Well, since the examination of the project as my ‘final project’ at the Kaospilot School in June, the structure workflow and setup of the project has changed radically.
Therefore, it’s time for an update:
- First of all, I had a very interesting experience at the exam table, where I presented my findings and the outline of a project based on one ambulance being the spine of a documentary movie. One of my learning goals in this process was to be challenged professionally and act in unknown areas. The movie should reveal what the different departments in the EU are actually working with, how their every day look like and thereby tell the story of those who are ‘the distributors’ of the National Charity Support (Ulandsbistand in Danish). The movie was meant to dig into the UN work in Europe. An area I knew nothing about. And a presentation format (documentary) I knew nothing about. My role would therefore be as a project leader, which I was during the build up of the final project. However, the examination showed that these areas were unknown for me, and that 2-3 months is not enough to understand and infiltrate all the different UN departments and their work, and to build the network to create a documentary movie – get hold of funding for the equipment and the trip and the ambulance all at the same time… The beauty of the examination at the Kaospilot is that the feedback is minded to carry the project further on. I had censors from DR and UNDP to read my report and ask questions at the green table. I past the exam and left with a new strategy: To start all over again…
- As I do love the thoughts and intentions of this project, I couldn’t just leave it. But it wouldn’t work out to make a documentary about the UN. A lot of the work I had done during my time working for the project started to return. Different people interested to hear more contacted me. I went to meetings with production companies, web agencies and journalists. I also met with another organization named Wheels Of Action (WOA). It turned out that they where planning the same trip, just on bikes, and we started to talk about the possibilities of us riding together. Personally, I prefer collaboration to competition, especially when it is based on the same values. Therefore, Ambusanga and WOA are now looking into how a joint collaboration can look like and how the project will turn out then. WOA is currently based in Tanzania, and the Ambusanga team works from Nørrebro, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Due to the examination, neither one of the crew-members from Ambusanga have had the time to work full time on this project. The work hours have therefore decreased radically. Our task force team is meeting up once a week to plan the next steps. We are currently working out the final budget for the trip, looking for sponsors, creating the needed network and having fun at the same time. We like what we do, and we are doing it based on pleasure, and a willingness to help others.
- Apart from serving as an update to the project’s current status, this blog post will also be the start of a series of blog posts – in order to keep you all informed of our progress.
- Again, all comments, reflections, ideas and inputs are of course welcome!
Being a part of this project is a big experience in many ways! There is a lot of knowledge gained by working so intensely with a specific focus area. I meet a lot of different people supporting the idea of the project: Driving an ambulance from Copenhagen to Sierra Leone. I get a lot of acknowledgment from the different people I meet, and that provides me with the energy to continue. Suddenly everything happens according to schedule and the project evolves. And just as suddenly the planned strategy falls apart. Another strategy is created and new plans made. Thoughts wander and new stakeholders are involved. Then that crashes too and your energy starts to drain out… And yet I still really want to fight for it.
The last couple of days I have been working pretty heavily on writing my final report for the Kaospilot education. Writing that report has generated various reflections around the project, and me as the person in the project.
I guess that the saying: ‘You have a plan, until you have a new one’ comes from experience… In other words, the Ambusanga project is still very much alive!
Here is a short video showing how I made my game plan for the project. The game plan helps to give an overview of different milestones, challenges and success criteria. It helped me a lot in the initial start of the project. Check it out if you like!
It has been a long time since the last blog post. Basically, a lot have happened and I haven’t done any updates here cause I didn’t really know where to start. So now I have decided to just to give it a go, and sort of catch up with the latest activity. I have had several ups and downs during the past weeks. Mostly ups, and the project is certainly on the move in the fast lane forward:
- A while ago I got a phone call from Barcelona; “We have 8 ambulances available for your project…” These 8 ambulances then turned into 11, and that’s a lot more than I thought of in the beginning of the project.
- So the project took a turn: From being a “small” project about an ambulance on a road trip making a movie about getting sponsors to support the Masanga Hospital, it has now turned into being a relatively big documentary project focusing on the UN 2015 goals, while still bringing an ambulance to the Masanga Hospital.
- I went to a meeting with Falck about having them as my sponsor for the project and thereby donate an ambulance for the project. It was an interesting meeting with a lot of good talks and questions toward the project and it’s focus. Falck liked the project and found it interesting and essential. Unfortunately they were not able to provide the project with the needed vehicle.
- Neither are the 11 Spanish ambulances capable of getting through the jungle. As they are all front wheel driven, instead of four wheel driven, it would be impossible to even get the ambulances to the Hospital, not to mention that they would be pretty much useless on the roads in Sierra Leone… So now I have to figure out how to use them the best way possible.
- Then I went to a meeting with the Danish International Rescue Federation who have rebuild ambulances and sent them off to Afghanistan. They are now looking into how they can support the project, and I will have a clearer picture after Easter.
- I have also been talking with different film production companies about having them on the team to produce the documentary movie. I have talked to Kong Gullerod a young company with great minds involved, and I also talked to Copenhagen Bombai. Both meetings were a great experience and also underlined the fact that no matter where I go, or who I talk to – everybody seems to like the project, which is a delightfully good feeling that provides me with even more energy and will to fulfil the project.
- On my tour of exploration, I have crossed roads with several interesting projects I think deserve some attention. If you like this blog and this project, you might find these different projects interesting too.
By the way: Yesterday we started the recordings of the project, to make sure we have some background information with us when the whole project is over.
I am extremely proud and honoured to present a now confirmed player in the Ambusanga Project, the very famous Danish race driver Jan Magnussen. He is now officially ready to change the Corvette C6-R to an old ambulance for a short period of time. Jan Magnussen is ambassador for the Masanga hospital and that is how I got in contact with him, once again proving that networks turn out to be enormously helpful in project related situations. The photo on the left is taken by Jørn Dalgård Larsen, and I have copied it from Jan’s homepage. Click the image to see the article and other interesting photos.
The work on the Ambusanga project continues. I have been in contact with many interesting stakeholders and everybody seems to like the idea. My challenges for now are about keeping up with time and getting my thoughts and ideas on paper and create the best possible concept. The criteria for the best concept are:
- It has to be a good story for a documentary movie.
- It has to create awareness and secure future partners for the hospital.
I am trying to keep you up to date through this blog, and I can see in the statistics counter that an average of 6-10 people reads it every day. I don’t know who you are for sure, but if you have any comments, thought or ideas, please feel free to share them. That’s the beauty of the blogging world – it gives you the opportunity to join the conversation – in this case this project. I look forward to hear from you!
Here is a snap shot of me in action, presenting the initial idea behind the Ambusanga project at the Pecha Kucha event in Copenhagen. The photo was taken by Peter Kohler from America, he and his friends where couchsurfing at my place and came to see the presentation.
Here is a great initiative made by some friends of mine! It´s basically a great party with the oppotunity to support Masanga.
READ ABOUT IT HERE —–> LINK <——
These are the lovers throwing the party: Anders Toft and Jacob Klintrup hosted @ Café Din Nye Ven
Photo by Tony from Cangaroo Bar in Shanghai.
When clicking the above link, you will automatically go to a page saying: ‘Synopsis Ambusanga Edition 1.0′, beneath that there is a hyperlink, click on that and download my synopsis as a PDF (readable for Mac and PC). Feel free to comment on this blog – or by emailing me directly at Ambusanga [at] Gmail [dot] com
I have spent the last couple of days building up and describing the construction of the project, to fill out the synopsis provided by the school. The main reason is for me to be clearer about how my exam project should be put together, where the limitations are, what does it include and exclude. Basically it has been tough because I want it to include it all… Therefore I really have to be strong and take sudden decisions that can be hard – mainly because the project is still so young that killing ideas just seems wrong – but it really is necessary for me, in order to be more more precise and constructive!
In addition, I have just had an extremely interesting meeting with two bright-minded social entrepreneurs. They are the brains behind the Ben & Jerry’s event at Roskilde festival 2008, where the Ben & Jerry ice cream was kept cold by solar power. Their Company is called REVOLT and I met Morten Meisner during my stay in New York.
I am therefore very proud to present that I now have my first official partner for Ambusanga – REVOLT:
- ‘We are happy to partner up around concept development’.
We will mainly be partnering up around the structure of the project, as REVOLT are experts within Branded Content – what I would describe as “donation 2.0″. In these financial times I believe in the good old “return of investment.”
I am really looking forward to this cooperation, and based on the energy shown around the table today, I sense that our cooperation will be a combination of hard work, good results and a lot of fun!
I have been trying to make the Google Map interact with this page but I did not manage to do so – sorry. But here is a photo of how the Ambusanga trip could be. Below is a link to the Google Map, where you will be able to zoom and scroll as well.
This outline shows a potential way through Europe. But why only a potential outline? That is simply due to the fact that at this state I haven’t decided where to go on my way through Europe. The end scenario might be completely different from what the map above shows.
I am currently searching for more partners and sponsors. If you know of something or someone with interest, please leave a comment or send me an email at, ambusanga[at]gmail[dot]com
