Life as a small enterprise development advisor

I hope you're enjoying my blog even though I'm not very timely in publishing it online.  New things are constantly cropping up, and the time just runs away from me.  You know how it is!

Since I’ve been in Balti for about 6 weeks now, I’ve gradually settled into a work routine and domestic routine, not unlike being at home in SF.  The work front started to get busy (finally) beginning in Sept when vacations had largely ended and workers everywhere in Moldova were back in their work places.  I had spent my first weeks doing translations of my Association’s website, and that took a considerable amount of time.  Google Translate is a wonderful tool to do a quick and dirty translation of an entire document, but you have to review every translated word to ensure that it synchs up with the original version as much as possible.  I completed about 30 articles that summed up the major activities of AFA over the last three years.  Additionally, I translated about 10 stories highlighting entrepreneurs who had achieved some success in their business start-ups – these were quite interesting and inspiring.  All these translations had an additional benefit for me of familiarizing myself with more technical Romanian vocabulary in a business context.  I feel confident that I can "să dezvolta materiale de instruire, să scriu propuneri, să conduc ateliere, să analizeze costurile și beneficiile, și să evalueze rezultatele."  Nevertheless, I was happy to get this workload finished and move on to other projects.

                                                                                             10 September

Hans & Olga with me

Tatiana brought in a German consultant from an organization that is composed of retirees in various specialties who volunteer to serve assignments in other countries, sharing their expertise with the local people.  The organization is SES, Senior Experten Services headquartered in Germany.  They have tens of thousands of volunteers who may serve for 2 weeks to as long as 3 or more months depending on the need and the willingness of the consultant.  They don’t get paid, rather their expenses are covered usually by the sponsoring organization.  It’s a very inexpensive way to get specialized assistance in a targeted area.  AFA was enlisting Hans, a retired economist who had worked in business development for a development bank in Germany.  During his career, he had lived in different countries, assisting them to develop their markets in various industries.  He now was going to pay a 2-week visit in Balti at the request of AFA to provide consultations to specific entrepreneurs that AFA had trained in starting up their fledgling businesses. AFA wanted to help the businesses get to the next level and an outside European expert might help get them there.  

Enjoying lunch at Tudor's fruit orchards

First off, we conducted our own "discovery" tour whereby we visited selected beneficiaries at their sites to learn about the current state of their businesses and identified problems.  Among the businesses we visited: auto repair shop, custom tailor, beauty salon, rabbit breeder, floriculturist, fruit grower, furniture maker, iron works maker, and carpet cleaner.  Some of the businesses were performing quite well.  I suggested we talk to some businesses that were struggling in order to determine what their obstacles were.  The intended result of our field trips was to identify the issues that were impeding the growth of their businesses, hold a workshop to address those issues, and provide some potential solutions to their problems.  This was the crux of AFA’s mission and purpose, and I was able to get a glimpse of the full scope of their projects during this 2-week period.  Needless to say, the tour was eye-opening.

At the workshop, Hans provided the beneficiaries with broad, basic knowledge on starting and maintaining a business - nothing dramatic there.  The beneficiaries needed to be reminded that their business plans are dynamic, and require continual updating when their assumptions change.   While Hans addressed the broader business issues, I also got involved in the workshop because my expertise lent itself naturally to deal with their human resources issues.  Thus, I created a 3-hour segment on HR management.  As an offshoot, I'll be doing a lengthier workshop on HR later in November since it was very clear that business owners still handled employees from a tactical perspective. 

Rabbit-breeding farm

Floriculture business

Maker of iron gates

We did learn how difficult it is to sustain a promising business in Moldova, largely due to over-regulation in some cases, and non-regulation in others.  We heard that people with new ideas often had them “stolen” by someone in the bureaucracy when their paperwork was filed but registration had been strangely delayed.  (This happened to one of our beneficiaries.   His idea of an auto service was usurped by the son of one of the regulators.  The son built a new auto service shop, and started the business but it folded not long afterwards.  Clearly he knew nothing about the trade.  Our beneficiary was successful in starting his own auto service business with the right know-how, and he’s expanded into a car wash service.).  Then there were stories of excessive “fees” being charged which discouraged any growth.   Another odd rule was that if you opened up a business in a particular niche like an office services salon with internet access, copying/faxing, document creation, etc., the owner had to have “appropriate education” that aligned with that business (say, computer technician studies).  Obviously, these rules are meant to drive down competition.   These are the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Moldova.

                                                                                                      20 September

Back in Ciorescu

Phase 3 PC training starts on Sept 23, and I’m back in Ciorescu with my original host family, the Casarogas.  It is so nice to be back, and they are as welcoming as ever!  I missed that regular contact with a family even though I have less latitude over choices, an outhouse to deal with, and hot water is an extra step.  It’s also now autumn and the weather is decidedly chillier, and September for the most part has been quite rainy (atypical according to the locals).  The garden is basically gone and it’s the final days of pumpkin ripening (they’re white here).  Next week, in fact, there is a pumpkin festival in one of the villages which we’ll be attending, and where all kinds of goodies made from pumpkins will be offered (Yum!).  

Scenes from that pumpkin festival of September 29:

PCVs & student volunteers
staffing pumpkin booth

Roasting pig

Choral group performance

Bostaniada festival grounds

Decorative carving of squash

All manner of shapes

Sept 22 was a day of activities in Chisinau.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t cooperating, it being largely overcast with gray clouds and occasional rain throughout the day.  First, a Multi-cultural Day was held in the main park whereby various ethnic groups displayed their cultural costumes, arts and crafts, foods, and demonstrated their music and dance.  Just about every country that had been part of the Soviet Union has representation now in Moldova – Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, Germany, Azerbaijan, and we even came across someone from Afghanistan who now lives in Moldova, and Jews from Israel.  Of course, other tribal groups such as the Roma people, Gaguads, as well as Moldovans also featured their own distinctive wares and foods.  Dignitaries were in abundance with the prime minister showing up to visit many of the booths and have media coverage abounding.  We also took lots of photos with the costumed natives (and we didn’t have to give them coin!).  Elena went a bit overboard with the photos, but Viky wanted our pictures taken with each different group!

Afghan living in Moldova

Estonian gentleman

Even Falun Gong Sect in Moldova 

Viky and me with Moldova colors

That afternoon, a mass bicycle ride was also taking place within the city limits called Velohora.  It was a fairly new annual event but this year with the steady rain, bicyclist participation was dramatically down.  I wouldn’t call it a race, as the purpose is mainly to demonstrate how exercise and healthy living benefits people’s lives.  Sponsors were the major bottled water producers and bicycle manufacturers, and the affair was professionally executed.  Moldovans are taking a page from western cultures and promoting these kinds of events through social media and drawing larger crowds to raise awareness of larger societal issues.

Wedding ceremony in Nativity
Cathedral in Chisinau

Velohora in Chisinau

HRAM

Bunica's grandchildren

Moldova has a pride-inducing custom whereby cities and villages have a specific day dedicated to themselves.  It’s called Hram.  Each community designates its own holiday so to speak, and residents make a big deal of it with food, drink, family-gatherings, and some publicly-shared events like concerts and folk dances.  It’s a way to build community spirit and bond the members, and a great excuse to throw a party.  I went to a small community Colonista near Chisinau, which was celebrating its Hram on Sept 21, and where the cousin of my host family lives.  

Hram at Ilena's home

Twelve of us huddled around a table laden with the traditional dishes (sarmale, jellied chicken, rabbit, stuffed peppers, and salads) along with bottles of strong, homemade wine.  In times like these, I wish my host family would warn me way in advance that we’ll be expected to eat a lot of food so I could eat very sparingly before the event!  Ilena the hostess was extremely outgoing, urging everyone (especially me) to eat more and drink more. 

                                                       22 September

Iulia's zi de nastere

I’ve been to two birthday parties for the grandchildren of Zina since I’ve been back in Ciorescu – Iulia (12) and Mihai (7).  Of course, there were multiple dishes of food and lots of wine, sparking wine, vodka, and more.  This host family and its extended relatives have included me in so many of their events, and I feel very welcomed into their fold.  Elena and all her sisters talk, and talk, and talk, and laugh, and laugh, and laugh.  I don’t always follow what they’re saying but no matter, the close relations are experienced no matter what.  

Mihai with his torch

Two of the husbands try to out-drink each other, and I being the guest, they keep pouring me shots of whatever - wine, home-made cognac, or vodka.  I know better than to try to keep up with them.  We have fun, and that’s what counts!

That's Mihai with his birthday cake and a flaring birthday candle.  They also have a custom that the birthday person sits on a chair, and the men lift up the chair as many times as their new age.  The kids love this, of course!

                               








The big wine festival in Chisinau took place on Oct 5-6, and inevitably, PCVs were there in force. Here was a chance to taste many different brands of wines, from those produced by the big production wineries like Cricova and Milestii Mici, to the more upscale labels from boutique wineries like Et Cetera and Asconi.  Tastings were largely free but of course, most of the booths had long queues.

Since many village families make their own home-made wines (vin de casa), Moldovans are accustomed to drinking wines that are "young" fermented in household casks, and on up to those of higher quality wines aged in customized oak barrels for several years.

Andrei with Bonnie and me

Young wine decanted

Traditional dance troupe
joined by a bridal couple

We had had a private tasting at one of the PCV's apartments of six special wines from Asconi Winery from Puhoi.  They were indeed top quality, with the Sauvignon Blanc and the Cabernet Sauvignon being the group's favorites.  Asconi does not sell wine commercially within Moldova - all of it is exported.  In the USA, most of their labels are found on the east coast where the wine is sold largely to Russian stores for re-sale.  Andrei is the sales manager who donated the wines for our tasting.  Bob Asadorian is another PCV who has been here for almost four years and is very knowledgeable about wines, and has consulted with Asconi.  We're planning a winery tour of Asconi in the near future.  Here is their website:  http://asconi.md/index.php?pag=page&id=51&l=

Later at the festival, we went to a culinary event sponsored by a wine school where 5 selected white wines were paired with special food dishes created by a chef. A sommelier described the various wines and we scored them on a number of criteria.  Moldova clearly knows how to make superb wines! The dishes from Chef Nicolae were perfect with the wines, and delicious to boot!

Chef Nicolae

Delicious morsels enhanced with the wine

All in all, the two weeks in Chisinau were a whirlwind of mental and physical activities, providing sustenance for the work ahead in our work sites.  I headed back to Balti, and rest!

                                                                                                  8 October