Welcome to Pwani life!
REDEFINING
BUSINESS PWANI PUBLICATION - MARCH 2013 VOL 23
MWANA-MME NI PRESSURE
Swahili for 'To be a Real Man, it takes Extra Effort'
Men are increasingly told that it's a woman's world. Girls do better at school and college than boys. Women live longer than men. In short, they are the lesser sex, or so the message goes. Women can claim gender advances in so many areas that it may indeed seem like men are obsolete on paper, that is. But lets just face it, there are some things that women just cannot
PWANI EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH 1.
do, especially in our Kenyan world! A few editions back, we had a publication celebrating women with discussions about whether women can have it all and whether women can do anything better than men. The general consensus was NO! Women just cannot do without men in the real world. Believe it or not, men probably face more social pressures than women or wonderwomen (as we usually like to portray ourselves as to men) In reality, jobs that require men to demonstrate their physical strength or assert authority – manual labor and corporate leadership – are preferred opportunities for Men. Women are just not cut out for backbreaking jobs. And even though work-family roles have changed over time, the traditional versions of masculinity in Kenya are still greatly defined by a social norm for men to be breadwinners and protectors for their families. The pressure to provide, coupled with changing expectations to be ever-present caregivers as more women enter the labor force, influence our men’s roles in our households and our societies. At Pwani, we have so many men, who in their own unique ways have played a role to get us where we are today. This month as an occasion to commemorate our men and celebrate their efforts, we feature a few of them for their achievements and contributions, in particular for their contributions to Pwani, community, family, marriage, and child care. Those not featured in this edition are by no means any lesser men than others - we have only taken a random pick - every man, whoever you are, we celebrate you.
Neelma-Editor
Interviews on men in the next pages
SOCCER IS BACK
Every Saturday this April 2013 Teams: HO, Kikambala and Jomvu Venue: Kikambala Time: From 3pm Finals will be played on 27th April 2013, More details to follow For Pwani Divas, we are making plans to begin Aerobics/ Zumba sessions in Kikambala. Watch out for details.
Name: Anderson Shaku Designation: Plant Operator Department: Finishing Line Station: Kikambala Anderson has been recognized for displaying initiative in times of crisis, taking leadership roles and going beyond his scope to find solutions in his assignments. He is highly reliable, flexible and an irreparable team member who appreciates the importance of working harmoniously to achieve the departmental goals. This demonstrates his upholding of all the Pwani Values: being Passionate, Willing, Accountable to team, Never giving up and Initiative. We feel proud to have him in our team. An efficient and hard-working team member like him is an asset to the company. For this, he has been crowned the title: Overall Pwani Employee of the Month of February 2013.
This edition is brought to you by
Ndume Quality Laundry Bar Soap
| A PUBLICATION OF PWANI
Knowing me Knowing You by Mary Olinda
As a rider to this month's theme, we feature the Chairman - he is Pwani's pillar and without his effort we would not be where we are today. Mr. Ramesh Malde is the Chairman of Pwani Oil Products Ltd. He is also a Board Member at Pandya Memorial Hospital and also a Chairman of the Visa Oshwal Community. He’s married with three sons. He is a spiritual man who puts God first before commencing any task. His daily routine involves starting his day with prayers, then having breakfast, doing yoga and then paying a visit Pandya Hospital where he is on the Board, before coming to the office. He strongly upholds the "Never give up" Pwani Value and he, himself is a living testimony to this. He says that however tough the going is keep on trying as long as you are doing the right thing at the right time and it’s always a NO-NO to shortcuts. His memorable time in Pwani is when he spent 48hours without sleep to see a drop of corn oil come out from the first manufacturing plant in Pwani. His dream for Pwani is to see the company becoming the Best Manufacturing Company worldwide in producing products with the best quality and also be the Best Employer of all times. His advice to young upcoming men is 'PUT GOD FIRST IN WHATEVER YOU DO, SUCCES COMES ONLY WHEN YOU DO RIGHT THINGS IN LIFE. WORK HARD TO ACHIEVE GOALS AND AVOID SHORTCUTS.'
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Pwani's Wanaume Speak By Barnice Mumbua and Petronella Achieng
1. Moonesawmy Sooven
Tell us about yourself? Moonesawmy Sooven, commonly known as Sim, I’m a Senior Manager in Finishing Line in Kikambala and I’m responsible for the production of soap namely Sawa, Diva, and White Wash. I am married, father of two sons and I come from Mauritus. What makes you tick/happy? When I joined Pwani in August 2010, we had only 3 variants of Sawa 80g and 3 variants of 4U 80g. Today we have reached 50 different SKUs for our domestic market and this is not the end. I’ve been working in the soap industry for more than half of my life and I still want to learn more about soap making. What do you think is your purpose in life? 1) to have a successful career (2) to maintain a happy conjugal life (3) to give maximum attention to my kids for their education and personal growth. What was your life changing experience My day is divided between work and family and hence giving me less time for myself. My life has changed on 26th November 2008, when my son of 4 years told me “you will die because you smoke”. I stopped smoking that same day until now. FYI I was a heavy smoker. Do you believe mwanamme ni pressure? I believe the theme is true, as every man has to work hard to achieve his own personal goals and dreams. He also has to make sure that his family achieves theirs too. Generally, I would say “Behind every successful man, there’s hard work and a family” | A PUBLICATION OF PWANI
Who are you? My name is Paul Thairu in Exports Department. I’m married with four children. Principles that drive your daily life? Being ambitious, being a better person, aggressive and also being a perfectionist which can be good or bad. I am hard on others and even to myself. I am a result oriented person, who upholds integrity as one of my values and I am one of those who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. What makes you satisfied or at peace? My family. What do you think is your purpose in life? At this moment of my life; raising my children to become responsible citizens. I believe that one’s purpose in life changes over time. For example, Bill Gates now dedicates his time to philanthropy. Share with us any life changing experience? One time in my life, even though I had no other job offer at hand, and despite pleas from my boss and father, I had decided to quit my job since I was unhappy with circumstances at work. A few weeks after handing in my resignation, my wife lost her job too. Do you believe “mwanamume ni pressure”? Yes ofcourse, when i quit my job, my wife and i were both unemployed for three years during which time I used my savings, accumulated over many years, to keep my two kids in school, pay for my wife’s Bachelors degree and also pay for my MBA and CIM post graduate diploma. I will never make that mistake again. Lessons Learnt In Life? One; buy a house as soon as you get a job because property value appreciates with time hence even if, in future, you are unable to continue paying the mortgage. You’ll be able to sell the house then clear the mortgage and still remain with a profit. Since you’ll have taken
Ramesh Malde, Chairman
2. Paul Thairu the mortgage while young in age, you’ll enjoy a longer repayment period hence the monthly payment instalments will be less. I used to fear taking mortgages; it’s only much later in life that I took my first loan and also a mortgage after realising that it is not possible to save to buy a house. Two; if you have not bought a house yet, don’t buy a car because it loses 25% of its value as soon as you drive out of the showroom. Don’t even buy expensive electronics which can be stolen or can fall and get damaged. This is why, even today, I use a Nokia phone worth KSh 4,500/- so that I can spend my money for substantial things that add value to the life of my family. Three; never buy an insurance cover that purports to be an investment vehicle e.g. Unit Linked Insurance Products (Education Policy). My wife and I made this mistake; I bought a ULIP for one child and she purchased for the other child. After ten years, the values of the portfolios were less than the monthly premium that we paid. Had we known, we would have been better off buying a plot along Thika road. The value of plots have increased three times hence if we needed money for school fees, we could have sold the plots. Four; save your money in Treasury bills or bonds rather than in savings accounts held at commercial banks. The banks use our savings to purchase the Treasury bills or bonds. They will give you a lower interest rate than the Central Bank. Why then give banks your money yet you can purchase the Treasury bills or bonds for as little as KSh 50,000/-?
You To Us
We would like to know what you really think, feel and want in order to make our newsletter more about you. That’s why we have this page – just for you! To take part just share your thoughts or any interesting article on email at pr@pwani.net or leave a note on my desk at the head office.
Diva Teaser
Know your products
Easter Offers
freshoffer By Vishal Shah
We are all part of the Pwani Family, so let’s see how well we know our Products! We released Diva into the market and it hit the shelves like hot cake! i) Which is the fruit on each of the Diva Soaps that were released first? ii) How many Diva Soap variants do we currently have? Name them? iii) Let’s test your observation power….What is common in all the Diva Soap wrappers? iv) How good is your attention to details… ‘When' is the Diva Soap 100g or 200g? The First Correct Reply gets a surprise gift.
Send your reply to pr@pwani.net or HR officer at your location
3. John Ng'ang'a Who are you? My name is John Patrick Ng’an’ga. I’m a middle aged Kenyan man from the highlands East of Rift valley where snow falling is a common thing. I’m in charge of Accounts at Kikambala. When Kikambala plant was opened, i was the one in-acharge of the Administration office where I used to spend the whole day, everyday alone. What makes you satisfied or at peace? When I know assisting even if not in my line of duty is not a burden, having accomplished utmost all the tasks that are ahead of me within a particular day and everybody who needs my attention is satisfied. What do you think is your purpose in life? I have learnt that life is not only to wake up in the morning, go to work and return to bed in the evening. I have a lot to fulfill like, meeting my daily needs, trying to change wherever I am for better. Share with us any life changing experience? There was a time I used to play the game of Darts. I became addicted to an extent of spending the best of my time playing. After quitting the benefits I attained are countless. Do you believe “mwanamme ni pressure”? Indeed “Mwanamume ni pressure”. From the time you wake up from your bed (especially if you have children) demands begin. Working places being a mwanamume pressure comes in hardy as you are supposed to handle the hard or technical work and the time-line for completion is limited.
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Tell us about yourself? I am Vishal Shah and I joined Pwani Oil in November 2010 as Senior Executive Internal Audit. I was born in Nairobi, the City under the Sun. I was brought up in Mombasa and did a better part of my schooling here. I had the opportunity to pursue ACCA at Strathmore College in Nairobi and Emile Woolf in the UK. I come with loads of experience in External Audit. I have had opportunity to work at KPMG in Nairobi and have travelled on audit assignments to Somaliland. What makes you at peace? It’s the challenges in life-whether at work, at home or in social fields. The secret is to face them, overcome them and to learn from them. What do you think is your purpose in life? To be a good person, assist others whenever I can and to earn a lot of money to be able to assist my family and others in need. Tell us of any life changing experience? It happened a couple of years ago when I was studying and working in Nairobi at Strathmore. When out there, I came across lots of challenges and hinderances from people who are eager to see you fail. But Faith in God helped me overcome the tension. Power of Prayers is what helped me. It increased my belief that God answers your prayers if you are praying with an innocent heart. Do you believe “mwanamme ni pressure”? I personally feel we men are not pressure but in fact a reason for many to look forward to life. What would the world be without men?
4. Vishal Shah
3.
5. Rajul Malde Who are you? My name is Rajul Malde. I am a NO NONSENSE go getter who never gives up that accurately describes me. The words “if”, “but” and “impossible” don’t exist in my dictionary. Decsribe yourself? In three words Focus, Communication, Excecution. Focus – I focus on my role and what I want to deliver. I would like to say at the end of each day that this is the value I have added to the business. Communication – I communicate clearly to my reportees on what I expect them to deliver. I then try to train, nurture, support and most importantly mentor. Execution – Based on the communication I expect the staff to deliver to my expectations. However, I follow up. What makes you satisfied or at peace? Resolving challenges to issues and selling that brings a sense of satisfaction and happiness to me. What do you think is your purpose in life? I have many purposes of course but two stand out of them all; 1. To take Pwani to where it belongs that is as a renowned player on the international stage. 2. To leave a LEGACY that I hope will mark me apart from the rest. Share with us any life-changing experience? SOAP NOODLES! Everybody in this company knows where and how far noodles have come from. In 2008 -2009 20% to 30% noodles capacity was utilized and we were running losses. Producing a quality product, getting the right and steady market and being able to deliver to our customers were the challenges that we had to go through. We worked on this | A PUBLICATION OF PWANI
as a team and here we are. Today the capacity is 70% to 80% utilized with a steady market. Though we have come this far we cannot sit back and say we have it all, there is still a lot more that needs to be done and like I said I don’t give up. So bring it on.
6. Jeremiah 6. Jeremiah Okaalo Okaalo Who are you? My name is Jeremiah
What do you think is your purpose in life?
children. I’m in the
Really mwanamume ni pressure but as a
Logistics Department.
gentleman I should always know how to
I am an organized,
balance between the place of work and
passionate and a
always
happy with a big voice that many a times has been confused for rowdiness. I am an empathiser and counsellor who can coordinate cutting across calibres with no fear whatsoever. What makes you satisfied peace? One, prayers, two, personality with right attitude just does the trick. What do you think is your purpose in life? To live and let live: To serve heartily. I am a people serving person, and serving users to their satisfaction is a thing that has always made me look forward to each day. Share with us any life changing experience? The realization that someone died for me; that in His dying I live. This changed and still changes my perception of life big time Do you believe ‘Mwanamme ni Pressure’? It is a man’s world; I concur, however, men are not dummy gods, expectations runs us down but in whatever situation just be a man, not a superman, off the pressure. After all, life enjoyed is much celebrated.
7. Kambi Kazungu
Who is Safari? I’m John Safari. I’m married with three kids and I work as an Assistant Executive in Production- Fats & Oils. Share with us more about you? Career wise I have a diploma in Catering and Food Handling and I have over 11 years working experience in Pwani, after starting as a casual laborer. What makes you at peace? Being able to do what I do especially knowing that after a long day at work I do contribute to our customers’ satisfaction, working together with my colleagues and mostly family time makes me appreciate the things I have. What do you think is your purpose in life? To make a positive difference in the world, however small it may be, to be a better recognised person by helping others and improving myself which eventually increases the amount of happiness and blessings in my life. Share with us any life changing experience? I have always wanted to do something related to satisfying people, and I eventually went into the Hotel and Catering profession. Then in 2002 when I joined Pwani as a casual, I didn’t know that my dream which is related to what I do would eventually come true. Now I’m an Assistant Executive and still aiming higher into achieving my goal. Do you believe mwanamme ni pressure? Yes, if there is no proper planning and no, if there is no planning. Pressure is how you handle yourself in relation to work and family matters .I believe if you plan and get well
Who is Kazungu? A friendly, polite, respectful and hardworking man. I am an operator by title, a title I got after a real hard work in my responsibilities. I got this promotion from helper to a full time operator because of my performance, hard work and commitment organised, anything can be achieved. to my job. This did not come by chance. I do my duties without supervision and I meet my targets on time. What makes you happy? I am very happy with the kind of job am doing because it fulfils the needs of my family as well as me. Secondly, I’m very happy to be a member of Pwani Family. | A PUBLICATION OF PWANI
result oriented
home. A man should be wise to challenge the
8. John Safari
listener
married with four
Do you believe ‘Mwanamme ni Pressure’?
ICT Department.
hard worker, a good
I am a family man
family.
Okaalo and I work the
I am a dedicated
Who is Lukas?
and in the company and also provide for my
pressure.
Tell us about you?
9. Lukas Nyasieta
To fully serve my duties and roles both in life
person who believes in delivering to our customers in good time. What makes you happy? A daily work without supervision, that makes me feel independent and even deliver to my utmost capability. I am also happy because of the relationship I have established here at work with my colleagues and more so my employer. What do you think is your purpose in life? My purpose is to be able to satisfactorily meet my family’s needs, at least the most basic needs and also relating well with the community around you since man is not an island. Share any life changing experience? I remember those days we were selling Sun Fresh as one of our oils, we used to wash the returned jerry cans and send them to the factory for refilling. Now things are different. That to me is a real milestone. Today, I feel I’m a part of a big change that has been taking place here in Pwani. Another thing is how much I’ve learnt in Pwani through job experience, this has made me to be empowered and believe in myself even more. Do you believe mwanamme ni pressure? YES! I believe that MWANAMUME NI PRESSURE. As a man you have to work hard to make sure that you provide for your family.
Wanaume, Jomvu MaintenanceTeam:
From Left in the photo below; Robert, George, Francis, Essau, Shabbir, Kimario, Samuel, Leonard, Isaiah, Onzere, Hillary, Kevin, Freddrick and Emmanuel
M-Managing technical challenges in our midst with, A- Analytical skills second to none along with, I- Innovative and, N- Noble ideas enriched with, T- Technical know how that has resulted to E- Efficiency thus N- Nurturing productivity, quality, delivery, safety etc hence, A- Achieving our business goals with always N- New state of the art C- Communication, equipment and skills with improved E- Engineering technology, which has enabled us to be this successful and remember T- Together E- Everyone A- Achieves M-More oil and soap production targets. Enjoy Pwani life with Pwani Maintenance TEAM, You are safe with us.