What started as a personal workaround in Madagascar has grown into a service with the potential to impact lives across continents. And honestly, I never planned for any of this.
The Beginning: A Personal Connection and a Simple Need
When I first visited Madagascar, I found it difficult to arrange basic things—like getting a taxi or booking local services. I didn’t have Mobile Money, no working voice SIM card, and there were language barriers. But I had local friends who spoke English and could help via WhatsApp. They became my informal support system. I’d text, and they’d arrange things for me.
At the same time, these friends told me about life in Madagascar. About how things weren’t just hard, but getting worse year by year. Wages were low, work was scarce, and the jobs that did exist were often grueling and underpaid. When I heard this, I felt I had to do something. I couldn’t just watch from the sidelines.
So the idea was born: What if I turned this informal WhatsApp help into a real service? Not to make money, not to build a company, but simply to create jobs for people I already knew—people I cared about. I offered to build a website, open a bank account, and set up the infrastructure, just so my friends in Madagascar could run it like a micro-business.
The Unexpected Growth
But as an entrepreneur, I couldn’t help myself—I kept improving the system. I wanted things to run smoothly. And before I knew it, I had invested far more time and energy than expected. That’s when a new idea emerged: What if this works?
If this small project in Madagascar proved successful, maybe I could scale it. Maybe it didn’t have to stay a charity initiative. Maybe, just maybe, this could become a sustainable business—one that pays for itself, pays salaries, and keeps growing.
Looking Beyond Madagascar
I began to reflect on other countries I had visited—Tanzania and Kenya came to mind first. Similar challenges, similar environments. Then Thailand, where language barriers also exist and where service booking is often informal or unreliable. I remembered my own struggles there as a traveler.
Soon, Indonesia and Philippines followed. Then I thought of Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, and more.
What these countries had in common was this:
- Language and digital barriers for tourists
- Untapped local service sectors
- A population eager for better, fairer job opportunities
After doing some research, I realized many of these countries receive 5x to even 40x more tourists than Madagascar. If my little service worked on this small island, what kind of impact could it have in places like Indonesia or Brazil?
From MadaAssist to GlobalAssist
Once I saw the potential, I took the first steps:
- I registered the domains for over 20 countries
- Created a shared brand: GlobalAssist
- Built systems designed to be international from the start
- And I started thinking bigger—but still with the heart of an NGO
My approach hasn’t changed much. I’m still not writing a business plan. I’m not chasing investors. I’m still working lean, without a real budget, taking things step by step—just trying to make things a little better.
But now, it’s more than an idea. It’s a plan. A roadmap. A vision.
What’s Next?
The next step is to launch a pilot project, most likely in Tanzania or Kenya. I want to see how well the system adapts, what challenges come up, and how much demand there is in a different setting. I’m not in a rush—this has to be built with care, with the same attention I gave to the original version in Madagascar.
But now I know one thing for sure:
What started as a local project to help friends could become a global company—serving travelers, creating jobs, and bridging worlds.
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Curious about which countries we’re looking at? Here’s a preview of the GlobalAssist domains already secured:
• MadaAssist.com
• TanzaniaAssist.com
• KenyaAssist.com
• IndonesiaAssist.com
• PhilippinesAssist.com
• BrazilAssist.com
• SriLankaAssist.com
• CambodiaAssist.com
• GhanaAssist.com
• NigeriaAssist.com
• MexicoAssist.com
• ArgentinaAssist.com
• … and more!
Follow our journey as we continue to build GlobalAssist—one country, one connection, one improvement at a time.
