rules of a REEF investment is that we proudly
operate with no (or very very little) paperwork. This annoys my accountant more
than words can express, and that fact rather perversely brings a joy to my
heart that is similarly inexpressible.
Of
course being an accountant he is never truly happy (they are not allowed to be,
I think it is part of their professional code). I did see a brief smile once
when I shared with him that, despite his cruel belief to the contrary, I do
keep and file (some of) my receipts. However when he saw that it was basically
just a box into which I randomly toss the receipts his joy melted away (and
strangely mine grew….).
The thinking behind REEFs paperless
approach is that, rather than spending money on legal paperwork, it is more
powerful, more compelling and massively more uplifting for the recipient. By
showing the entrepreneur that we trust them we build a strong emotional
contract. To date, no one has squandered our trust.
This brings me to our latest REEF
investment. It is also the best named charity I have ever come across. In true
Catherine ‘Am I bovvered’ Tate style, it is called ‘WellBoring’. WellBoring
already provides water solutions for 50 African schools. They expect to reach
100 in the next two years. Our initial investment is to help them repair a
drilling rig. Longer term however I want to fund WellBoring’s plan to pilot a
model where a "Funji" is employed. A Funji is essentially a
waterman/woman who looks after the well site and collects tiny amounts of cash
from residents (note to water companies – call your customer service agents
Funjis, I think they would like it J). The aim of the Funji is to recoup some
of the capital cost, thereby enabling a faster roll-out. This approach is
untried and there will inevitably be challenges, but it might be a game-changer
and is just the sort of initiative that REEF loves to support (ie creating
local employment).
If
it works I suspect even my Accountant might grudgingly agree that it is a good
idea.
