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Peanut butter project boosts Malawi nutrition

Last year Alex Caskey received a call out of the blue from his college friend, Mark Histand. It was an invitation to go to Malawi, Africa, to oversee construction of a peanut butter factory.

A St. Louis-based organization called Project Peanut Butter (PPB), which produces fortified peanut butter for malnourished children in Africa, needed two people with construction experience and the flexibility to spend a year abroad. Mark and Alex had both. Histand’s brother, Martin, is a project manager at PPB and originally informed Mark about the position.

After speaking with Mark Manary, founder of Project Peanut Butter and a member of Histand’s church in St. Louis, the two friends, both Goshen College graduates in environmental science, agreed to spend a year overseeing construction of a factory and office. Three weeks later they were on their way.

The two quickly realized the challenges of building a 4,000-square-foot factory and adjacent office complex in one of Africa’s poorest and least-developed countries. In Malawi, construction relies heavily on human power as many labor-saving machines are not readily available.

Histand knew how to build timber frame homes after working for Habitat for Humanity in St. Louis but in Malawi he had to learn how to build with concrete and steel.

“We sort of jumped right in,” says Histand.

One of their first challenges was to find and manage an architect and contractor who could design and build a long-lasting concrete structure. They also faced early setbacks obtaining a building license from the local district council and waiting for materials like cement, rebar and electrical equipment to arrive.

After much planning, e-mailing, learning, talking with contractors and procuring supplies, the construction crew finally broke ground in late April. Some 50-70 Malawian men dug trenches for the footing. In July, the concrete sub-structure was completed and work began on the superstructure.

Working with the large local crew was a highlight. “They take pride in helping the children of their country,” Caskey says. “It’s rewarding to work alongside them.”

The new factory will produce a special peanut butter known as a “ready-to-use therapeutic food” (RUTF) for severely malnourished children. The blend of peanut paste, sugar, vegetable oil, milk powder, vitamins and minerals has been endorsed by the World Health Organization as one of the best ways to treat acute malnutrition. Clinical studies show that 95 percent of children treated with RUTF fully recover from malnutrition.

Producing RUTF, called chiponde by locals, also boosts the local economy by using local ingredients and providing jobs for local peanut farmers and factory workers.

Once produced and packaged, RUTF can be stored for

Alex Caskey and Mark Histand on the site of the peanut butter factory they helped build.

many months without spoiling and is eventually administered to children in rural clinics. Histand and Caskey say they heard stories about the wonders of chiponde from friends who work at the clinics.

The factory was scheduled to be completed by the end of December with chiponde production up and running as early as January. — Ariel Ropp, Goshen College news service

Numbers don’t lie for prospective accountants

For major accounting firms, it seems there just aren’t enough students like Corine Alvarez.

She’s on the Dean’s List, plays tennis, has international experience, has had multiple internship and job experiences and has won student business awards. Some would say she’s a typical Goshen College accounting student.

That’s perhaps why accounting firms are knocking on Goshen’s door. Three of the top 10 national accounting firms recruit directly from the college, as do regional and local firms. It probably helps that the college has one of the only regional accounting programs with a required, paid internship, which usually leads to a job offer.

“We are able to place nearly 100 percent of senior accounting majors in job-track internships every year,” says Michelle Horning, professor of accounting. “Our accounting program can’t have enough students. Firms regularly ask, ‘Are there any more?’”

Alvarez is one of three accounting students who began her senior year with a job already in place for after graduation. She will move to Chicago to work for Deloitte, one of the largest accounting firms in the world. Five other senior accounting students all have job-offer track internships, which means they too may be offered jobs. To sweeten the deal, starting salaries can be upward of $50,000 a year.

“Our alumni network is strong and close knit and has

helped us make inroads to the various CPA firms in Indianapolis and Chicago as well as keeping the local ties strong,” says Russ Rupp, professor of accounting.

“It’s a great feeling to have a job already lined up, which surprises many non-business students who are wondering what the future has in store for them,” Alvarez says. “But, my case is not unique. My graduating class already has numerous job offers and internships lined up for this spring.”

Currently, she’s studying for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam, which GC students tend to pass at rates well above the national average. In fact, the Goshen College accounting program is ranked 10th nationally for a program of its size and second in Indiana, based on 2011 CPA exam passing rates for graduates.

Alvarez’s family moved between Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Texas before settling in Goshen when she was in the seventh grade. Her parents are both Goshen College alumni, and her older sister attended as well.

Alvarez originally wanted to study history, but after her academic advisor recommended she take a finance course, she realized that she really enjoyed accounting work and could see herself working in the field.

“My advisor’s whim turned into my career,” she says.

Alvarez has had plenty of hands-on opportunities. As a sophomore, she helped with an audit of a local camp and received an entrepreneurship grant to create her own bookkeeping business. As a junior, she prepared individual tax returns for community members through the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. She has also completed three internships in both public and private accounting.

In October, accounting firms made their annual visit to the college to interview accounting majors for internships and post-graduation jobs. “Goshen is one of the few small schools in Northern Indiana that the accounting firms will visit,” Horning says.

Doug Nisley, a partner at Crowe Horwath LLP, which routinely hires Goshen College graduates, says firms look for students who take initiative, have real-world experience and can think on their feet.

“We look for a well-rounded person who has excellent interpersonal skills as well as a broad range of knowledge,” Nisley says. “Our clients reside across the United States as well as internationally. Travel to our clients often puts our professionals in new and varying cultural settings. GC grads, due to their liberal arts education, as well as the intercultural experience they have on Study-Service Term, are very well-rounded.”

Alvarez’s travels and studies have taken her to Peru, Spain and Morocco. “All of these courses and experiences have made the learning in the classroom more real,” she says. “We talk about international differences in business, why not go to Spain and see them first hand?” — Brian Yoder Schlabach, Goshen news service

Photo by Brian Yoder Schlabach

Accounting major Corine Alvarez: Job lined up