Eight successful British business leaders have been challenged by leading development agency World Vision to improve the living standards of a remote Ugandan farming community. With a combined fortune of more than $1,301,102 billion (600 million pounds) and expertise ranging from construction to marketing, they will need to use their business skills to tackle the seemingly intractable issue of poverty.
To help launch their ideas, the entrepreneurs have each donated $32,500 (15,000 pounds) to a joint fund. They are exchanging five-star lifestyles for three weeks living in a makeshift camp without running water or electricity. But can eight bosses who are used to getting their own way work together to help people in the village? In a region so poor, the average daily wage is just $1.10 (50 pence) and the entrepreneurs need to be ruled by their heads, not just their hearts, if they are to succeed.
Episode one sees the entrepreneurs embark on a two-day journey to the remote Ugandan community where they will be working and confronted with the realities of life in an African village. The usually hardheaded business brains are soon overwhelmed by requests from people in desperate need. Tension surfaces in the group and construction boss Steven Morgan decides to go it alone with a project to provide clean water for school children, while media expert Seb Bishop has a brainwave that could be a real money-spinner for the community.
Websites
Channel 4 website
World Vision
Media Man Australia Profiles
World Vision
ABC
Social and Community Entrepreneurs
