Conversations: Naturally Creating Accountability
Tawanda is a Zimbabwean, working as a chartered accountant in Toronto. He has been living in Canada for the past six years and has been working hard to save up to build a home on a farm back in Zimbabwe. While he really enjoys the hustle and bustle of the city and his daily sprint to his car as he gets off the GO train at Oshawa station, he has always dreamt of moving back to Zim and owning a small farm close to his family in Gweru.
"What can I say, I'm a son of the soil," he often says; speaking of his connection to the land of his birth, a place he misses and plans to return to with the hope of becoming a farmer like his grandfather.
Tawanda had never built, let alone owned a home and was unfamiliar with the development process. That, layered with the fact that the house is being built in a country miles away, made the already intimidating process seem even more challenging. Luckily, his cousin Garikai, who is an architect, offered to help manage and oversee the project.
Garikai helped him set up a separate bank account to allow him to make deposits to fund the development project. Tawanda deposited $25,000 to get the project started. Garikai helped him purchase a plot of land and had the vacant lot cleared. He would regularly send messages providing updates and reports on the costs of the project as they moved along the pre-development process. A shared spreadsheet allowed them to track their spending as Tawanda regularly sent lump sums to aid with paying for different costs associated with the project such as permits and other pre-development processes, which Garikai handled on his behalf.
Six months into the project, Tawanda had plans to visit Zimbabwe to see how his home was coming along. During a call with his cousin, Tawanda mentioned his trip back home and his intention to check on the developments. It was during this discussion when Garikai’s tone changed. He stopped responding to any messages in the weeks leading up to Tawanda’s return to Zimbabwe and would not answer any phone calls. This was a bad sign.
Upon arrival in Zimbabwe, Tawanda drove straight from the airport to the site of where his home was being constructed. Much to his dismay he found no work had been done on the site. Even the brush and thicket Tawanda had paid to be cleared had grown back significantly, undoing the work he had paid for.
Further investigation found that Garikai had purchased a new car and had recently been a regular feature of the Zimbabwe party scene. Unfortunately, Garikai had been living it up at Tawanda's expense and little had been done to move Tawanda’s goal of a farm house in Gweru along. Needless to say, Tawanda was livid.
After sharing his horror story with his friends, one of them mentioned how he was using an app called Kunye to help manage communication and coordination of funds for various projects he was managing in Zimbabwe.
Managing finances and commitments in two different countries can be difficult but communication, accountability and transparency go a long way to achieving one’s financial goals, regardless of where they are on the map.
"I've found communication is the most important part of managing any project and the fact that every conversation is a wallet removes the need for opening bank accounts while adding an extra level of transparency and accountability"
Tawanda now uses Kunye, and can easily keep track of his spending and communicate with all of those involved in the various projects he has on the go.
He created a group in Kunye which includes himself, his father who lives in Zimbabwe and a contractor hired to oversee the project.
The house is almost complete and Tawanda can't wait to be a first time homeowner and feels no place could be better to call home than his hometown.
With Kunye, the communication and management of his dream home project has never been easier and now Tawanda is confident his dreams are within reach.
Conversations create security and can turn ideas into a place you call home.
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