Pula Journey Continued: Friendship post
The next and final stop was a new country: Madagascar, where Pula started supporting the WFP Madagascar in 2020, and where I joined the microinsurance team from their Rome headquarters for a two-week mission to explore scalability and sustainability of the insurance program.
I can write about the country itself, the fact that I am proud of myself for understanding most of the French spoken in the meetings, or the curious fact that many development partners are focusing on Madagascar right now on the topic of climate insurance. Instead, my focus is on something else. This is a story about friendship, one of the most rewarding parts of life in general, and the work I do in particular.
We met in January 2021 in Nairobi, both of us fresh recruits at Pula. We were hired for the same job in different regions: she was to cover development agencies in Francophone Africa, and I in Asia. Pula had recently completed its Series A fundraising, and was about to expand its reach beyond East and Southern Africa.
We had vastly different backgrounds. Zeynab had always worked in inclusive insurance in West Africa. I’d spent most of my career in the development sector, fundraising and managing grantees in humanitarian and development projects. These ranged from anti-human trafficking, reproductive health education and services, microfinance and keeping girls in schools in at-risk communities across emerging markets. Unlike Zeynab, a sector specialist, I knew nothing about insurance when I joined Pula.
Zeynab moved on from Pula to join the micro-insurance team at WFP as a consultant. I couldn’t be more happy or proud of her. Then, this summer, when I started to lead the WFP relationship at Pula, my former classmate became my client. I was thrilled to work with her again.
On this trip, I had a mini-crisis that Zeynab helped me through. I had very little cash and my cards weren’t working in the local ATM. Credit cards are not accepted in most places, and we needed to pay cash for almost everything: meals, taxis and any activities outside of the hotel and meetings. I had to ask Zeynab if she could lend me some money.
As far as I can remember, I have hated borrowing money from friends. To compound my embarrassment, this may have been the largest ask I’ve ever made. I don’t lend money easily either, so I was going against my own principle. But Zeynab is far more generous than me. No questions asked, she lent me exactly how much I asked for. She just handed the banknotes to me, straight from the machine.
“Thank you for helping me eat, Zeynab!! Please send me your bank details so I can pay you back. I hate being in debt.”, I messaged her. Silence.
The next morning, I reminded her again when I saw her. She looked at me straight in my face: “Elise, that money is not for you. It is for your daughter, from her Aunty Zeynab. You buy her something from me. It’s not for you. So what is the problem…”.
Not only did Zeynab give freely, she paid for everything we did together. I am so embarrassed, and the Korean in me wanted to fight for the bill and protest. But I couldn’t. I was poor. Literally, I had $100 to my name that I had to ration for meals over the course of two weeks.
This experience touched me. When sharing this with another mutual friend and former colleague, I realized that there is no female equivalent to bromance. Sismance just doesn’t sound right. Suggestions, anyone??
There are so many things that I love about this difficult but rewarding journey. But having a friend like Zeynab is one of the best parts of my job. And I am so grateful to be working with such friends, as we trudge together in the trenches to bring more insurance to climate vulnerable people around the globe.
And thus, my Pula journey continues…
