2017 Ushahidi Team Retreat Slam Poem
I wrote this poem for our 2017 kick off annual team retreat. In 2016 we shipped a new version of the Ushahidi platform (Mustang) and the first version of TenFour (Rollcall). We had been working on these products for more than 2 years and getting them out the door was a huge accomplishment. It was us working together as a team that helped us to overcome the obstacles and birth more years of impact at Ushahidi.
Ship ship Shipped
Ship ship shipped
Ship ship shipped
Ship ship shipped
This year we shipped it
2016 we kicked it, ripped it, flipped it
We got on our horse and rode that Mustang
Right out the door while we yelled Bangorang
This year we stand here proud and tall
Because when I say shipped, you can say Ushahidi and Rollcall
Rollcalling this whole team, Linda, Charlie, Jason, Brandon,
and all the rest who put their hand in
What a team of Dreams
DREAMS, we landed that grant
All 1.76 million, don’t let anyone say you can’t
Because before you know it we’ll have iOS and Android apps
And we are no longer rolling the dice like a game of craps
We’re thinking smart, looking ahead
Finding that competitive advantage so we can make our bread
We have a world of cred
30,000 page views a month without trying, brush your shoulder off David
Don’t just listen to what I said
Look at the data for yourself my friend Declan,
With just two weeks of preparation
We managed to get hella attention
For all those victims of hate post the US election
Think about the impression
Here we are a group from over eight nations
Starting our tenth year since inception
A decade of being more than just the next app trying to grab your mindless attention
We use these truly awesome powers to create something from nothing
Not to make investors wealthy or to just to keep that paycheck coming
But because we want to build something that means something
Something of worth, integrity, and full of loving
At first they never thought a tech company could come from Africa
Then they never thought an African tech product could be used from the US to Antartica
Now they say we can’t serve those who need it most,
while making enough money to keep our lives afloat
I say, I can’t wait to see their faces when we are in the black and raising our toasts
Now, we all know we still have a ways to go
That our tools are not perfect, that our coffers are sometimes low
But you all should know that this thing we are doing is hard, and that’s the only way we grow
This is a place for those who like a challenge,
because 2017 is going to push your heart and talent
This year we are going to play like we leave it all spent
This is our moment, our time, our present
Because it’s up to each one of us as a part of this unit
Our tribe, our crew, our team because we choose it
And if you are not ready to sweat, there is the door, no hurt feelings, your time was well spent
Because if it goes sour each one of us should know in our heart it didn’t fail because of me
We couldn’t have done any more, don’t you see
That way when it goes gangbusters of the rails, we’ll know in our hearts that it wasn’t just because of me
It was the team that made the dream
I will not let you down, and that’s not just a meme
I have seen you all be there for each other too when things get lean
So close your eyes and visualize the future you perceive
Breathe in, Breath out, see the joy on your colleagues faces as you tell them what you have achieved
And now lets go about making it reality, so when we look back the collective voice screams “We did it, because we believed.”
