Howzit!

Do not trust any advice - test it yourself. Start small. If we helped you build wealth in your community, compensate us when you have achieved your milestones for success and you think that our assistance played a vital role.

We do. But we don't need much - and any extra money we make, makes it possible for us to offer support to those who need it most.  

The demand for connectivity is so great, that even if we did everything by ourselves, for as many people as we could, we would still not be able to satisfy even a small part of the total demand that there is. 

Also, sharing saves everyone time, effort and money - if a single network builds a backbone network, then they have to carry all the costs, and those can add up to a lot. If more networks are able to share that same backbone, so that there are more people who can share those costs, then it becomes cheaper for each member of the backbone network, and each member can plan further ahead and accomplish more in the same amount of time then they would have been able to otherwise.

Making a mistake on the backbone can set you back years, so another benefit to sharing infrastructure for a backbone, is that there is enough money between all the members to pay for the people who are really good at building a backbone without mistakes. Paying for those people is a worth it because it helps you save more money than you would have had to spend, and so you can reach many more people without more effort. 

We strive to spend at least half of our time within the communities that still need our expertise, so that we can help them become strong and stand on their own - but not all our time, so that they can have time to become independent.

When we are not there, it forces people to learn more, so that they do not depend on anybody outside too much, so that they can truly own their project, and make all the important decisions by themselves - but not without considering the advice of others

Everything in a city is a lot more expensive, but it is for a good reason - there is something else that is a lot cheaper in a city: access to other people, and to knowledge, and events - all things that can help you to work smarter and to achieve more with your time. 

Our ultimate goal is to help you bring great connectivity everywhere, and once you have great connectivity, then the same knowledge and events that is available in the city can be found almost anywhere and then being in the city will not be that important any more.

There are people who specialize in this - and it is easier to work with them - because if we had to do that, then we would not have time to do the things that we do.

In other words, we have made a deliberate choice to help with our time and expertise, rather than funds. If we were to focus on generating more revenues or raising funds, we would not be able to work in the emerging markets and undeveloped economies that need this work the most. 

If you follow our advice and spend enough time in our community, and if you can create a team who can build the best infrastructure that you can without trying to take short-cuts (those will only waste your time in the long run), and if you can do this where you stay, and if there are people who lack the infrastructure you are building, then the people who specialize in funding, will find you - and getting you to this point is our main goal.

We spend dedicated time on each and every email - and that takes a lot of time, and we sometimes don't have enough staff or volunteers to attend to every request timeously - so sometimes it can take a week or more to respond to an email.

You must always assume that the person you are communicating with is from another planet and that they don't know anything about your situation. If you want the best chance to get good help or advice from them, then it is important to share as much relevant information as you can, that will be needed to help you. For example: where you are, what you are planning, what you have tried and what you are struggling with, what you think the solution is and the details of what you think that you need help to do, and what you have tried and are currently looking at.

If you are getting impatient, then send the email again, but copy more people into the email then - there are more people who can see and help to think about your problem, and who can help you if they can. Never attack someone that you want to work with, or need to work with, because then it will usually end the relationship - always think how you want people to treat you.

If you have already sent 2 or more emails or messages, please follow up with a phone call, or send a calendar invitation so that you can decide on a time that you can both go to a place where there is a good phone signal so you can make a call at that time - and that you can have all the important notes and things you need to remember with you when you are there and talking. 

Sometimes when we write things, it feels as if we have already said it - but if what we have written has not been read by the person who we wrote it for, or even read during the right time when that person remembers everything that they have read, then the belief that we have, that we have already said something, is not true - because the other person has not read it yet, and do not know what you have said yet - so it is always important to ask if they have read what you wrote to them, and when you wrote it, or if they remember, especially if you have not spoken to them after writing it. 

Also remember that not everybody treats email like an instant message - or someone might do it sometimes only, but not always, or they might respond to one question and not notice that there is another question, because they are busy with something else - so it is also important that you mark your questions clearly. Do you practice this? Sometimes you need to follow up by making phone calls until you can get to speak to them. If someone can not take your call, they will not mind if you call again and again until they can tell you what the situation is.

Also, you can not assume that someone received your message unless you told it to them in person, sometimes saying a message in person, and not in chat, is very important.

Also, the other person might have a lot of other things that they must think about, and they can not remember everything if they do not read their notes to remind them. But the knowledge or information you need is there in their mind too, built up from years of experience, and it is easier to send a few emails and make a lot of phone calls, for you, to get to it, than it is to work also for many years making mistakes that you don't need to make. If you find the right person who has done it, and you can spend enough time with them, you will always learn ways that you can accomplish in just a short time, what might have taken them many years, and that can be very valuable for your project.    

Other factors to consider is that the person might be somewhere with a poor connection or dealing with something that they have already promised to do for someone else - or maybe even just catching up on sleep or time with their family or friends or colleagues, after a period where they have spent too much time working and not enough time sleeping and doing those things. If you remain courteous, then but as soon as that is done, your request may just be their new priority and they might be working very hard with you to help your project grow - but only if it is on their table, or on their calendar, or on their missed call log, or on their chat history, or in their email, for them to see and to be reminded to spend time with you, on your project. 

So, if you are not sure, just re-send that email, and try to call again, and again. Also, don't just wait! Keep reading all other materials that you can - even if you don't yet understand it, just read it and after some days your brain will start to understand more of it by itself. And also, keep calling, and also keep reaching out for help everywhere else where you can, copy in as many people as you can, and post as many updates as you like.

If all the messages and calls is a problem for someone, then they might not be someone that you want to work with in the first place.

So, don't be afraid, and believe in yourself, believe in your project, and keep reaching out. Seek and you shall find!

If you are looking for WISH.COM SHOPPING, please head on over to their support page at https://wish.com/support

When you search Google for "Contact WISH South Africa", our contact details come up - as it should. The problem is that there is more than one company who goes by this name. Because they are much bigger than us, unfortunately it doesn't matter that we used the name first. We are not affiliated with WISH.COM.