November December 2012
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Pakistan’s entrepreneurs
Building livelihoods for 75,000
Ethiopian fabrics take to the skies Scientist probes for life on Mars Can good grammar be good business?
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The Marketplace November December 2012
Roadside stand
Cashless motivation A lot of managerial energy goes into figuring out the best ways to motivate employees. In a monetized society, it’s perhaps only natural that money will rise to the top, like cream. But human resource specialists have said for years that paychecks rank lower on the ladder of incentive than people think. “Those employees whose prime motivation is money will never be loyal to your organization and will soon move on to the next highest paying job,” writes HR expert Barbara Bowes. Better motivators are interesting work, opportunity for input and leadership that brings out their best. “No matter what the nature of a job,” says Bowes, “most employees are motivated by the opportunity to make a difference and then sharing in the success when a goal is accomplished.” — Winnipeg Free Press Education of women is almost like a tonic for peace, health and prosperity in developing countries, according to War Child founder Samantha Nutt in her book, Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies & Aid. One immediate educational dividend is reduced child mortality. Citing a study of demographic data from 1970 to 2009, she asserts that “for every additional year of education women of reproductive age in developing countries obtained, the death rate among children under five dropped by 10 percent....” Another
Cover photo of embroiderer by MEDA Entrepreneurs staff in Pakistan
dividend is a reduction in the cycle of violence and despair which she insists will not end “so long as women remain marginalized by illiteracy and are catastrophically poor.... The most affordable, efficient, and transformational way to prevent conflict and human suffering does not lie in swelling military aid and raising defence budgets. It lies in ensuring that women and girls have choices other than subservience and reproductive surrender.”
not. We make enough errors already. Corporate attitudes to disability are changing, says The Economist. More companies are finding not only that disabled people are good potential employees, but also that they represent an emerging market. According to experts, disabled workers often are unusually productive, and some disabilities (like autism and Asperger’s syndrome) are actually a plus for jobs requiring repetitive tasks. Moreover, disabled people reportedly number more than a billion worldwide — a market the size of China. “A generation of people who had benefited from disability laws is coming out of education and into work,” the magazine says. “Second, as the baby-boomers age, disabilities are spreading rapidly. That means rising demand for products and services for this unprecedentedly wealthy and consumerist generation.”
Oops. Sharp-eye reader Glen Wiebe of Golden Valley, Minn., pointed out a glitch in last issue’s article on a MEDA project that is fortifying sunflower seed oil with Vitamin A. The article was correct but the blurb under the headline suggested that sunflowers themselves contained Vitamin A. Glen wrote: “I looked at the nutritional values for the seeds and found them low in vitamin A but rich in vitamin E and the B vitamins as well as several important minerals.” What we meant to convey (and did so in the article itself) was that sunflower oil is an especially good vehicle to enrich the diet of Tanzanians because it is used widely and lends itself readily to Vitamin A fortification. Someone wondered if we deliberately slipped the misleading blurb into print to detect who is reading with care. Wish it were so, but it’s
Don’t yell. Nobody likes a boss or irate customer who yells; turns out nobody listens
Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Feel free to send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
The Marketplace November December 2012
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to them as carefully, either. “The new consensus among managers is that yelling alarms people, drives them away rather than inspiring them, and hurts the quality of their work,” writes Sue Shellenbarger in the Wall Street Journal. She says studies show that being on the receiving end of verbal aggression tends to impair one’s ability to understand instructions and perform basic tasks. “Workers who fielded complaints from hostile, aggressive customers were less likely even to remember what the complaint was about, compared with workers who dealt with calm customers.” On the other hand, suppressing anger entirely can keep deep-rooted problems from being resolved. Experts advise telling the truth about problems and frustrations in a measured and calm manner. — WK
In this issue
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Flowing with milk and honey
It’s the second-largest project in MEDA’s history — helping to improve the lives of 75,000 Pakistanis in four sectors: livestock, embellished fabrics, medicinal plants and honeybees.
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Net impact
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Ethiopian fabrics take off
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The heavens are telling
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Good grammar, good business?
Trying to unlock the red planet’s secrets. Page 16
Departments 2 4 19 20 22
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Reviews Soundbites News
Volume 42, Issue 6 November December 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
A satisfied customer and a thriving seller explain why they’re fond of mosquito nets. The numbers so far: 30 million bednets distributed; 7,000 retailers recruited. Lives saved — 200,000.
They hunch over looms in the distant countryside, but the designs they weave now travel to 69 international destinations — on the uniforms of Ethiopian Airlines flight attendants.
Why become a planetary scientist? Roger Wiens believes science tells us of the greatness of God. For Wiens, this has meant playing an important part in NASA’s search for life on Mars.
“I won’t hire people who use poor grammar,” declares iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. He thinks people who make fewer grammar mistakes also make fewer mistakes stocking shelves or labeling parts.
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.
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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 November December 2012
Biblical billionaire Forty years ago David Green started making miniature picture frames in his living room. That modest enterprise blossomed into today’s Hobby Lobby, a $3 billiona-year arts and crafts emporium with 22,000 employees in 520 superstores in 42 states. Nothing like that grows without a fair bit of savvy and hard work, but Green, 70, takes no credit. “If you have anything or if I have anything, it’s because it’s been given to us by our Creator,” he says in a lengthy profile in Forbes magazine. “So I have learned to say, ‘Look, this is yours, God. It’s all yours. I’m going to give it to you.’ ” That apparently is no idle pledge. Forbes, which ranks Green 79th on its list of the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth of $4.5 billion, says half of Hobby Lobby’s pretax earnings go to evangelical ministries that fit Green’s conservative focus. With lifetime giving estimated at more than $500 million, the magazine calls him “the largest individual donor to evangelical causes in America.” “I don’t care if you’re in business or out of business, God owns it,” Green is quoted as saying. “How do I separate it? Well, it’s God’s in church and it’s mine here? I have purpose in church, but I don’t have purpose over here? You can’t have a belief system on Sunday and not live it the other six days.” Green’s giving focuses on colleges, churches and ministries that pass his tight doctrinal test. None others need apply. He also likes to share Scripture and reportedly has backstopped the distribution of 1.4 billion pieces of gospel literature in more than a hundred countries. A mobile Bible app he sponsored boasts upward of 50 million downloads. According to Forbes, Hobby Lobby stores are closed Sundays so employees can go to church. Four chaplains are on the payroll, and the company headquarters provides a free health clinic. “Green has raised the minimum wage for full‑time employees a dollar each year since 2009 — bringing it up to $13 an hour — and doesn’t expect to slow down. From his perspective, it’s only natural: ‘God tells us to go forth into the world and teach the Gospel to every creature. He doesn’t say skim from your employees to do that’.” Green has taken steps to guard his spiritual vision if the company is sold or dissolved — 90% will go to ministries and the rest into a trust for family members. He knows his company won’t last forever. “Woolworth’s is gone,” he told Forbes. “Sears is almost gone. TG&Y is gone. So what? This is worth billions of dollars. So what? Is that the end of life, making more money and building something? For me, I want to know that I have affected people for eternity.” The Marketplace November December 2012
What would you do? Being a conscientious objector can mean more than resisting military service, like not working in a military-related company. Many Christians also wouldn’t want to work for a casino or a massage parlor. Some investors won’t buy military, tobacco or environmentally destructive stocks. What if you own a construction company and you’re invited to bid on a job that you deem morally problematic? Or you find out after you’ve started who you’re actually working for? Tim found himself in this position. As reported in World magazine, his concrete company was busy pouring concrete for a building being put up by a general contractor who was one of his best customers. Then Tim discovered that the building, initially described in vague terms, was going to house an enterprise that conflicted with his morals. His wife said, “Now that you know, how can you pour one more drop of concrete?” Tim decided to pull out, and removed his crew from the site. Several other subcontractors who shared his ethical qualms followed his example. The project was significantly delayed. Tim braced for consequences, but as it turned out he was not sued and even got paid for the work he had started. Word got out, and Tim even received some new business because of his stand. If you were in Tim’s position, what would you have done? So far we have not mentioned what kind of a building it was, so not everyone might agree with him. We will say it was one of the following: a casino; a company that manufactures military components; a medical facility to perform late-term abortions; a liquor distribution warehouse. Depending on which one it was, would you have made the same decision?
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Slow down, be ethical Has life in the corporate lane gotten too fast, what with instantaneous share trading, 24-hour news, just-in-time delivery and the immediacy of tweets? Think, too, of all the corporate effort that goes into policing time to make sure none of it is wasted. The Economist asks: Is it wise to be so obsessed with speed? Is it so bad to take one’s time? The magazine notes that the pre-flight checklists used by pilots help slow them down and make them more methodical. It quotes famed investor Warren Buffet, who likes to hold stocks rather than churn them, as claiming that “lethargy bordering on sloth remains the cornerstone of our investment style.” Slowing down can also make us more ethical, according to management research quoted by the magazine. “When confronted with a clear choice between right and wrong, people are five times more likely to do the right thing if they have time to think about it than if they are forced to make a snap decision. Organisations with a ‘fast pulse’... are more likely to suffer from ethical problems than those that move more slowly.” The researchers suggest companies use more “cooling‑off periods” or require several levels of approval for important decisions.
Why fewer are hungry “Food pantries are important, but they’re not the reason far fewer of us go hungry today than ever before,” according to Brian Brenberg, a business and economics professor at The King’s College, New York City. In his view, the real reason is because of jobs that have nothing directly to do with handing out food. “Fewer go hungry today because some of us lend money to farmers so they can buy new tractors,” he writes in World magazine. “Fewer go hungry today because some of us design even better tractors, or tinker in workshops to keep the old ones running. Fewer go hungry today because some of us look at spreadsheets to figure out how companies could spend less money on tractors and produce even more food. “Jesus told us to feed the hungry. That’s what bankers, engineers, mechanics, and consultants do every day.... We live in a world where many people, often unknown to one another and devoted to all sorts of specialized tasks, work together in vast networks to feed and clothe and heal in ways nobody ever thought possible. When we participate in one of these networks — however remote our job may be from the hand that administers the bread or medicine — we help to fulfill God’s creation mandate.” “The idea that service to God should have only to do with a church altar, singing, reading, sacrifice and the like is without doubt the worst trick of the devil. How could the devil have led us more effectively astray than by the narrow conception that service to God takes place only in church and by works done therein.” — Martin Luther
Overheard
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“I’m prepared to contend that the primary location for spiritual formation is the workplace.” — Eugene Petersen in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places The Marketplace November December 2012
Flowing with milk and honey MEDA’s second-largest project aims to give 75,000 Pakistanis a livelihood boost
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eheman dips a ladle into a large metal can to lift out a sample of fresh milk. Using her new testing kit, she’ll gauge fat content and check for impurities. Higher fat content will earn a premium from the commercial buyers. Any impurities she finds will likely be the result of a middleman along the way who tried to inflate yields by adding water (possibly contaminated) or other crude additives to improve the milk solids. Reheman recently completed a 10-day training program on milk testing and record-keeping, qualifying her as an authorized Vast numbers of rural dwellers (mostly women) are involved in small-scale milk female village milk collector production. Livestock and dairy account for half of Pakistan’s GDP and more than 40 (FVMC). In a short time she has percent of its employment. grown from zero income to having a client base of 20 livestock owners who bring her 70 MEDA projects. Utilizing the value-chain methodology liters a day. Now she earns $35 a month. that has come to define many MEDA projects around the Reheman is one of thousands of “success stories” world, the project relies heavily on local partner organizain MEDA’s Entrepreneurs project in Pakistan, the secondtions that are investing in the country. largest project MEDA has undertaken internationally (the “Over the years MEDA has developed the strategic largest has been a mosquito net project in Tanzania). ability to mobilize local partners, and that has given us Funded by the United States Agency for International a strong foundation in Pakistan,” says Suzi Slomback, Development (USAID), the $30 million five-year project MEDA’s Washington-based project manager. “The Entre(2009 to 2014) aims to increase the incomes of 75,000 preneurs project is working with eight local partners on women micro-entrepreneurs in remote areas of the the ground, with another coming on board by the end of country, many of whom work within the confines of their the year.” homes, through improved production techniques, higher Half-way through the scheduled timeline, Entreprequality and more competitive products, and access to neurs has already reached 40,000 clients. better markets. The project works in four key value chains with high potential for profitability and market expansion: Dairy — 21,000 clients dairy, embellished fabrics, medical and aromatic plants, and honey production. Livestock and dairy account for half of Pakistan’s agriThe project builds on foundations laid down in earlier cultural GDP and more than 40 percent of its employ-
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ment. Vast numbers of rural dwellers (mostly women) are involved in small-scale milk production (one to three animals). The project aims to link 21,000 of them with markets, access to veterinary service providers, better feed and supplements, nutritional information, disease management/prevention and animal drug supplies. Helping them to improve their businesses can be a challenge because conservative traditions in Pakistan bar many rural women from some economic circles. It’s hard to keep up with markets and technology when cultural restraints inhibit public involvement. Fortunately, MEDA has experience in this. An earlier project facilitated go-betweens in the form of a culturally acceptable woman sales agent model — these are women who have more mobility and provide a vital link
between the homebound women and the market. These agents help homebound women keep in touch with current market demands and thus fetch better prices for their products. The Entrepreneurs project also adapted this intermediary feature in the dairy sector. In this case, a female village milk collector (FVMC), recruited from a less culturally-restrictive family, serves as the woman-to-woman contact to help women milk producers raise their incomes by linking them to improved market systems. As the FVMC receives a commission from the buyer for collecting the milk, she has great incentive to get her suppliers to increase yields. Working with local partners, she also facilitates training to these women producers in basic animal husbandry, improved health and productivity. She also receives training in business skills and is linked to support services such as credit. Another level of intervention is to train certified female livestock extension workers (FLEWs) to provide extension services to dairy farmers. This is especially beneficial to a sector that is bound in tradition, with little current expertise in animal health. Nusrat Bibi is a good example. Last year she lost two animals to preventable ailments. A woman makes her daily milk delivery. Much milk spoils from lack of refrigeration, a problem One of her cows died that strategically located chilling units aim to remedy. from uterine prolapse (a disease during birth), and the calf of her buffalo expired due to severe diarrhea a few days after being born. Entrepreneurs’ basic livestock training introduced Nusrat to better management practices as well as the cause and prevention of common diseases. Now she knows all about the importance of regular veterinary check‑ups. The next time her buffalo gave birth, Nusrat was prepared. “This time my buffalo did not suffer from any disorder and the calf was quite healthy,” she says. Her buffalo now produces 12 liters of milk every day, of which she sells seven. This augments the family income by 8,400 rupees ($94) per month and enables Nusrat to afford a better education for her daughter. Despite being the fifth largest milk-producing country in the world, Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of productivity per animal. Its dairy industry needs basic animal management, improved feeding and forage practices, better access to veterinary services and more efficient A milk collector uses her test kit to gauge fat content and check for impurities. marketing systems that ensure increased milk prices for 7
The Marketplace November December 2012
project Engro helped restore the productivity of 15,000 households through livestock feed, nutritional supplements, and inoculations against foot-and-mouth diseases. Engro continues to work with MEDA to increase milk yields and chilling capacity.
Embellished fabric — 26,000 clients In Pakistan, the art of embellishing fabrics is as old as the country itself. Wherever you go, you see shawls, shirts and cushions adorned with intricate embroidery and embellishment by women artisans who have lovingly preserved the historic indigenous craft. MEDA’s earlier project in Pakistan, Behind the Veil, demonstrated the economic value of connecting homebound women embroiderers with emerging new needs of urban markets. Since many women cannot travel themselves, the project equipped female sales agents who, unlike traditional middlemen, could conduct face-to-face
In Pakistan, the art of embellishing fabrics is as old as the country itself. But homebound artisans need help connecting with modern markets.
smallholder female dairy farmers. Small dairy farmers need collection points for chilled milk; some 20 percent of milk goes bad from lack of refrigeration. To this end, the project will install 80 milk chillers with 1,000-liter capacity through one of its local partners, at selected locations to bring the chain closer to major milk producing clusters and reduce spoilage. Overall the project aims to triple the average cow’s producJamila and her husband, a day laborer, struggled to support their seven children tion from an initial yield of half a on his small income. Despite having no education or experience in the formal liter per day. This is projected to labor market, Jamila wanted to help out by earning additional income. She did increase incomes by at least 50 some embroidery and beadwork but had very few orders and earned only $7 a percent. month. Part of MEDA’s longstanding “One day I was talking to a friend that I would like to find more work,” she strategy is to work with local partsays. “She told me about a training program that helped women like me earn a ners who are well aware of the living.” sector dynamics and are investing Jamila registered for the Entrepreneurs program on developing embroidery in the long-term development of designs. It also trained her to represent other women to the purchasers of the dairying in Pakistan. In the dairy embellished fabric, so that together they can offer bulk orders and receive a sector, one of its partners is Engro better price. Foods, a leading milk processor Today, Jamila manages a team of 65 women embellishers. She helps them in Pakistan. Through its various obtain orders as well as collects and delivers finished products to the buyers. affiliates Engro contributes widely She now earns more than $20 a month, nearly triple what she earned before. to the country’s betterment, such “I don’t have to think about what I will feed my children anymore,” says as by providing technical support Jamila. “Instead, I can think about my children going to school and learning to dairy farmers and their families. things I don’t know.” ◆ Working with the Entrepreneurs
She tripled her earnings
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A class of homebound women learn to create new valueadded products and upgrade their business skills.
“Now I get better prices”
transactions with these homebound women and act as go-betweens to help the artisans update their designs for broader appeal, and serve as the key link to input suppliers and service providers. Using that success as a model, the Entrepreneurs project is helping 26,000 embellishers across Pakistan strengthen their business capacity, participate more fully in the market and increase incomes by 50 percent by the end of the project in 2014. They learn to identify suitable products, access better markets and service providers, and create new value-added products. A valuable component is promoting products at exhibitions, trade fairs and e-commerce platforms. For example, a three-day sales exhibition in Lahore gave 300 female sales agents a chance to showcase the products of 6,000 flood-affected embellishers. For Akhtar Begum, a 40-year-old widow with five children, becoming a sales agent opened a window that she could not open on her own. “During the trainings we went on exposure visits and met with different retailers and wholesalers in the market in order to have a better understanding of market demands,” she says. “As a result, we can now differentiate between low quality and the best quality of inputs. Our products are more refined and market-oriented as we are acquainted with the color combination, proper stitch, design and tracing.” A spin-off benefit is that Akhtar’s leadership skills blossomed, and she now works as a female sales agent and heads a group of 35 women in her community. “Em-
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akht Bibi, 27, lives in a harsh, hilly region close to the Afghanistan border where she ekes out a living collecting and selling medicinal and aromatic plants. She and her four children yearn for a peaceful, secure life, but that is a lot to wish for in an area that has been wracked by conflict since 2009. To make things worse, flash floods in 2010 washed away her collection tools and the hillside plants on which she depended. She and other collectors were left helpless and without money to get back on their feet. MEDA, through the Entrepreneurs project funded by USAID, implemented a post‑flood recovery initiative that has grown into a long‑term value chain project. When she joined the project Bakht Bibi received a toolkit and training on better collection and processing procedures. She learned more about the species in the area and their market value. Now she is equipped to gather larger volumes of plants. “From the training I know how to keep the specimens clean and fresh, so I now get better prices than before,” she says. Bakht Bibi and others like her have improved their business skills and formed lasting linkages with more reliable and lucrative markets. On average, they are earning more than three times what they earned before the conflict started. ◆
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The Marketplace November December 2012
Pakistan’s mountains grow hundreds of species of valuable medicinal plants that are used to treat various ailments. Collectors are learning sustainable harvesting, drying and storage techniques.
bellishment has become a regular source of income for us,” she says.
A chance to start again
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Medicinal & aromatic plants — 21,000 clients
kbar Ali had a small honey bee farm of 10 colonies and eight traditional hives to augment his income from a small sawmill. His life was turned upside-down by the devastating flood that left millions of Pakistanis homeless in 2010. It ravaged lush green fields, crops, orchards, forests and everything that came in its way including Akbar’s small house and bee farm. “Although my ancestral profession is carpentry, beekeeping was my passion and I have been practicing it as a business for the last seven years,” he says. “Despite the tense conditions created by the militants in the past few years, I made handsome earnings from this business while gradually relinquishing my ancestral profession. In the last year or two the earnings from beekeeping were really heartening, but the 2010 floods washed it all away. “We needed a solution to reinstate our destroyed business so that we could again provide for our families’ needs. The beekeepers, including my family, were helpless and didn’t know how and from where we could get food for our families. The support was a huge help as this enabled us to start our businesses again. Also, the boxes provided by USAID allow for harvesting of honey three to four times in a year resulting in more income. From our previous hives, we collected honey only once in a year. Honey is making money for us,” says Ali. ◆
The Marketplace November December 2012
For generations, highland villagers in northern Pakistan have supplemented their farm income by collecting leaves, seeds and fruits of valuable medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP). The country’s mountains hold a treasure trove of 600 to 700 species used for pain relief, to reduce fever, or treat asthma. Others are simply spices like caraway or oilseeds like safflower. These plants grow in challenging terrain where plunging temperatures provide a Despite being small seasonal window for collection. The sector suffers the fifth largest from low quality, unsustainable and irregular harvesting milk-producing and extraction, and lack of modern techniques. Cultural restrictions also limit mobility. country in the But the trade is vigorous and the potential for MAP world, Pakistan as a fast-growing sector in is very strong, says has one of the Pakistan Slomback. An estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million Pakistanis, lowest rates mostly women, are involved in the collection of such of productivity plants. Over the life of the project Entrepreneurs aims per animal. to increase the incomes of 10
A changed life
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hen she and her husband separated two years ago, Ameeran, 23, and her son moved in with her father. She didn’t want to be a burden on him, but she had no choice. “I used to collect milk and sell it seven days a week, working from three in the morning to sundown,” she recalls. Thanks to the training and testing kit she received from the Entrepreneurs project, Ameeran is now able to work on her own. She collects milk from farmers, checks its quality and composition using various tests required by commercial marketers and delivers the product to an Engro collection centre. She has managed to double her income and is proud to be economically independent and a supporting hand to her father, rather than a drain. She also enjoys working for other villagers’ betterment by giving them a better price for their milk. Another benefit is that she now works only two hours a day, leaving more time for other household tasks. “This program has changed my life,” she says. ◆
21,000 MAP collectors by 50 percent. The project design includes training in sustainable collection, drying and storage techniques, as well as business basics like marketing, costing/pricing and recordkeeping. These skills are envisaged to help these MAP collectors improve their businesses. Even with several hundred species, new ones are still being discovered by the Entrepreneurs project. Quercus fruit, for example, was earlier seen as waste and not even collected, yet it is famous worldwide as a treatment for urinary tract infections and diabetes. This and other newly discovered species are now being collected and sold at good prices.
A vendor checks a supply of medicinal and aromatic plants, a vigorous and fast-growing sector in Pakistan’s markets.
Honey — 5,000 clients
A beekeeper tends to a traditional mud pot hive, which is built into the wall of her house. Bees from the nearby hills enter through a small outside hole. The large interior opening is used to monitor honey production and extract it when ready.
Beekeeping is a longstanding cottage industry for tens of thousands of Pakistani families. The bees are important agricultural pollinators, and the honey they produce is sought after for household use. Despite the many producers, demand still outstrips supply. There is plenty of room for expanding the quantity of hives and increasing productivity. The Entrepreneurs project saw strategic benefit in helping beekeepers grow beyond their traditional mindsets and increase their knowledge of production inputs, markets, finance and technology. The project set out to help 5,000 beekeepers (more than half of them female) to increase their income by 50 percent through training in hive management, disease prevention and better harvesting. The Entrepreneurs Livelihoods Recovery Support was
prompted when the 2010 flood ravaged and washed away 50,000 box hives, about half the industry’s capacity. Some 3,000 box hives were distributed to beekeepers along with bee colonies and beekeeping accessories, through MEDA’s local partner, Hujra. One beneficiary was Muhammad Younas, 55, the father of seven children. He describes himself as “a beekeeper by birth” who joined his father in the family business when he was 10 years old. “My ancestors were the pioneers of beekeeping in our village,” he says. “My father used to sell 80 to 100 kg of honey every year.” The industry was already being disrupted by the rise of militancy in 2009. “During the conflict most of the bees either flew away or the colonies died due to heavy shelling and explosions,” says Younas. “We hardly survived it. Then came the floods that flushed away our remaining hopes. The assistance came at a crucial time; it was a much-needed blessing.” ◆ 11
The Marketplace November December 2012
Net impact Both users and sellers are big fans of MEDA’s mosquito net program
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awa Bakari has around her cattle. Her second child has yet become a MEDA to fall sick from these illnesses. Hawa puts convert — conher net to good use, even keeping her baverted to the use bies under it while she is doing house chores of mosquito nets to protect or tending to her cattle. her family from malaria, Af“I see significant changes in my life,” rica’s greatest child-killer. she says. “No more malaria, and other sickHawa, 31, lives in a nesses are reduced, too.” Hawa is now a remote village of Karatu, firm advocate for the use of bednets. Tanzania, where she supports her family by raising cattle. Abtwalib Dinya is one of the few She learned the hard retailers in the village of Goima in Tanzania. way about the health benHis tiny shop sells basic goods like sugar, efits of an insecticide treated butter, soap and teabags, but his favorite net that protects sleeping product is the mosquito nets he gets from children from malaria-bearHati Punguzo. He has owned his shop for ing mosquitoes. many years but only began selling bednets in When her first child 2007. He says his involvement with the bedwas born, the attending net program has been extremely motivating nurse encouraged her to Hawa Bakari and child: “No more malaria.” for him because he can support his commupurchase a net. But Hawa nity and give back in a meaningful way. was not familiar with the culture of sleeping under nets. Dinya appreciates new features of the program. Now Even though many of her family members had contracted he can text-message an order for more nets through the malaria in the past, she decided not spend the money on new electronic voucher system, and no longer has to what she felt was a non-urgent expense. It was a costly travel 20 miles to restock his net supply. After ordering, decision. Her child was plagued with malaria as well as the nets are delivered right to his doorstep. And the extra eye and skin infections brought by flies and other insects. profit he earns from net sales has enabled him to stock his Hawa didn’t make that mistake with her second shop with other items that the villagers need. child. When she took the infant to Karatu Health Centre His deepest appreciation, however, is for the way the program has curbed malaria. For personal, business and for a check‑up, she was issued a voucher that she could social reasons, Dinya hopes that the ownership and use of redeem for a mosquito net. The voucher required only a nets, especially among pregnant women and children, will small top‑up fee of 500 Tanzanian shillings (equivalent to go up. 32 cents U.S.), which she could afford. Since Hati Punguzo The top-up fee was important because began, more than 30 it first of all signalled her commitment million bednets have to actually use the net, plus it provided a been distributed. Some financial incentive for retailers throughout 7,000 retailers throughthe country to stock the nets. out the country maintain “I bought a net for my baby and a steady supply of nets we have all been sleeping under it since for new customers or to then,” she says. replace worn nets. The Hawa now has high praise for MEDA’s program has saved an Hati Punguzo mosquito net voucher estimated 200,000 lives, program. The net has protected them mostly pregnant women not only from malaria but also from other and infants. ◆ diseases carried by the insects that hover Abtwalib Dinya: “A way to give back.” The Marketplace November December 2012
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Okra in an urban jungle Garden project blooms in Haiti
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ore than two years after being hit by a devastating earthquake, Haitians still struggle to get back on their feet. A big issue remains the cost of food in the capital, Port‑au‑Prince, where households spend 51% of their income on food. In the dense urban slum of Avenue Poupelard and Fort National, where houses perch haphazardly one atop another in a maze-like pattern up and down the hills, it’s hard to think of verdant growth. Nonetheless, MEDA, in partnership with Foundation for International Development Assistance (FIDA), is testing the feasibility of producing food and possibly some income on the many vacant spaces where houses used to stand. Called Jadin Lavil (City Garden project), the venture trains would‑be small scale farmers and gardeners to grow vegetables in every imaginable container, small plot and flat rooftop. “In a country where post‑harvest losses are huge and bad roads make it difficult to supply enough vegetables to the cities, growing them next door to the urban consumer makes sense,” says Ariane Ryan, project manager. The project was launched in May, and swiss chard and okra have proven winning crops as they are easy to grow and bountiful. “As the first participants are harvesting and adding much-needed nutrients to their diets, their neighbors are seeing the possibilities and asking if they, too, can turn their piece of urban jungle into vegetables,” says Ryan. One successful practitioner is Bernadette Valomé, who was called back to the neighborhood of her youth to be by her mother’s side after the earthquake. In earlier days it was a pleasant area with a big open park and plenty of trees to sit under and enjoy the breeze. Now, 20 years later, the whole neighborhood is concrete, a hodgepodge of flat-roofed block houses on narrow alleyways. Most greenery has vanished. Bernadette missed the gardens she gotten used to at her previous residence and sought to replicate them close to home. She saw an opportunity by connecting with Jadin Lavil. As a new gardener, she received training on plants, soils, pests and more. She accessed seeds and compost and learned to build up a plot, make seedlings and grow vegetables. Ryan says that although Bernadette struggles to make ends meet, she has been able to help an ailing neighbor
by making her soups and other meals using vegetables from her garden. “She now looks forward to leek season which, if successful, will help her save good money as she will no longer have to purchase the popular but expensive creole vegetable.” ◆ 13
The Marketplace November December 2012
Steve Sugrim photo
Weavers’ products take flight Connecting rural artisans with higher-end markets is improving output and boosting income
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n the hills of southern Ethiopia skilled weavers ply a trade handed down for generations. Hunched over looms in the open air, under trees or in makeshift buildings, they fashion bright fabrics to sell at roadside stalls or community markets. Now, thanks to MEDA, their output is finding new high-end customers. The newest placement is on the uniforms of Ethiopian Airlines flight attendants. How they got there is the latest chapter in the value chain story MEDA is writing among Ethiopia’s textile workers and farmers. The overall project aims to help 2,000 weavers (as well as 8,000 farmers) boost their income by improving output and connecting with higherend markets. The project goes by the name of EDGET, which stands for Ethiopians Driving Growth through Entrepreneurship and Trade. Steve Sugrim photo
Designs collected from numerous rural locations were sent to the capital to be assembled into uniforms. The Marketplace November December 2012
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What better way, the designer thought, to showcase Ethiopian fashion worldwide.
Gigi Fresenbet is a prominent Ethiopian designer whom MEDA enlisted to help weavers update their production so it would appeal to higher-paying customers in shops in Addis Ababa, the capital. She spent time with lead weavers in two rural zones teaching quality control, design consistency, cost calculations and scheduling. The lead weavers then passed on the new expertise to others in their cluster groups. One of the new orders Fresenbet arranged was for Ethiopian Airlines, which wanted a traditional teleb flower pattern for its uniforms. With the air carrier serving 69 international destinations, she saw an opportunity to showcase Ethiopian fashion worldwide. She chose the group MEDA works with in the Chencha region because it is a center of traditional textiles and the weavers are highly skilled and showed promise in being able to quickly master the quality and consistency demanded by the airline. A group of 300 hopeful weavers showed up for the special training, and was soon
Steve Sugrim photo
The product
the project and saw the airline order in production. “After seeing the beautiful of their looms green and gold pattern being worked on everywhere I now travels to was struck with the thought that soon all this fabric 69 international would be consolidated from these obscure locations, be destinations assembled into uniforms in Addis Ababa and then travel all over the world on jet airliners,” he says. “I wonder if the weavers could even imagine where and how their handiwork will travel the world.” Sauder says he was highly encouraged by how the project has mobilized intermediaries to serve as a design and marketing link between the urban markets and the remote weavers. In the past, the intermediaries might have been likely to exploit the weavers, but “now they help to ensure quality and timeliness by wandering up and down mountains to visit weavers where they live and work. “I really saw the tremendous benefit of the value chain approach MEDA is using. Everyone involved adds value to the process, and everyone shares in the profit.” ◆
One of 65 weavers who made the final cut to produce designs for the airline.
winnowed down to 65. These weavers were already well experienced but needed to learn to create the new pattern, do it quickly, at a high quality level, and work to a deadline.
MEDA president Allan Sauder recently visited 15
The Marketplace November December 2012
The heavens are telling Was Mars ever hospitable to life? Roger Wiens wants to know.
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“As the final second ticks off we see a flame appear under the vehicle as it lifts off the pad, gains speed and passes through a cloud and then arcs out over the ocean,” Wiens wrote. “Moments later the sound of the massive rocket engines reaches our ears. From our safe vantage point the huge rocket looks uncannily like the small models Doug and I launched as kids. But this one is carrying a one‑ton, six‑wheeled rover the size of a small SUV on its way to Mars. On the rover is our laser instrument called ChemCam.” Years earlier Wiens had submitted a proposal for a novel device to analyze rocks and soils on the red planet without ever having to drive up or touch the samples. In 2004 he received word from NASA headquarters that the instrument had been selected for the next mission to Mars. “The technique works by firing laser pulses at samples from up to 25 feet away and recording the flash of light from the impact spot,” he says. “The color of the light produced when a small amount of rock is vaporized tells us about the composition of the rock. The ChemCam instrument also takes high‑resolution pictures of the samples it analyzes.” Wiens’s team delivered the unit to the rover in late 2010. Curiosity, by far the biggest vehicle ever sent to Mars, is only the fourth to operate on the red planet, says Wiens. He explains that the vehicle has a six-foot-long arm with a drill, brush and microscope. The arm can deliver samples to two inside instruments, one to determine the mineral structure of rocks, the other to investigate elements like carbon and nitrogen to look for organic materials, and to sniff for methane, a by‑product of living organisms. A key goal of Curiosity is to determine Mars’ habitability. “Was it ever hospitable for life?” Wiens asks. “Once thought to be a dry and dead planet, we now know there were rivers, lakes and likely oceans on Mars in the past. Sedimentary rock layers are piled several miles high, indicating the major role that water played in the past, similar to on earth.” Planetary scientist Roger Wiens pictured with a full-scale model of the In his article Wiens muses as to whether rover Curiosity that landed on Mars with a laser instrument designed Christians would be shocked if the rover found by him and his Los Alamos team.
hen he was a boy, Roger Wiens and his brother Doug liked to play with model rockets in a vacant lot behind their home in Mountain Lake, Minn. Little did he know that someday he’d send a camera to Mars. Wiens had a personal stake in NASA’s journey to Mars this summer. The Curiosity rover that was dramatically lowered onto the surface of the red planet carried an exploratory device created by Wiens and his team of planetary scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Called ChemCam, it contained a laser spectrometer and telescope device that can zap rocks, vaporize surface fragments and determine their chemical composition. When transmitted back to earth, the data can unlock the planet’s secrets and aid in the search for any trace of life on Mars. In an article in the Christian Leader, the U.S. Mennonite Brethren magazine, Wiens reflects on the day in November 2011 when Curiosity began its journey aboard a 200‑foot‑tall Atlas V rocket. He and his wife, Gwen, watched from a small Florida bay four miles from the Cape Canaveral launch site.
The Marketplace November December 2012
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evidence of past living organisms. He notes that C.S. Lewis, in an essay called “Religion and Rocketry,” raised the question of whether God could have created life on other worlds. Perhaps Christians should think more creatively about such matters, he says. “We need people like C.S. Lewis and scientists like Galileo, Newton, Kepler and others in our day, to think outside the box and to discover new things.” ◆
Why I am a planetary scientist
Roger Wiens and his wife, Gwen, among the crowd gathered to watch the launch of Curiosity. The count-down clock is visible in the background.
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hat caused me to go into the sciences? First of all, it was providential. But four ideas have kept me going in my career. Seeing my job as my mission. I believe God places us where we are for a purpose. When I was younger I assumed that my career should involve doing something overtly Christian, such as working in missions or doing relief work in a third‑world country. As a young adult I spent a lot of time in prayer over my future. But the opportunities that I expected in those areas never materialized. Instead, a job working for NASA fell into my lap and then another NASA job, and so on. I believe God wants us to do well what he calls us to do, so I have pursued excellence in my vocation. Recognition that “the heavens are telling the glory of God.” This phrase is the beginning of Psalm 19, which goes on to say, “The skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge… They use “Science tells us no words; no sound is of the greatness heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth.” of God. We One thing that I remember from going to would do well to church as a child is the front covers of the weekly listen more.” bulletins. There was an inspiring picture: a majestic mountain; a lush, green meadow in spring; a mountain stream reappearing from under the winter snow or, after the Apollo Moon missions, a view of planet Earth from the Moon. Most often a psalm about God’s majesty accompanied the images. If images inspire us to consider God’s greatness, how much more should the details behind these images inspire us? And so these details, summarily considered science, are the voice in Psalm 19 telling us of the glory of God. Altogether, science tells us of the greatness of God. We would do well to listen more.
Understanding that “all truth is God’s truth.” Philippians 4:8 encourages us to think on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is admirable.” Science is a search for truth about God’s creation. I believe God commends us to satisfy our curiosity about his creation through the study of science. This stands in contrast to the view that we have to guard ourselves against heresies taught in the name of science. The real question in these situations is, “What is true?” Unfortunately, it seems that many believers are hesitant to really search out the truth in various areas of science. In my associations with scientists of all religious and “nonreligious” backgrounds, I find that most scientists are really searching for truth. Pursuing exploration as worship. No matter what motivation others have for doing science, we can do it to explore God’s creation, to understand more of his nature. This is exploration with a far greater purpose than simply to satisfy our curiosities or to exploit new discoveries. Compared to a century or more ago, we now know that the universe is vastly larger than was ever conceived in previous times; the human genome is amazingly more intricate than might have been fathomed; far more species exist on earth than thought possible; and living organisms inhabit more extreme places than we ever previously considered. Doesn’t that tell us something very exciting about the Creator? By bringing to light these amazing details we are pointing out the excellence of the One who brought about all of these things. That is worship. — Roger Wiens Roger Wiens is a senior scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. His article is adapted with his permission from the Christian Leader, magazine of the U.S. Mennonite Brethren Church. Readers can follow the action at the Curiosity rover’s website: http://mars.jpl.nasa. gov/msl/ or at the ChemCam instrument website: http://msl‑chemcam. com/. His book on his space exploration adventures, Red Rover: Inside the Story of Robotic Space Exploration From Genesis to Curiosity, will be published in spring by Basic Books. You can also check out this You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20nVBvf9KUo
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The Marketplace November December 2012
Why I won’t hire people who use poor grammar by Kyle Wiens
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f you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building. Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss’s more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar “stickler.” And, like Truss — author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves — I have a “zero tolerance approach” to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid. Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance.” She thinks that people who mix up their itses “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave,” while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position. Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a mandatory grammar test. Extenuating circumstances aside (dyslexia, English language learners, etc.), if job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too,” their applications go into the bin. Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual, and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step‑by‑step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we’ve made a preemptive strike against groan‑worthy grammar errors. But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn’t make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e‑mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of you in your physical absence. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re. Good grammar makes good business sense — and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn’t in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers. On the face of it, my zero tolerance approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair. After all, gramThe Marketplace November December 2012
mar has nothing to do with job performance, or creativity, or intelligence, right? Wrong. If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use “it’s,” then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with. So, even in this hyper‑competitive market, I will pass on a great programmer who cannot write. Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing — like stocking shelves or labeling parts. In the same vein, programmers who pay attention to how they construct written language also tend to pay a "Good grammar lot more attention to how they code. You see, at its core, code is prose. Great makes good programmers are more than code monkeys; accordbusiness sense" just ing to Stanford programming legend Donald Knuth they are “essayists who work with traditional aesthetic and literary forms.” The point: programming should be easily understood by real human beings — not just computers. And just like good writing and good grammar, when it comes to programming, the devil’s in the details. In fact, when it comes to my whole business, details are everything. I hire people who care about those details. Applicants who don’t think writing is important are likely to think lots of other (important) things also aren’t important. And I guarantee that even if other companies aren’t issuing grammar tests, they pay attention to sloppy mistakes on résumés. After all, sloppy is as sloppy does. That’s why I grammar test people who walk in the door looking for a job. Grammar is my litmus test. All applicants say they’re detail‑oriented; I just make my employees prove it. ◆ Kyle Wiens is CEO of iFixit, the largest online repair community, as well as founder of Dozuki, a software company dedicated to helping manu‑ facturers publish amazing documentation. His article is reprinted with permission from the Harvard Business Review.
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Reviews
“I make people beautiful” Work Matters: Lessons from Scripture. By R. Paul Stevens (Eerdmans, 2012, 176 pp. $16 U.S.) A woman introduced herself at one of Paul Stevens’ classes by saying “I am just a hairdresser.” By the time she finished the course she sang a different tune. “Now she said, ‘I make people beautiful, and I do a lot of counseling’.” Anyone who has followed Stevens’ work will have no trouble relating to the hairdresser’s emerging self-understanding. Longtime marketplace professor at Vancouver’s Regent College (and as a periodic speaker at MEDA’s Business as a Calling conventions), Stevens has
“Work is a means of spiritual growth. Without it we cannot fulfill our role as human beings.” distinguished himself as a beacon in the Ministry of Daily Life movement. Few scholars have done more to promote an authentic, biblically-based understanding of what work means to the Christian life. Many devotees have found his books life changing, from Liberating the Laity: Equip‑ ping All the Saints for Ministry (1985) to more recent offerings like Doing God’s Business: Meaning and Motivation in the Marketplace (2006). In this book he carefully develops a theology of work based on working folk in the Bible. First and foremost, of course, is God, who is depicted from the start as one who works, creates and innovates. God is shown in various types of working garb — gardener,
shepherd, potter, physician, teacher, vineyard-dresser, metalworker and refiner. We humans — made in God’s image — are also workers. “Work is not a human invention,” Stevens points out. “It is a divine calling and a way of imitating and resembling our Creator. To be made in the image of God means that we are created like God as relational beings and that we are made like God in that we work.” Stevens notes what is often overlooked: the command to work was given before the fall, not after, “hence work is meant to be a blessing, not a curse.” From Adam and Eve to Ruth and Amos, Stevens looks at more than 20 biblical accounts of people who worked. He teases out the theological meaning of their work — whether it is manual or intellectual, domestic or commercial. Every worker has a lesson. Cain and Abel, in addition to whatever else they represent theologically, come to us with different skills, one a farmer, the other a herder. “Already,” says Stevens, “we are beginning to see the diversification of talent, gift, and calling....” Jacob is presented as the first biblical character to have his work “vividly described in its complexities and satisfactions....” Joseph is depicted as a model management consultant. Bezalel was directly
Excerpt: “We can create beauty not just in music and the visual arts, but also in a meal or a deal, a voice or an invoice, an operation or a cooperation, a community formed or an immunity created, a test or a quest, a swept floor or a forgiven heart, a canvas painting or a computer program, a plaything or a work-thing, a toy or a tool.” — R. Paul Stevens
appointed by God to create beautiful things and teach others to do the same. Ruth does survival work. David’s work is royal, Nehemiah’s shrewd. And so on. Stevens lets the biblical stories speak with important theological inflections. Work 19
is “a means of spiritual growth” without which we cannot fulfill our functions as human beings. It is also communal. In an aside that should lift the spirits of any businessperson, Stevens explains that a “company” is literally a way to share bread, for cum pane means “with bread.” Finally, “Good work unfolds the potential of creation.” One hopes this book will put a nail in the coffin of the pseudospiritual hierarchy that elevates “religious” callings higher than others in the economy of God. “One dangerous yet widely spread belief today is that God gives his Spirit to people in the form of spiritual gifts solely for ministry in the church,” Stevens writes. “But spiritual gifts are intended for all the people of God so that they can enter into God’s beautiful work of transforming creation, culture, and people. And we learn from this that the most significant way in which God’s spiritual gifts are demonstrated in the world is through our work.” If readers think this title looks familiar, they may be right. In one of those oddities of the publishing trade, this is the second book this year to appear with the same title. Two issues ago, we reviewed another Work Matters (by Tom Nelson). Both books are excellent. To avoid confusion, buy both. — Wally Kroeker
The Marketplace November December 2012
Soundbites
The good ole shopping mall We tend to think of the mall as a recent, primarily American phenomenon, and a rather banal one at that, born of demographic convenience — we all bought cars and moved to the ‘burbs — rather than any profound change in who or what we are. But the mall has been with us always, under other names and in somewhat different forms. Virtually since the dawn of civilization, we have organized our world in part around the function of shopping. Even the simplest agrarian societies needed places to assemble to trade in goods, and from that basic impulse came everything else — marketplaces, villages, towns, cities. The mall is, at heart, just an ancient organizing principle that hasn’t yet
men in unstable environments. Among the 25 countries experiencing armed conflict within their borders, 60 percent of the population is under the age of 30. Many of the young men born into fractured societies struggle to overcome years of missed schooling and are chronically poor. In the shadow of conflict, their collective dis-
outlived its usefulness. Perhaps it never will. — Paco Underhill in Call of the Mall
Sermon in seed There is not a flower that opens, not a seed that falls into the ground, and not an ear of wheat that nods on the end of its stalk in the wind that does not preach and proclaim the greatness and the mercy of God to the whole world. — Thomas Merton in The Seven Storey Mountain
content and social disengagement, combined with the easy availability of small arms, virtually guarantee catastrophe. It is a pattern playing itself out in countless conflict and postconflict countries worldwide, locking civilians in a recurring cycle of poverty, human misery, and instability. — War Child founder Samantha Nutt in
Not business as usual With a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie in one hand and the September/October issue of The Marketplace in the other, I went out on the deck to relax and read. I read the MPL from cover to cover. I concluded this is the best one yet, but I have often said this before. So why do I keep saying it? Because the contents in this issue are all so relevant. I especially commend you for several articles: “Garbage in, power out” is powerful — showing how innovations can be successful, but also how Mennonites!! can be trail blazers in a very desperately needed direction. Your book review of Howard Raid: Man of Faith and Vision shows leadership as it is expressed in “recognizing the intrinsic important of business to the large faith community.” Finally and equally importantly, I resonated very strongly with George Klassen’s “A World of No Growth.” I commend him for his courage in discussing some very “inconvenient” realities, including the “no growth future” which includes population limits! Including scientific sources is especially helpful in backing up his positions. I commend you for publishing it. “Business as usual” died with Calvin Coolidge, but we did not know it. — Cal Redekop, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Why work with youth? One of the most significant and ongoing threats to peace globally is the demographic swell of unemployed, unskilled, and uneducated young
MDS openings Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) seeks two energetic Disaster Response Coordinators. One to be based in the Central States and cover the western half of the US. The other to be based in and cover the eastern half of the US. The primary responsibility is to train, mentor and encourage the MDS units and regions to respond to disasters, from investigation, cleanup, and project setup through completion. Extensive travel required. Applicants must be active in an Anabaptist church and committed to the Anabaptist faith and peace position. See the full job description at http://mds.mennonite.net/ about‑us/employment. Resumes may be sent to jobs@mds. mennonite.net or MDS, Attn: Human Resources, 583 Airport Rd, Lititz, PA 17543. Review of resumes begins immediately. Recruitment continues until the positions are filled.
The Marketplace November December 2012
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Letters
Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies & Aid
Born to distrust A prominent theme of the New Testament is “thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself.” Nevertheless, theologically conservative Christians may have more trouble with this maxim than other Christians. Using data from a [U.S.] survey, sociologists found that theologically conservative Christians — who tend to believe in the authoritativeness of the Bible, the existence of hell, being born again and proselytizing — were less likely to report trusting other people, even controlling for
establishes covenant with a displaced people, laments when the covenant is broken, strives to re-establish covenant with that people, and becomes incarnate to labor, suffer, die, and be raised for the whole world. — David H. Jensen in Responsive Labor: A Theology of Work
factors like education, involvement with church, or living in a small community. The authors theorize that this effect is due to theologically conservative Christians’ belief in the sinfulness of mankind. — Kevin Lewis in The Boston Globe
God works
It’s in our DNA
God does not sit enthroned in heaven removed from work, willing things into existence by divine fiat. Unlike the gods of the Greco-Roman mythologies, who absolve themselves of work — dining on nectar and ambrosia in heavenly rest and contemplation — the biblical God works. This God molds humans in God’s image,
When does a job feel meaningful? Whenever it allows us to generate delight or reduce suffering in others. Though we are often taught to think of ourselves as inherently selfish, the longing to act meaningfully in our work seems just as stubborn a part of our make-
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up as our appetite for status or money. — Alain de Bottom in The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Daily halo It’s easy to be saintly in a brief conversation with the person sitting next to you on an aircraft. It’s much harder to keep that halo in place in front of someone who has an office, workstation or assembly‑line position next to you for years. If you can show the “Christian distinction” in a consistent fashion during that time, it’s a credible demonstration of God’s power to change your life. — Carl Friesen, Called to the Marketplace website
The Marketplace November December 2012
News
New MEDA project to boost Tanzania cassava production You can’t go far among the millions of subsistence farmers in Tanzania without encountering cassava. The starchy tuber, also known as yuca and manioc, is an important source of food and income in most rural households. But cassava has fallen on hard times. Outbreaks of viral diseases have infected and destroyed plantings over large areas, creating a nutritional and economic crisis for the 80 percent of the population engaged in agriculture. In a sector where plantings have normally been handed down, field-to-field, there is currently no effective commercial way to replenish supplies of new disease‑resistant stock. A new MEDA project aims to address this crisis and boost long-term food security by rebuilding the fractured cassava chain. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the five-year project aims to dis-
seminate new disease-resistant varieties and make them commercially available to 62,000 subsistence farmers. A key to its impact will be to pilot supply chain models to bridge the gap between the research laboratories developing new varieties, and the farmers looking for new planting material, says Lauren Good, who administers the project from MEDA’s new office in Washington, DC. “We are working with two of the leading research stations in this first year to grow clean foundation seed and establish a multiplier business model that they can use again and again as new breeds come out,” he says. The next step is to develop first-generation multiplication sites. This will be achieved by enlisting progressive lead farmers who will produce the crop only for the stem cuttings used to grow new plants, not for tuber harvest.
The Marketplace November December 2012
“We’re enabling them to be a business link in this chain,” says Good. “Then we will help these commercial multipliers develop a marketing strategy to second-level multipliers who would not only develop more stems but also grow and harvest the tubers for food or for sale. We want to build it into a commercial system beyond them just swapping with their neighbor.” The anticipated result will be to develop a broad commercially‑based cassava seed multiplication and distribution program that will demonstrate sustainable, replicable and scalable solutions for small farmers. Good notes that doing so will involve some cultural shifts in how subsistence farmers grow cassava. Farmers typically plant from the same stock year
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after year. “It’s essentially been informal farmer-to-farmer selling,” he says. “But with the traditional crop under threat from disease, new stock has to be introduced, multiplied and made commercially available. We want to help people understand how to run a multiplication business, and show them it is viable to do so.” The potential impact is huge, says Good. “There’s never been anything more than informal farmer-to-farmer selling here. As far as I know this is a first, not only in Tanzania but also in East Africa.” Good says MEDA has been asked to arrange a public event in Dar es Salaam that will highlight a number of cassava research and value chain projects being funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Tanzania. ◆
What should pastors know about management? A church isn’t a business but many pastors could benefit from a dose of organizational management, says Bob Fast, a senior bank manager in Winnipeg. In his many years of church and denominational leadership he’s found that pastors may be well-trained in exegesis, hermeneutics and counselling but often have little exposure to management. “And yet,” he says, “if you want to have an effective organization, you have to know how to administer it.” Pastors in southern Manitoba will soon get a chance to improve their organizational
Aeroplan donations offset MEDA costs
savvy. Providence Theological Seminary and the Buller Centre for Business are offering a six-workshop series on church management. Titled “Nuts and Bolts for Pastors,” it will begin Jan.10 and continue every second Thursday. The time slot will be 9 a.m. to noon (instead of evenings) to suit pastors’ schedules. Sessions will be held at Immanuel Pentecostal Church, 955 Wilkes Avenue, Winnipeg. The series aims to equip new pastors with basic management skills adapted to a church setting. Experienced pastors have also expressed interest in becoming more efficient in day‑to‑day administration, freeing up more time to concentrate on ministry. “We’ll try to give pastors
tangible tools to help them feel more confidence in the administrative part of their ministry,” says Fast. “They aren’t all wired this way.” “In developing this series, we surveyed more than two dozen experienced church leaders and asked them what skills and knowledge they wish they’d had when they started in their first lead pastoral role,” says Bruce Duggan, director of the Buller Centre. “They told us they would have wanted workshops focused on planning, staff and volunteer management, publicizing their church’s activities, and on practical leadership tips. So we’ve built a workshop series around those needs.” The series will be led by Fast, who holds an MBA and
has spent more than 30 years with BMO Bank of Montreal, currently as Commercial Account Advisor. He has been involved in leadership at Whyte Ridge Baptist Church and is currently a moderator of the general council for the North American Baptist Conference. He will be assisted by Yvonne Thompson, president of Change Innovators, a leading human resources consulting firm in Manitoba and author of Leadership for a New World: The Organic Approach to Employee Engagement; and by Chris Banman, president of Orchard Road Marketing Group. For more information go to http://www.bullercentre.com/ community/nuts‑bolts‑for‑pastors ◆
Do you have extra Aeroplan miles that need a home? Now it’s possible to donate them to offset the travel costs of MEDA’s global development program. MEDA recently launched its own Charitable Pooling page as part of the Aeroplan Beyond Miles website. Aeroplan miles donated to MEDA will be used to offset employee travel costs. Each year, MEDA will also be able to organize a month‑long contribution campaign and set a personal mileage goal. If the target is 90% met within 30 days, Aeroplan will contribute the remaining 10% to help MEDA reach its goal. To donate Aeroplan miles to MEDA, go online to MEDA’s page on the Aeroplan site shown below and specify the amount you wish to donate. MEDA receives 100% of the miles donated. Visit http://beyondmiles.aeroplan.com/eng/ charity/210 ◆ 23
The Marketplace November December 2012
The Marketplace November December 2012
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