Developing the entrepreneurial mindset
We are Didier, Melissa and Zico. The TU Delft team consists of 3 students who are all finishing their bachelor's this year: Industrial Design, Architecture, Urban Design and Building Sciences and Technology Policy and Management. From November to the end of January we will be located in Sengerema, Tanzania.
Almost 10 percent of people in Tanzania are unemployed. This is a major problem because it is one of the causes of poverty in the country. Moreover, 4 million people in Tanzania lack access to an improved source of safe water. People living under these circumstances spend a significant amount of time traveling long distances to collect water.
The aim of the three-month project is to make an impact in this area by guiding Tanzanian youth towards an entrepreneurial mindset. We will teach them the fundamentals of entrepreneurship at Elabs institute of Science and Technology. This way they have the knowledge to create their own businesses to be self-sufficient. In addition, we will start a water testing business with the chemistry knowledge and skills of the Tanzanian students. The water testing business will be created to seek for opportunities to create safe water facilities for Tanzanian people. This business will also give the Tanzanian students experience in entrepreneurship.
The Entrepreneurial lectures will be the backbone of the business and can been seen as the main guidance for decision making. To create a successful business the project research will start from scratch and follow common but fundamental steps towards the final product: Market research, Ideation, Business Model, Finance and Selling & Marketing. All steps are executed by TU Delft team in collaboration with the Tanzanian students.
“With Elabs we want to shorten the distance of Tanzanian Youth to the Labour Market by teaching them the entrepreneurial mindset and experiencing it in practice by starting a water testing business.”
Feel free to contact us with any questions or comments:
D.E.vanCitters@student.tudelft.nl
M.meertens-1@student.tudelft.nl
Z.d.vanommeren@student.tudelft.nl
To realise the project we would like to ask for your help. For the project cost will be made. The lectures should facilitated a variety of material like literature, notebooks, pens to provide an educational learning environment. Moreover the water testing business will need some investment too. We have to purchased water testing kits, transport materials and students to research locations, pay for external parties involved in the process, marketing, prototyping, and all other cost that are involved in realising the business.