The Marketplace Magazine January/February 2012

January February 2012

Where Christian faith gets down to business

Ethiopia:

Weavers and farmers at the growing EDGE(T)

Smelling the coffee at Convention 2011 The reach of MEDA: 20 million & counting Kalona to Kabul: An Amish journey

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The Marketplace January February 2012

Roadside stand

In love with another country Rapid urbanizaThe sheer extent of tion, less physically this issue’s feature demanding work, on Ethiopia (pages the spread of TV, and 6-12) is a signal that a dietary shift from your reporters (the home cooking to editor and his wife, rich processed foods.

Millie) were mightily “The country’s impressed by this new fast-food industry MEDA venture. When is booming,” the we visited the project magazine notes. in late November we Millie Kroeker with Ethiopian friends Tsedey were enthralled not Amara (left) and Meron Abebe. only by its scope and Calling in sick. Three-quarters promise but also by its dedicat- region’s history and economy.

Kifyalew Zeleke, who in an (76%) of Canadian worked staff. Project director Loren earlier posting chauffeured Bill ers often show up at work Hostetter, a seasoned developeven if sick, according to an ment veteran, has assembled a Clinton around Ethiopia, was unfailingly helpful, as were Accountemp survey. One high-powered team of specialreason is because they are (or ists whose great competence is others who accompanied us to remote farming and textile want to be seen as) dedicated being leveraged for maximum outposts. North American workers. Their co-workers, momentum. We were struck interns Fiona, Ben and Brock by their personal commitment provided color commentary to and their obvious affection for help the visiting ferenji underthe clients they serve. They stand the local culture. are a credit to MEDA and its To all of these, and others, mission of creating business we say amesgnalehu (thanksolutions to poverty. you).

My wife and I benefitted daily from the superb Unretired. Former MEDA organizational support of staffer Ken Graber (Bolivia, Tsedey Amara and Meron Pennsylvania) can’t seem to Abebe (pictured). Dr. Belay stay retired. He was asked by Demissie, Rebeka Amha, World Relief (his post-MEDA Addislam Tesfaye, Gizachew employer) and Hope InterSisay, Endy Yaregal and others national to accept a short-term were fountains of expertise on position as interim managing agriculture, financial services director of a microfinance and value chain methodology. institution in Burundi.

The sparkling spirit of Yabetse Assefa, finance and adminisFat like us. “It is no longer trative manager, helped us see just the inhabitants of the rich why the MEDA team functions world whose waistlines are with such ease and joy. spreading dangerously,” says In a new country, especially The Economist. “Though 40% one with a sad traffic record, of its 50 million people live you don’t get far without off less than $2 a day, South skilled drivers. Admassu Dano, Africa has become one of the who also looks after the project’s security concerns, offered world’s fattest countries.” The magazine cites studies claimencyclopedic insights into the ing that six out of 10 South Africans are overweight or obese, as are a quarter of teenagers Cover photo of Ethiopian and one in six children under weaver by Wally Kroeker the age of nine. The reasons?

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however, aren’t impressed: a third are afraid they’ll catch something themselves, another third worry about their ill colleagues. Only eight percent of workers are impressed with such “dedication.” Half of the workers surveyed said their bosses encourage them to stay home when sick. Only 11 percent said their bosses wanted them to come in anyway.

(CLAC Guide) Imagine how much time could be saved by shorter telephone messages. Here’s how Costco founder James Sinegal brought simplicity to his voicemail: “This is Jim Sinegal, and here’s the beep.” — WK

In this issue

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Ethiopia’s growing EDGE(T)

A quick tour of MEDA’s new project in the hills and fields of Ethiopia. The goal: to help 8,000 struggling rice farmers and 2,000 textile workers increase their income by 50 percent.

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It was global flavor in the Key of Coffee as MEDA’s annual convention examined the lasting impact of enduring values — and broke a twodecade attendance record at the same time.

Young entrepreneur roasts a special blend. Page 14

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20 million & counting

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From Kalona to Kabul

Departments 2 4 20 21 22

Smelling the brew in Lancaster

Roadside stand Soul enterprise Reviews Soundbites News

How can a smallish organization leverage a onedollar contribution to help six impoverished families? It all has to do with an enduring foundation of faith-based values. By Allan Sauder

What’s it like to work in a strict Muslim culture?

Somewhat like growing up Amish in Iowa where she also had to cover her head and wear unusual clothes. By Joyce Bontrager Lehman

Volume 42, Issue 1 January February 2012 The Marketplace (ISSN 0199-7130) is published bi-monthly by Mennonite Economic Development Associates at 532 North Oliver Road, Newton, KS 67114. Periodicals postage paid at Newton, KS 67114. Lithographed in U.S.A. Copyright 2012 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks

Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 32C E Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601-3681.

To e-mail an address change, subscription request or anything else relating to delivery of the magazine, please contact subscription@meda.org For editorial matters contact the editor at wkroeker@meda.org or call (204) 956-6436 Subscriptions: $25/year; $45/two years.

Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 32C E Roseville Road Lancaster, PA 17601-3681

Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), whose dual thrust is to encourage a Christian witness in business and to operate business-oriented programs of assistance to the poor. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026.

Web site www.meda.org

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The Marketplace January February 2012

Make someone What’s a Christian business? happy

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hat does it look like when we run our business in a Christian manner?

Keith Knight has some ideas. He is executive director of the Ontario-based Canadian Christian Business Federation, which has 15 chapters across Canada. (The CCBF, which has Christian Reformed roots, has a historic connection with MEDA. When its founders were developing the organization they attended a MEDA convention to get ideas, and for a number of years sent copies of The Marketplace to their members.)

In an article in The Light Magazine (published in British Columbia) Knight offers answers to the opening question: • We work to ensure the wise use of resources and produce goods and services with respect and care for creation.

• We encourage a business structure that allows for responsible Christian activities.

• We promote harmonious labor relations and meaningful work experiences for our employees.

• We treat employees fairly, providing a fair wage and being sensitive to their personal and family needs.

• As employees, we respect and honour our bosses, put in a fair day’s work for a fair wage, call in sick only when we are actually sick, and represent our company to customers with integrity and honesty.

“I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts.

We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn’t always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out.” — Film critic Roger Ebert in Life Itself: A Memoir

Glimpses of faith on the job

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hat do young people think about exercising faith on the job? Canadian Mennonite magazine recently gave a sample: Tony Kasdorf, 26, project manager of his father’s printing business in Winnipeg, tries to bring a good work ethic to his shop by being innovative, respectful and honest with the people he deals with. “I make every effort to follow through with my promises,” he says.

“We try to create a stable environment at our shop,” he adds. “The main focus for us is that people come to work and we’re treating them equally, we’re treating them respectfully. If there are errors being made, it’s dealt with with constructive criticism, rather than putting them down.”

For Saskatoon residential designer Dustin Bueckert, 28, faith is “something I want to keep in the forefront of my mind while I’m working.... [It’s] rattling around in my brain all the time — finding a way to incorporate all the values of my life and incorporate that with working with clients.... I work hard for all of them and try to just emanate the Spirit of Christ.”

Tim Dyck, 27, an assistant at the Mennonite Heritage Gallery in Winnipeg, says striving to do his best is one ingredient of living out his faith on the job. “As a Mennonite ... there’s this dedication to hard work and doing good work,” he says, “and I feel that there’s a history of doing what you do well and being a good example at it.”

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Thanks for this crummy job

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Out of the oven

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ere’s one of our old recipes that’s worth repeating. It came to us originally from John W. Eby, former MEDA board member, in whose debt we remain. He likened faith-work integration to baking.

1. Icing the cake The most basic level, superficial piety, is like putting frosting on a cake: you add a layer of sweetness, but you don’t change the substance. Beneath it all you still have the same cake. Icing is good as a sweetener and a cover-up.

But as a transforming spiritual principle it falls short.

2. Chocolate chips A next level of integration is like chocolate chips in a cookie. They float freely within the dough — part of the cookie, yet distinctly separate and isolated. As wonderful as they are, chocolate chip cookies do not exhaust the spiritual dimensions of being Christians in the workplace.

3. The leaven of yeast A third level is like the yeast in bread: it permeates the dough and actually transforms its behavior, kind of like a completely converted world view.

Yeast is linked with fermentation. In order to ferment you have to die a little. In fact, it’s in the dying that the live-giving properties are released.

remember when I bounded out of bed, ready to seize the day.

Back then, work was a joy. My coworkers banded together as we found new solutions to fix problems. My chain of command was empowering. My duties were challenging and fresh, engaging my mind and abilities.

That was yesterday.

These days, the workplace has a sense of gloom. The economy hasn’t treated my company well. When I enter my building, it seems as if half the lights are dimmed, probably to save electricity. It doesn’t help the atmosphere.

Many coworkers have left through early retirement or downsizing. Those who remain have the duties of two or three, with no other resources to call on.

All the managers are stressed, trying to keep the fiscal boat afloat while still delivering a valuable product.

I’m not alone. Many friends have gone from the rolls of short‑term unemployed to long‑term. Others are underemployed, finding work as temps or part-time workers, benefits trimmed or stripped outright.

And those that are still working have to do way more with way less.

Rather than let my employment challenges drag me down, I’ve decided to take back the workplace for God’s glory, and I’m doing it through an attitude of gratitude.

First, I’m thankful I even have a job. When I think of friends stuck in pervasive unemployment, my complaints just feel wrong.

I’m thankful for the challenge, and even the frustrations.

I’m thankful for the out‑of‑control schedule, the 117 unopened e‑mail messages and the drop‑everything‑projects. I think there’s some patience to be gained in all this.

I’m thankful for my coworkers, and I often pray, “Lord, bless them in the stress.” We’re in this together, and using a calm voice of reason might just work wonders.

I’m thankful for every penny my employer sends my way. I haven’t always earned it.

In every way, I’m grateful for this crummy job. — David Rupert, Faith in the Workplace newsletter

Overheard:

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“Nothing has a stronger influence on children as the unlived lives of their parents.” — Carl Jung The Marketplace January February 2012

Ethiopia — The growing EDGE(T)

Fiona MacKenzie photo

Target: help 8,000 rice farmers and 2,000 weavers boost income by 50 percent

by Wally Kroeker

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e’re sitting on a mud bench in Asrese Lemma’s stick-and-wattle hut, a short walk from her three-quarter-acre rice field in Ethiopia’s Amhara district.

She’s talking proudly about rice — how she began growing it and the skills she has already mastered.

She reaches to a wooden post holding up the thatch roof and yanks a plastic card from a peg. It’s a laminated factsheet with agronomic instructions for a new brand of rice. It lists seed and fertilizer rates, planting methods, crop rotation, weeding techniques and environmental protection considerations.

“She can’t read it but her kids can,” a MEDA project officer tells us. “This is her version of a flash drive.”

Asrese speaks glowingly of her new rice variety, which grows in three months instead of the usual six.

As a woman she is unusual among mostly-male Ethiopian farmers. “I wanted to be an example to other women,” she tells us in her native Amharic. She is eager to experiment, like seeding in rows rather than the old broadcasting method.

Asrese, 52, has become a poster-farmer for MEDA’s new project (more about her in the adjoining sidebar). Her entrepreneurial innovation is just what MEDA wants to enThe Marketplace January February 2012

courage to boost incomes among rice farmers.

The project, begun less than a year ago, aims to help 10,000 rural Ethiopians — 8,000 rice farmers and 2,000 traditional weavers — to increase their incomes by 50 percent through value chain improvements and increased financial literacy. The $12 million, five-year project is funded primarily by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It goes by the name EDGET, which in the Amharic language means “growth” but in the acronym-fond development industry stands for Ethiopians Driving Growth through Entrepreneurship and Trade.

From the air, the western half of Ethiopia is a checkerboard of agricultural bounty. Thousands of tiny fields crowd against each other in an endless patchwork. From

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Hired day laborers harvest the new rice crop using hand scythes. The cut stalks will be bundled and threshed later.

something to do.

Point to a roadside field of teff and you invite a lecture on injera, the spongy, sour-ish flatbread that is part of every meal, either as a base for sauces or to tear off and pinch up morsels of meat or lentils. Traditionally the staple is made from teff, a delicate and sometimes pricey grass crop, the kind preferred by purists. But it can go farther when blended with barley, or more recently rice.

Rice is relatively new in Ethiopia, going back only about 20 years. More Ethiopians have begun to consume it, but mostly as low-quality grain, and ground as a lowprice flour to be added into the injera. MEDA wants to change that by enhancing the quality.

Certain cultural preferences will need to be overcome as the project tweaks the links in the value chain so farmers get more return on rice.

Other challenges may have longer roots, like the “trust gap” noted by project manager Loren Hostetter.

“Many small businesses are inhibited by a lack of trust,” he says. “Openness is not a common trait here.

There’s a lot of resistance to change.”

Entrepreneurship is not deeply ingrained in the socialist culture. But, says Hostetter, “the rice farmers are somewhat more entrepreneurial. We will attract those who can take risks.”

the road we see the crops closer up — chickpeas, rice, sorghum, barley and wheat, and tiny plots of cabbage and potatoes.

Some 85 percent of the population is involved in subsistence farming, mostly on farms of an acre or two. We see crops on small spits of land, some the size of a living room rug. The land is all government-owned, but farmers can till the soil under a tenure system.

In the hills to the north, around Lalibela, and in the south, around Chencha, roads teem with people, mostly women, bearing staggering bundles of firewood, massive swatches of forage grass for cattle, or shafts of sugar

A new rice variety matures earlier and produces a hardier kernel that doesn’t break as easily. cane perched on their shoulders like vaulting poles.

Is there unemployment here? “None,” says Admassu Dano, MEDA driver and security manager. “Everybody works. Everybody does something.” If people aren’t out working for pay they are gathering twigs or tending backyard gardens or goats. For the poor there is always

Wherever possible MEDA works with local partners who have visibility and connections. In this case, the partner is SOS Sahel, which has experience with 7

The Marketplace January February 2012

farmers and in working with a value chain strategy. Such alliances give life to MEDA’s vision and mission long after MEDA has left.

MEDA’s value chain approach has implications for every step of the production process, from initial seed to post-harvest marketing. The first step at the start of last year’s planting season was to offer farmers a new strain of rice using a voucher discount. Previously, farmers simply kept back a portion of each harvest to plant next year. But the genetics had grown tired and were hampering productivity. The new variety, called Nerica-4, resists stresses such as moisture shortage, matures earlier and is more environmentally friendly and adaptable to changing climatic factors.

The project employs the same “lead farmer” strategy that MEDA has used effectively in other countries. Farmers selected for their skill and leadership ability are given five

days of training which they then impart to small groups of four to six “follower farmers” in weekly meetings.

Lead farmers Abohye Sendeke and Tarkgne Adugna, both of whom farm a couple of acres, say they found the training helpful even though they are not newcomers to the business.

“We got good practical training on how to prepare the land and how to choose improved seed for the soil,” says Adugna.

With encouragement they took the risk of planting in rows for better weed control than the traditional broadcast method.

Having just harvested their first new crop they don’t yet know the final results, but already “I can see that it is good,” says Sendeke.

They like the new early-maturing variety introduced by EDGET.

“Let me try”

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srese Lemma did not apply to be part of MEDA’s new project, she insisted. She did not qualify, as she had not been farming her own land.

But she was not to be deterred. “Let me try,” she said. We eventually relented and let her participate.

She received three days of training on rice agronomy, learning to use improved seed varieties, raise seedlings and transplant from nursery beds. A voucher scheme helped her to buy 25 kilos of new seed, enough to plant three-fourths of an acre. She had been taught the importance of keeping fields clean, so she used the per diem she earned during the training to pay for extra labor for weeding.

Asrese, 52 with five children, does New farmer Asrese Lemma: Proud to be a model for others not have oxen nor resources to buy about poor germination and blamed it on the new inputs. She has always rented out her land on a 50-50 seed, Asrese realized good results because she had crop-sharing arrangement. But that was not enough planted deeper than the typical broadcasting method. to feed her family so when MEDA’s project opened she While it’s still too early to determine her income, was inspired to try to farm herself for the first time. Her she was empowered to take control of her own producfriends and neighbors tried to discourage her by saying tion. The training gave her confidence that she could it was too big a risk, especially with the new agronomic manage the farm with improved practices and probably practice of planting in rows. What if she failed? earn a livelihood.

Still, she pressed on. As it turned out, moisture was Currently she’s happy with the performance of the low. She worried that the densities were not very close, crop and delighted that she has tried row planting while and at one point thought she’d just get a 25 percent most of the other male farmers still broadcast. harvest. But over time she saw that these spacings alAsrese was recently named one of the top 10 farmlowed the seedlings to send out strong tillers, and she ers in the area. She’s proud to be a model farmer. was delighted to see more than 40 to 50 tillers coming — Loren Hostetter out of each seedling. When other farmers complained

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“It is ready quickly,” says Sendeke, adding that it has a stronger kernel that doesn’t break as easily. When they take it in for processing they net out 85 percent, compared to 70 percent for traditional rice, so wastage is halved.

So far 700 farmers (a growing minority of them women) have been recruited in two regions. In five years they want to have 8,000 farmers.

“At this point we are ahead of targets,” says Dr. Belay Demissie, EDGET’s value chain manager.

It’s late November and

Many processors use archaic equipment that causes much breakage of kernels.

the rice harvest is getting underway. Many farmers hire day laborers to cut the rice. It’s tough work, hunching over the short stalks with a hand scythe and laying the bunches out on the field. The harvesters are paid the equivalent of $2.35 a day plus lunch.

Later the cut rice will be threshed. Many farmers still use oxen, if they have them — spreading the bundles of stalks on the ground to be tread underfoot by the animals working in a tight circle. EDGET is trying to encourage hand threshing, which is less damaging.

Then the kernels are scooped into bags and hauled to the village processor who, for a fee, puts it all into a dehusking machine to separate the rice from its bran. The farmers take what’s left (often as little as 70 percent of what they brought in) and consume it as food, sell it at market, or store it for future use.

Storage technology is as much in need of a makeover as growing and harvesting. Rice is often stored in unprotected bags where it is vulnerable to vermin and swings in temperature and humidity. If it gets too dry it cracks, reducing its market value.

But EDGET is exploring simple alternatives to preserve germination and extend lifespan. One is an airtight “Grainsafe” cocoon, a portable fabric container that holds up to a metric ton.

Meron Abebe is the project’s monitoring and evaluation assistant. Though young and female, she relates well to the mostly-male farming crowd.

“I just love farmers,” she says.

“They’re so open, they speak di-

rectly; they say what they mean. It’s easy to communicate with them.”

She invites us to join a focus-group meeting with a dozen farmers. It’s informal — sitting on the ground under a canopy of acacia trees. She poses questions to gauge progress: How did they sell their rice last year?

What other varieties do they grow? How did the new seed compare with past years?

She learns that the farmers are not using pesticides for rice, only for other crops like chickpeas and roughpeas. They report that their last crop failure was three years ago, when rain was especially light.

Abebe mentions crop insurance. None of them have it or know about it. But they like the idea and encourage

Meron Abebe leads a focus group discussion to gauge farmers’ progress.

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to help them understand each other and see the value of working more closely together. “The goal is to build trust, a critical value chain principle,” says Endy Yaregal, EDGET value chain specialist. “There is no one else around to help heal the relationship between farmers and processors.”

Considerable progress has already been

made in straightening bends in the value chain. EDGET looked at nearly 30 processors in the project’s target areas and identified those who were willing to upgrade. It researched sources in nearby countries and put together a manual detailing a variety of affordable mills, husk shellers, separators, polishers and whiteners. None of that equipment was readily available before.

“MEDA is bringing together the knowledge base,” says Loren Hostetter. “This manual is the best available in the country.”

Another step is to devise buy/lease financing options, and several processors are signing on.

EDGET arranged links between traders and processors with supermarkets for early market feedback. A database of rice trading enterprises was developed. EDGET facilitated participation in two trade fairs which inspired processors to recognize new market opportunities for better rice. A major supermarket agreed to display samples of graded Ethiopian rice and provide consumer feedback.

The project includes a strong component of working with the government to encourage industry-wide improvements. “The government is saying they like our approach,” says Yaregal. “It’s very inclusive — from input supplier to customer. They say, ‘Why not extend it to other crops, like tomatoes and potatoes?’”

Who knows where it could lead. But for now a smaller target is in sight — a big boost in income for 8,000 farmers and 2,000 weavers. ◆

A new portable rice storage container gets a test.

EDGET to see what is possible. She also asks about their use of credit, and whether they have sufficient access to village-level savings capability. Some are using credit from another organization but they are not pleased with the interest rates or the repayment schedules. They nod as she explains the importance of savings. They know that if they have a crop failure they have nothing to fall back on.

Has EDGET been good for them? They agree when one farmer says, “Right from the first things we have seen, we like EDGET.” They are most happy for their training, and they really like the new seed.

Emotions rise when discussing some processors who not only charge a fee for dehusking farmers’ rice but also get to keep the “I just love bran and re-sell it for other uses. Outdated and poorly farmers. They maintained equipment causes excess breakage, meaning speak directly; more tailings for the processor and less money for farmers.

“We give them 100 they say what pounds and they give us back 65,” complains one farmer. they mean.”

“Sometimes they break the rice on purpose so they can take more bran.”

Some processors, meanwhile, are irked by the new seed variety, which has a sturdier kernel and produces less bran. “The processors tell us to go back to the old variety,” says one farmer. “They don’t like it that the new variety only gives 15% bran.”

Such friction is nothing new to agriculture, whatever the country. EDGET is seizing the opportunity to transform predatory relationships in the value chain and bring about mutually beneficial collaboration. It wants to arrange regular quarterly meetings with farmers and processors The Marketplace January February 2012

Team spirit starts with lunch “We have a good team spirit here,” says Yabetse Assefa, the financial and administrative manager of MEDA’s office in Addis Ababa.

Part of the reason may be the daily lunch, which staff share together. An on-site cook provides an authentic Ethiopian meal of injera at a modest price.

Staff say it is the best to be had in Addis Ababa.

Many of the employees (17 plus three interns) have advanced educational degrees and deep previous experience. There is good gender and religious balance, with roughly equal numbers of male and female.

Yabetse says a new website is being developed so interested people can keep in touch with EDGET’s progress (address to be announced soon). ◆

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Tapestry of hope

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“Cluster

drive through southwestern Ethiopia reveals an entire value chain at work. First, there’s the cotton plants along the road, their bolls bursting like popcorn. In the villages you can find women spinning the fibres into yarn. And the next town may have someone who bleaches the yarn pure white so it will better accept dye.

High in the hills, in places like Dorze and Chencha, weavers (mostly male) are busy, some at outdoor looms, others working together in groups. Their output is a feast of tribal color. But when you stop at a roadside market and pay $3 for a stunning scarf that took days to produce, something obviously is very wrong. Many weavers, despite their hard work, are losing money and falling further behind.

From raw cotton in the fields to finely woven garments in a trendy store, the hand-woven textile value chain is ripe for improvement. EDGET wants to help the weavers get more return for their effort. Working with local partners, it aims to improve the income of 2,000 weavers in the Chencha region in the south, Bahir Dar in the north, and the capital, Addis Ababa.

One way to do this is to create a bigger market by linking weavers with high-end markets, says Rebeka Amha, monitoring and evaluation manager. Other interventions include improving the supply of inputs and cutting out trade inefficiencies.

“We are doing baseline studies to establish what their average income is now,” she says. “Then we want to help them increase that by 50 percent or more.”

Like poor people everywhere, weavers want to use their additional income to improve their houses, pay for

leaders” keep

schooling and, as one says, “liberate our children.”

EDGET instituted

dialogue between weavers, in touch with intermediaries and highend market buyers in order the market and to identify areas of collaboration and start building teach weavers mutually beneficial business relationships.

Lead weavers from to upgrade Chencha attended a threeday session on modern accordingly. design, work discipline and market-oriented production. As a result, weavers developed a format to register and communicate their wares in a more professional manner. They also worked at proper pricing mechanisms and better promotion.

The Besa Hyzo Cooperative in Dorze, which comprises 48 weavers, made a cultural shift by expanding their looms in response to designers who said the market wanted a wider product. For generations weavers had produced fabrics that were 80 centimetres wide (about 32 inches) but that’s not big enough for someone making a dress. Consequently weavers enlarged their looms to produce fabric that was a full metre wide (39 inches).

“It may not sound like a big deal, but someone fashioning a garment wants a wider fabric,” says a leader of the group. “The shift to one metre was not a technical problem, we just had to go ahead and do it.”

A number of designers agreed to test subcontracting

Dyers display natural dyes, some made from flower petals held by the woman at left. Right: a roadside textile market.

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The Marketplace January February 2012

new orders come from the designers, weavers are taught to upgrade accordingly.

directly to groups of weavers, a shift from their former practice of dealing primarily with traders.

“Cluster leaders” (like lead farmers for rice) now keep in touch with the market on an ongoing basis and interpret the latest needs to the weavers in their group. When

Connecting with designers also led to a growing “green” orientation. One expert advised that the high-end market had a lot of interest in natural, organic dyes, and that moving in this direction could provide a competitive advantage.

The Nigat Hirpo dye cluster, down the road from Besa Hyzo Coop, employs 17 weavers elete Charga may not be typical, but he’s a shining ex(including three women) who now produce ample of an established weaver who is trying to bring various shades of natural dye: black (using charabout changes in the impoverished weaving community. coal), green (using a local type of tree moss), He began weaving at the age of six and was sent to Addis and yellow (using petals from the meskal flowAbaba to serve as an apprentice. He lived and worked there as a er). Notably, this group is composed of younger weaver for 28 years before returning to the town of Dorze five people who are eager to try new things. years ago with his wife and three young daughters. Weaving Plans call for increasing collaboration with remains his sole source of income. a designer consortium that is trying to develop When MEDA started its project he signed on and took traina distinctive Africa brand of green products to ing on innovative weaving designs from a designer. His knowcompete with other countries. ledge and confidence grew, and the exposure to the high-end In Addis Ababa, meanwhile, a visit to a textile market and its product demands helped Belete understand high-end craft shop frequented by tourists the importance of good business relationships. He cites the neand affluent Ethiopians gives a glimpse of the cessity of trust, honesty and genuineness between those working future. The shop caters to a burgeoning martogether within a value chain — “without these, the relationship ket that is hungry for quality indigenous crafts and the business will not be successful,” he says. He also acthat can compete with Asian production. It has knowledges the importance of quality textiles and timely delivery its own network of weavers, but not enough of orders. to satisfy a growing market. “We have 400 Belete established the Besa Hyzo Cooperative with the assistweavers now, but in three months we will have ance of MEDA’s key facilitating partner, and now shares his skills 1,000,” says the proprietor. “We cannot keep and insights with the 47 other weavers in up with the demand.” ◆ the group.

“Belete has local respect and the ingenuity to motivate the formation of effective business relationships between the weavers in Chencha and the highend buyers,” says Loren Hostetter.

“With new skills and linkages to the enhanced market, Belete can hope for a future for his children and they can attend school and not have to begin weaving at the early age of six as he did.”

Weaving a future

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Belete Charga: New emphasis on quality, timely delivery.

Fiona MacKenzie photo

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A young Besa Hyzo weaver plies a trade that has been in his family for generations.

MEDA’s special blend:

Enduring Values, Lasting Impact Annual convention hits new attendance record

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the east coast of the U.S. “We benefited from each of those generations,” he said, noting that it was the “guts and integrity” of each succeeding generation that enabled his company to endure.

Treating employees well was another lasting value, he said, seen in the company’s policy of sharing 20 to 30 percent of its profit with them.

Reconciling values with “messy business” wasn’t always easy, he conceded. “I haven’t personally learned how to turn the other cheek when someone doesn’t pay what they owe,” he said, nor had he managed to square the Sermon on the Mount with the occasional need for layoffs. In the long run, however, constantly trying to reconcile moral tensions “makes entrepreneurs better people.”

Former MEDA staffer and board member Joyce Bontrager Lehman traced her own pilgrimage from an Amish community in Iowa to development work with MEDA in Afghanistan, and more recently to the staff of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (excerpt on page 17).

She stressed that the positive values of the microfinance movement need to be expanded more broadly for greater impact on the world’s poor.

Many people who are helped to climb out of poverty end up falling back in, she said, indicating a need for protective mechanisms. “We encourage organizations and governments to think more broadly about the full range of formal financial services — savings, insurance, payment systems, money transfers — needed by the poor and more cost-effective ways to reach the poor with these services where they live.”

Technology-enabled financial services available to the poor at their doorstep was a relatively new concept, she said, “but one that we believe will make a huge difference for hundreds of millions of the global poor over the next decade.”

Kim Tan, head of SpringHill Management Ltd., a British venture capital fund management firm, painted a lively picture of how faith-infused business can alleviate social blights like human trafficking and HIV/AIDS. He reported

or a MEDA convention, it was global presence in a new key: the lively fragrance of coffee. Robust and bracing, it danced down the convention halls like mood-altering aromatherapy.

At one end was roasting maven Alex Escobar, a former MEDA staffer who now runs Cervantes Coffee.

At the other, the coffee stylings of upstart entrepreneur Sara Kauffman (see sidebar) who treated the convention to a custom blend of beans from two “MEDA countries,” Tanzania and Nicaragua.

Organizers of MEDA’s annual Business as a Calling convention hoped to set a new attendance record when they met in Lancaster, Pa., Nov. 3 to 6. The bar was high, as the previous record of 697 was set two decades earlier in — where else — Lancaster. When all heads were counted, the 2011 attendance reached 707.

The convention, MEDA’s most visible annual event, is a time to showcase the organization’s progress over the previous year as well as to undergird its faith premise. This year it tied the two together under the theme Enduring Values: Lasting Impact.

President Allan Sauder happily noted two indicators from the past year: MEDA’s budget grew 42 percent and its reach extended to 60 countries (up from 50).

Treasurer Tom Bishop reported that growth in grants and contracts had increased substantially despite continued market volatility and low consumer confidence worldwide. These positive results were “due to the organization’s enduring values that result in lasting impacts.”

Keynote speakers addressed the kinds of values that produce impact.

For Tom Wolf, CEO of the Wolf Organization of York, Pa., a building materials company, ongoing attention to the “moral universe” was pivotal to enduring from its founding in 1843 through six generations of family ownership. He tracked its progress from the days of his greatgreat-great grandfather to its current role as a provider of kitchen cabinets and exterior products in 18 states along 13

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how enterprises he has been involved with have created jobs, promoted education and healed environmental degradation in Africa.

Tan cited the impact of introducing low-cost cookstoves to African villagers, many of whom spend 20 to 30 percent of their income on wood or charcoal. Traditional woodfire cooking not only created fire hazards, respiratory ailments and environmental damage, but also enabled the unseen horror of rape as young girls venture far afield to gather scarce firewood.

Numerous seminars provided insights into how firms attempt to live out a higher calling. Herr Foods president

Ed Herr, whose company makes six tons of chips every hour, touched on the implications of a Christian presence.

He said people sometimes ask why he doesn’t sell out to a multinational. His answer: “God has given us an opportunity to be a blessing — to help families to grow; to help our communities to prosper.”

The next Business as a Calling convention will be held Nov. 1-4, 2012 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. ◆ To see complete video coverage of the keynote addresses visit www.businessasacalling.org and choose the “Convention 2011 videos” menu option.

Young entrepreneur lives a dream

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or Don Horning, a daily ritual is a visit to his favorite coffee shop, the New Holland Coffee Company.

“I’ve become a coffee snob,” he jokes. “I’m doing Sumatra right now.”

To owner Sara Kauffman, the retired auto dealer is almost like family. “I know his grandchildren,” she says.

Serving up a daily cup of joe is something she’s always wanted to do. As a child, she liked to “play” restaurant, complete with menus. In high school, it became her dream. Now, she enjoys the real thing so much it still seems like play.

Shortly after graduating from college with a business degree she started working for the company she now owns, located in a strip mall in New Holland, Pa. “I told the owner when I interviewed Loving it: Sara Kauffman, new roaster in hand. that I wanted to get experience in the coffee shop industry to see if it was the direction I wanted to “I’m here all the time,” she says. “I love it. I really go. A few months later he asked if I wanted to buy it.” do. I love working with the customers and that so many So, at the age of 22, she did. That was three years of them come in daily. You really get to know them and ago. She hopes to pay it off in 10 years. their families. I really want it to be a welcoming environThe company makes its own pastries, sandwiches ment for people.” and salads. The coffee is all roasted on-site.

Sometimes she feels almost like a therapist. “People just The original owner taught her how to roast, and tell me things,” she says. “And I love listening to them.”

Kauffman took to it quickly. “It’s quite simple, once you Kauffman says her friends have been very supportget the profiles down.” ive and feel the freedom to insist she takes a break now She brings in beans from a dozen different counand then. “When you’re doing something you love it’s tries from Central America to Africa, and roasts dark, really hard to stop,” she explains. medium and light.

Does she ever have a bad day? “If I do, it’s when For the MEDA convention she came up with a the equipment doesn’t work, like if the espresso ma“Special MEDA Blend,” a medium roast using beans chine breaks down.” from two countries where MEDA works — Tanzania Is her business a calling? “Very much so,” she asand Nicaragua. serts. “God definitely had a plan for me. I could not These days her father helps with the roasting, which have planned it, that’s for sure.” frees Kauffman up to develop her latest venture — She glances over at Don Horning to check on his wholesaling. cup of Sumatra.

She employs 10 people, all but one of them partHe grins. “Better than Starbucks,” he says. ◆ time.

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Twenty million and counting An excerpt from president Allan Sauder’s “state of MEDA” convention address

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experience God’s love and unleash their potential to earn a livelihood. We believe we are called to share the abilities and resources God has given us to create business solutions to poverty. This has been our belief since 1953. This is the basis on which we recruit staff and partners today.

We have a mandate to change lives — to save lives — by unleashing their God‑given potential, wherever they live and whatever faith they follow.

Second, love and respect for our clients and for each other is what we demand. When I was in Haiti earlier this year, Anne Hastings, CEO of our partner Fonkoze, arranged for us to visit clients in some of the poorest areas of Haiti. In the central plateau we came upon a group of some 60 women who had Fonkoze savings accounts and/or loans. They were singing what we thought were hymns, but it turned out they were singing songs of praise they had written – for Fonkoze.

We asked a few of them why they were singing songs of praise, why they were clients of Fonkoze. Invariably, each woman said it was because of the love and respect they felt from the Fonkoze staff — that they truly cared about them and were willing to go the extra mile for them, especially following the earthquake. When we asked Anne about this, she said simply, “Of course, that’s who we are. Anybody who does not truly respect our clients and the potential they have, no matter how destitute, does not have a job with us.” She went on to

want to highlight one number — 20 million families touched by MEDA’s work this year, 20 million families with new hope for their futures, for the futures of their children.

How is this possible for a small organization that took in only $3 million in private contributions last year?

Does that mean that every dollar you and I contributed changed the lives of more than six families?

The answer is yes!

Not all were helped in the same way. Twelve million more homes in rural Tanzania now have mosquito nets and better health. Through our Sarona investments, 6.5 million households at the bottom of the pyramid now have better access to vital financial services, jobs and products. And 1.5 million farmers and entrepreneurs are earning better incomes (often double or triple) through training, access to markets and financial services provided

by MEDA’s partners. These numbers don’t even count the clients of organizations we worked with in the past who continue to receive services from our local partners long after MEDA is no longer involved.

How can a relatively small organization realize so much impact? I believe it has everything to do with our enduring faith‑based values.

First, an unwavering commitment to our mission is paramount. Our vision is that all people may 15

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say she had experienced that same spirit from the MEDA team over the years, and that was why she valued our partnership so much.

developing world still dependent on small‑holder farming, we need to find ways to double global food production in the next 40‑50 years. In Ukraine our horticulture development project continues to achieve good results, with 4,500 farmers now earning increased incomes and investing in improved production with the assistance of a finance company started by MEDA – Agro Capital Management. Equally important, these farmers are catching a vision of what is possible.

Health. MEDA has proven that private sector innovations can substantially improve the availability of drugs and health services. Our insecticide treated mosquito net program in Tanzania now has a network of 7,000 retailers throughout the country providing a sustainable supply of nets to even the most remote rural areas. With nearly 33 million nets now in use since the beginning of this program, we have saved 180,000 lives – mostly children and pregnant women – and it continues to grow!

Women’s economic development. MEDA is creating business models that markedly increase women’s access to markets and ability to contribute economically to their families, in areas where they are otherwise constrained by social barriers. Our work in Pakistan and Afghanistan has yielded positive benefits for thousands of women and their families. Just this week we learned that the Food and Agriculture Organization and USAID conducted an evaluation of MEDA’s work in Balochistan, one of the most challenging areas in Pakistan, and ranked this project among the top three in the country over the past 30 years.

Rural financial services. Improving small‑holder agriculture and creating off‑farm incomes is vital. In Zambia, Nicaragua and Haiti we are creating and expanding Failures? Our the use of mobile transactechnologies in rural board says if we tion areas. In Pakistan we work UBL Bank and the Bill don’t have any with & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote debit cards failures we’re and branchless banking to provide cash to flood not trying hard victims, and link them to longer‑term access to financial services. In Afghanistan enough. we work with First Microfinance Bank to develop rural lending products for small and medium enterprises.

Youth and financial services. With world attention focused on the problems of youth unemployment and growing restlessness, this is a unique opportunity for us. With our great success in Morocco and Egypt, where more than 12,000 youth are finding hope and opportunities for work, we plan to take this program to new countries in Africa.

Deposit mobilization. Savings are critical to sustain

That brings me to our third value, faith — in God, ourselves, our mission. When the going gets tough despite our best efforts, and the odds seem insurmountable, we need to place situations in God’s hands and open ourselves to help from unexpected Haitian clients resources. A number of years ago when we were singing suffered a major fraud in one program, I was songs of praise facing burnout after eight back‑to‑back trips — composed in to Africa and seriously doubted our ability to tribute to the love recover. My wife Donna said, “Why don’t you and respect they ask Neil Janzen (former MEDA president) if he would go there for a felt from staff. few months to help get things back in shape.” What a God‑sent resource and answer to prayer he turned out to be.

A fourth value is trust. Trust does not just happen. It is created when we practice integrity in all we do, when we demand accountability, when we deliver what we promise. MEDA is a trusted partner. Last year we partnered with 150 different organizations around the world. These partnerships were key to being able to leverage the kind of impact you have heard about. Trust and accountability are key to the support we enjoy from institutional donors – foundations, governments and multilateral institutions. Effective partners and generous institutional donors helped turn your $3 million of support into 20 million lives changed.

One final value that is crucial in all of our lives, but perhaps nowhere more than in our work, is forgiveness: forgiveness of others when things don’t go according to plan, forgiveness of ourselves when we don’t get the job done, and the forgiveness of our board when we take risks and fail. From time to time our board asks about our failures — and we usually have a few — because they say that if we don’t have any failures we are not trying hard enough. We try to be very Mennonite in our approach — practical, creative and frugal — but does that sometimes limit our willingness to take the risks that will take us to new levels of impact? As we grow, are we becoming more risk averse, or will our failures simply be on a larger scale?

I also want to briefly highlight eight strategic ar-

eas where MEDA has an opportunity to be a global leader.

Agriculture. With over 50% of households in the

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ment Corporation of the U.S. Government). This loan is for Sarona Frontier Markets Fund 2, which is now being developed and needs to be matched by private investment. Sarona’s application was one of only six approved out of a field of 88 — and it was the largest. This approval gives the SAM team tremendous credibility as they go to institutional investors on Wall Street.

Engaged and growing association. One of MEDA’s key strengths and competitive advantages is our association of supporters. Some 8,000 people support us financially, attend our various events, visit MEDA projects, read MEDA publications and/or provide governance or business advice. But we need to grow and diversify. Our base (less than 3,000 giving units) is too small and is stretched too thinly to support our ever‑growing opportunities.

This year we are looking for a significant increase in private contributions, $4.8 million in total, to allow us to reach many more millions of families. Your help is needed! You all know people who can and should be part of MEDA’s mission. Please bring them to us — we want to multiply your connections. ◆

households, small businesses and communities – especially for the poor who lack social safety nets. Deposits are also a good funding base for the financial institutions themselves. MEDA’s leadership in deposit mobilization is becoming well-known through recent contracts with: Grameen in Philippines, Bank of Kathmandu in Nepal, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and the International Finance Corporation.

Impact investing. Our Sarona Frontier Markets Fund is leading the way in increasing investment in the Small and Medium (or SME) business sector, which is the “missing middle” in many developing economies. MEDA earlier proved that the microfinance sector is an investible asset class. We now seek to do the same in the SME sector, where returns to the poor and potentially to investors will be even more significant. This fund currently has committed capital of $22 million.

We recently received the exciting news that Sarona Asset Management (SAM) has been approved for an 87 million dollar loan from OPIC (the Overseas Private Invest-

From Kalona to Kabul What’s it like living in Kabul? In some ways, much like growing up Amish in Iowa.

by Joyce Bontrager Lehman

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oung people often ask me, “How did you get to be where you are and to do what you do?” I ask myself the same question all the time.

I have never stopped thinking of myself as a little Amish farm girl from Iowa and have been truly astonished by the opportunities I’ve had and the places I’ve been. One of the joys of attaining a certain age is to become increas-

“For the first third of my life I had to cover my head and wear unusual clothes,” says the author, shown on the job in Kabul, “so it wasn’t a big stretch to do the same in Afghanistan.”

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The Marketplace January February 2012

hooked. I signed on as a member, later joined the board, and eventually transitioned to staff as part of what was then called the MEDA Consulting Group. That casual conversation changed my life, and the opportunity that grew out of it cannot be overstated.

I knew next to nothing about what MEDA consultants were expected to do when we went to places I had never heard of before. Early on I was asked to go to Mali; I assumed they meant Bali. Big difference. I nearly ended up booking travel to southeast Asia instead of West Africa.

I didn’t know there was a Mali in the world. But the shoulders of my colleagues were broad and strong, and my early teaching experience and work in finance and accounting was helpful for the training and consulting work I was able to do with microcredit institutions in the developing world.

ingly aware of gifts received — gifts that too often are not properly recognized as we go about our lives thinking we have done it all on our own. I owe a debt of gratitude to early influences and to the many people along the way on whose shoulders I have stood, leaned and occasionally cried.

My mother, being a girl, did not have the same opportunities as her brothers. She would have made a wonderful school teacher but that was not an option. She wanted more for her two daughters. The evening before I hoped to begin high school, I listened on the other side of the door as she urged my father to allow me to attend. My parents by then had joined a church in the Conservative Mennonite Conference, but that still did not fundamentally change his skeptical views on education. He relented, but it was a conversation that was repeated nearly every year until my college degree was in hand. That gift from my mother is of such magnitude that I can hardly talk about it, and I deeply regret that she passed on when I was still too young to fully appreciate what she did for me.

I first went to Afghanistan in November of

2003 when MEDA was asked to send a consultant to prepare a business plan to start a microcredit program.

I was there for a month with a colleague and we completed the assignment. As it happened, our work helped secure funding and soon after I got a call: “Joyce, you helped write the business plan — do you want to go to Kabul for a year and get the program started?” “Yes, why not?” I figured I had been running around telling other people how they should manage their programs, and here was an opportunity to see whether I could actually do it myself. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

More than a few friends and neighbors, not to mention my two children, thought it very strange that I would turn on a dime and go to Afghanistan, but I truly didn’t give it a second thought. At least not until I was shown to an empty room in Kabul and told, “This is for the credit program.”

I won’t pretend that the year in Kabul was easy; it was the most challenging year of my professional life, but personally it was the most rewarding.

We Amish children had all the traditional

community events that made for a happy early childhood, and much of the communal activity centered on Middleburg, the one‑room Iowa school that defined our rural neighborhood and where I attended for eight years. There were the threshing rings and quilting bees, gardening and butchering, bucking bales and canning the peaches brought in from Michigan by the truckload, cleaning the house inside and out to prepare for our turn at holding the church services in our home.

Middleburg was a public school and not all were Amish — there were Mennonites and non‑Mennos — but we were all neighbors. It was a childhood that taught the value of hard work, the joys of simple pleasures, and the importance of helping our neighbors, to be kind to strangers, to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. There was not a lot of conversation about our faith beyond the daily and weekly rituals; it was simply our life.

On my first leave back in the states, my only aunt

passed away at age 95. My sister and I made plans to attend the funeral in a small Amish community in northern Missouri. “What are you going to wear?” she asked. “I don’t know,” I said, “all my Amish clothes are in Afghanistan.” What I meant was that any clothing I had for such an occasion would be exactly the same clothes that would be appropriate to wear in Kabul. That startling observation began a pattern of noticing things in Kabul that felt

In the mid‑1990s I was in private practice as a

chartered accountant and getting restless, thinking there was more I wanted to do with my life. One evening with friends from the Menno community in Boston, someone said “You should get involved with MEDA.” I had not heard of MEDA and was told it was too complex to explain — just go to the next convention. I did and was The Marketplace January February 2012

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familiar, starting with the fact that my mother often wore a long black shawl — virtually identical to the one I wore in Kabul.

“What’s it like living in Kabul?” For people who knew my background, I often said, “You know, it’s not all that different.” Of course there was and is a great difference at the macro level with the government and military and development workers in the big white SUVs, but when it came to the daily lives of ordinary Afghans I was constantly reminded of something from my childhood: the clothes hanging on the line to dry, the old‑time cement mixers like the one Dad If we are careful had on the farm, the horse and carts, extended families living together in to listen and one compound, young girls beating the dust off observe, we the carpets with a broom, wearing the same kind of soon understand headscarves tied under their chin and the same that we are more prairie‑style dresses that I wore, though more colorful than mine. alike than we “So did you have to cover your head in Afare different. ghanistan?” I’m always a bit amused by this question. Look, I had to cover my head and wear unusual clothes for the first third of my life, so it really wasn’t a big stretch to wear modest clothing and a headscarf when walking outside. Besides, it is not only the Holy Quran that says a woman should cover her head.

The Holy Bible says so as well.

During the past year I spoke with two people, also raised Amish, who spent years in overseas work. Bertha Beachy left my home church to work in Somalia; Harold Miller and his wife Annetta Wenger have lived in east Africa for years. Both Bertha and Harold used almost identical words to describe their experiences: “Every single day my Amish background helped me better understand the people I live and work with.”

What are the enduring values that may make those of us who grew up in close-knit ethnic communities, Amish or otherwise, particularly well suited to live and work in other cultures? How can it be that people of two such seemingly different cultures can find commonality?

Well, for starters there is the centrality of family, respect and care for the elders, children who immediately become part of the rhythm of family life and remain so even after they marry. There is a sense of place, a family home, a deep connection to the land, a unique mother tongue, an oral history, a village, a community, and yes, a tribe.

Underpinning all of these are the cultural traditions and the faith that is less spoken of than simply lived. And in fact, in both cases it is equally difficult to distinguish between the two: is it theology or is it tradition? Islam, like Christianity, has numerous sub‑groups, all followers of the same prophet but with very different interpretations and practices. We who are Christian easily accept that there are many different groups who all are followers of Jesus and yet it is much too easy for us to view all Muslims as one group, too often a group that is feared rather than respected as part of the family of God. If we are careful to listen and observe, we soon understand that we are more alike than we are different. What was so heartbreaking in Kabul was to see how hard it was for ordinary families to hold it together — to reclaim and rebuild their family homes that had been destroyed in the decades of war, to struggle each day to provide a living for their family, stay healthy and send their children to school — the same things that are important to us. What I took away from my time in Kabul is a profound respect for the astonishing resilience of ordinary Afghans in the face of constant threats and well‑meaning interventions that are too often misguided and help the wrong people. ◆

Every day I worked with a young woman who reminded me so much of a younger me. She too depended on her father’s permission to work outside the home.

In fact, I learned much later that her father never knew that after she arrived at the office she went out again to work in villages outside the city to visit clients. (That was something else we had in common: not telling our fathers what they didn’t want to know).

Afghan society is patriarchal, men and women are separated in the houses of worship, and women are not permitted to speak in the mosque. There was even an eerie if somewhat comforting similarity between the call to prayer from the mosque and the sound of the Vorsinger who leads the singing at all Amish church services.

Joyce Lehman is program officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her article is excerpted from her keynote address at MEDA’s 2011 Business as a Calling convention in Lancaster, Pa. 19

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Reviews

We want to help ... so badly Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It). By Robert D. Lupton (HarperOne, 2011, 191 pp. $22.99 U.S. $24.99 Cdn.)

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f you’ve ever gone on a mission trip to a developing country, you may want to take a deep breath before reading this book. The author, veteran urban minister Robert Lupton, takes a dim view of such trips, and thinks they should at least be renamed, if not abandoned.

His unsettling critique goes to the core of how good intentions can go awry. Missiontrippers typically have noble goals, but often they don’t help at all. Many mission trips are essentially make-work projects that displace local labor, distract local leaders from their work and leave little lasting impact — except in the hearts and travel journals of the affluent visitors.

Lupton says the lucrative mission trip industry last year engaged two to four million Americans who raised and spent billions of dollars.

“But isn’t it time we admit to ourselves that mission trips are essentially for our benefit?” he writes. “Would it not be more forthright to call our junkets ‘insight trips’ or ‘exchange programs’? Religious tourism would have much more integrity if we simply admitted that we’re off to explore God’s amazing work in the world.”

Compassion is a great thing, says Lupton, a “powerful force, a stamp of the divine nature within our spirits.” The desire to help “echoes the imprint of the Creator on our lives.”

But much of the compassion industry’s well-meaning generosity is completely unex-

amined and tends to gravitate to handouts that harm recipients by destroying initiative, he writes.

Lupton quotes a Central American microcredit manager who toiled to set up sustainable financial services only to be thwarted by visitors bringing gifts and free cash. People became conditioned to wait for the next mission group to arrive instead

mediate intervention, he insists there is a difference between periodic crises and long-term needs. When a chronic need is approached as though it were a crisis, “we can predict toxic results: dependency, deception, disempowerment.”

His solution? More due diligence — “the cornerstone of wise giving” — and a careful ROI cal-

“What peasant, scratching out a bare existence, can refuse suitcases bulging with new clothing for his family?” of working to build their own enterprises.

“What peasant, scratching out a bare existence, can refuse suitcases bulging with new clothing for his family?”

Lupton asks. “What village would borrow money to dig a well or buy books for their school library or save money to build a church if these things were provided for them free of charge?”

Lupton says even businesspeople fall into the same trap when they get involved with service work. “They repeatedly fail to bring with them their common sense and business acumen, defaulting to charity methods,” he says. “They would not put up with this kind of return on investment in their professional lives.”

While conceding that floods, earthquakes and famines call for direct and im-

The Marketplace January February 2012

culation to gauge effectiveness.

• “Are recipients assuming greater levels of control over their own lives or do they show up, year after year, with their hands out?”

• “Is leadership emerging among the served?”

• “Are their aspirations on the rise?”

• “Is there a positive trajectory?”

He suggests churches and agencies adopt an “oath for compassionate service,” one element of which is: “Strive to empower the poor through employment, lending, and investing, using grants sparingly to reinforce achievements.”

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Lupton urges greater respect for the dignity of recipients by promoting honest work: “the creation of productive, meaningful employment fulfills one of the Creator’s highest designs. Because of that, it should be a central goal of our service.”

But that does not come without the effort of forging relationships. “Even as work is essential for life with meaning, so neighboring is essential for meaningful community life. Becoming a neighbor to less-advantaged people is the most authentic expression of affirmation I know — becoming a real-life, next-door neighbor.”

Not every global need has to automatically constitute a call to action, he says. “Focus your efforts in one or two areas that have a compelling interest to you, that maximize your giftedness.... A church full of businesspeople might be uniquely equipped to create successful businesses in a developing country. A church full of educators could turn around an underperforming school in their community, even the entire system.” — Wally Kroeker

Attention U.S. farmers You can give from your harvest to help the poor increase their harvest.

In the U.S., farm commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans can be donated and turned into a cash gift to support a global MEDA project of your choice.

To find out how, call MEDA’s U.S. office (717560-6546) and ask for Marlin Hershey or Mike Miller.

Soundbites

The guys on the roof Roofing was, they joked, “second from the bottom on the job list … one up from shark bait.” I didn’t know this at my interview after high school, but I learned it quickly.

Roofing is unusually hard work.

Consider the cold tar tear‑off.

Tear‑offs took place at night. The boss would tell us to show up with enough clothing to cover our entire bodies.

No skin could be exposed to the tar dust or else the sun would melt it into your pores, sending you to the ER with your skin on fire and eyes swelled shut. When the morning crew rolled in, they’d yell at us to clear out before the sun crested the horizon.

Hot tar wasn’t much better.

A foreman told me a guy once

fell off the edge of a building into the 400-degree Fahrenheit kettle of liquid asphalt.

I remember wicked headaches from fork‑lift exhaust on winter mornings when the shop doors were closed and we had to load insulation or shingles onto the trucks. And black nasal congestion after driving in summer‑hot vans packed with fiber board pieces and dried glue after a clean‑up.

Despite the hardships, I learned to respect the roofing trade. A roof provides shelter.

From tin shacks to magnificent castles, a roof serves as a universal symbol of provision. Most of my coworkers couldn’t see this. I didn’t either at the time.

Fifteen years later, I still drive by a job site and pray for guys

on the roof. They endure cold, heat, toxins and low wages....

But they keep us dry at night.

Their work affects every single one of us. — Sam Van Eman, excerpted from Faith in the Workplace newsletter

Unpaid endorsement If I were on death row, my last meal would be from Steak ‘n Shake. If I were to take President Obama and his family to dinner and the choice was up to me, it would be Steak ‘n Shake. If the pope was to ask where he could get a good plate of spaghetti in America, I would reply, “Your Holiness, have you tried the Chili Mac or the Chili 3-Ways?” A downstate Illinois boy loves the Steak ‘n Shake as a Puerto Rican loves rice and beans, an Egyptian loves falafel, a Brit loves bangers and mash, a Finn loves reindeer jerky, and a Canadian loves doughnuts. This doesn’t involve taste. It involves a deep-seated conviction that a food is right, has always been right, and always will be. — Film critic Roger Ebert in Life Itself: A Memoir

Hard-core rights Ten years ago companies viewed human rights as a values-based issue. Today, human rights is understood as a hard-core business issue.

— Sustainalytics CEO Michael Jantzi in the Globe & Mail

Whose bootstraps?

There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own.

Nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid 21

for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.... You built a factory and it turned into something terrific...? God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along. — Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts

“Free” enterprise State-controlled companies account for 80% of the market capitalisation of the Chinese stockmarket, more than 60% of Russia’s, and 35% of Brazil’s. They make up 19 of the world’s 100 biggest multinational companies and 28 of the top 100 among emerging markets. World-class state companies can be found in almost every industry. China Mobile serves 600 million customers. Saudi Arabia’s SABIC is one of the world’s most profitable chemical companies.

Emirates airlines is growing at 20% a year. Thirteen of the world’s biggest oil companies are state-controlled. So is the world’s biggest natural-gas company, Gazprom. Stateowned companies will continue to thrive. The emerging markets that they prosper in are expected to grow at 5.5% a year compared with the rich world’s 1.6%, and the model is increasingly popular. — The Economist

The Marketplace January February 2012

News

A ground level look at farming in Africa Those who see a future in agriculture see their farms as small businesses, able to generate income.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank executive director Jim Cornelius (Winnipeg) recently spent two months on a study leave in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Congo — a trip he describes as “an extended conversation about livelihoods with hundreds of people.” His reflections:

D

uring my time in Africa I entered into many conversations about livelihoods and the ways people access food. I was able to explore rural areas largely dependent on subsistence agriculture, in cash cropping areas, among pastoralists, in places affected by conflict, in urban slums, and with middle class families. I talked with landless people, relatively prosperous farmers, unemployed city dwellers, and business women.

What did I hear?

• Many are struggling with declining yields and relatively low productivity. Soils were depleted and the agricul-

extra income — as a dead end.

Unsurprisingly, they wanted more for their children. Those who saw a future in agriculture saw their farms as small businesses, able to generate income. There was energy around these farm households.

If we want to help farmers in the developing world, we need to incorporate a farm enterprise approach that includes cash crops in the mix.

• Livestock plays an important household role. For most people, livestock are their bank account; it’s where they keep their savings. We need to develop a much better understanding of the role livestock plays in rural livelihoods, and what constitutes good livestock programming.

• The division of family farms is making it increasingly difficult to earn a livelihood off the land alone. I spoke with many young people who did not have access to land, or who had inherited so little land as to be virtually landless. Stories of internal family conflict over land, and widows, orphans and others being deprived of land, are frequent.

Conflict between ethnic groups is often rooted in land grievances. Groups that want to help poor people in the

ture practices being used by many farmers were not able to significantly restore and increase the productivity of the land. There is a clear need to support improvements in agricultural practices, and to do so in ways that are both environmentally and economically sustainable. Farmers were looking for viable solutions.

• Healthy livelihoods depend on the health of the wider environment. I was struck and encouraged by how aware many people were about the negative human impact on their natural environment, the effect this was having on their livelihoods, and the need for collective action. However, the challenges of getting agreement, and then resourcing and enforcing these collective actions are enormous. This requires both community and government action.

• Most smallholder farmers view subsistence farming — just growing enough to survive, but not enough to sell for

The Marketplace January February 2012

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developing world need to be mindful of the need for legal and political processes to address land issues, together with conflict resolution strategies.

• The creation of off‑farm employment is essential; food security strategies need to pay considerable attention to off‑farm employment and entrepreneurial activity, especially among women — not only were many women I met creating livelihoods for themselves, they were creating employment for others. Projects that encourage this entrepreneurial activity need to be highlighted and supported.

On a personal note, I was reminded of the importance of good health. Two weeks into my visit, I got sick and spent two nights in a little mission hospital. It gave me a renewed appreciation for the role of mission hospitals and reminded me of the vital role health plays when it comes to hunger. If people are sick, they cannot support themselves. If they are farmers, they cannot plant, tend or harvest crops, which leads to food insecurity.

Diseases like malaria and HIV/ AIDS rob people of the ability to feed themselves and earn a decent livelihood. — CFGB release

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The Marketplace January February 2012

The Marketplace January February 2012

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