November December 2013
Where Christian faith gets down to business
Nutrition in Ghana:
Maize today, tofu tomorrow After the bullets — a boost from MEDA The musician as entrepreneur Potatoes of adversity; a lament on failure
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The Marketplace November December 2013
Roadside stand
Happy Birthday to us Shortly after this issue lands in your mailbox MEDA will turn 60 years old. On Dec. 10, 1953 eight Mennonite businessmen met in Chicago to launch an organization that would put the best insights of business to work on behalf of the poor. Their first project was to partner with Mennonite refugees in Paraguay who wanted to start a dairy. A blend of investment, encouragement and breeding stock launched a venture that has become an industry leader. MEDA’s founders grasped a fundamental insight into human poverty — that simple financial services are key to unleashing entrepreneurship and productivity. By lending a hand to farmers who were ignored by local banks, they showed that the poor are bankable. The organization they started remains a powerful force in agriculture, from greenhouses in Ukraine to soybeans in Ghana (see article on pages 6-11), helping subsistence farmers cultivate the right solutions to reap a hopeful harvest. It is also a global leader in other ways, such as in demonstrating the power of private equity investment in emerging markets. As the early Paraguay partners repaid the investment, MEDA created a pool of capital to re‑invest elsewhere. That pioneer act of sharing risk with the poor was decades ahead of today’s impact investment industry in which MEDA has become a proven leader. Thanks to that early vision, many more in the private equity markets today
Cover photo of homemakers in Ghana by Wally Kroeker
Everence, which serves some 80,000 members and manages more than $2 billion in assets, provides financial services and advisory expertise in banking, insurance, investments, retirement and charitable giving. Said board chair Duane Oswald, “He brought together the church and business aspects of Everence in a positive way.”
voice. “The ball was thrown by him” is passive voice.) Why, one might ask, would anyone deliberately use the passive voice? Mainly because they think it gets them off the hook of accountability. If you have a tough decision to report, it seems easier to say, “It was decided by the board of directors to....” rather than the more forthright, “Management decided to....” Many years ago George Orwell argued for active writing in his book, Politics and the English Language. To use the passive “It has been decided” is a way to dodge or dilute responsibility (a moral failing for both writers and managers). Orwell also disliked jargon – inflated language that puffs up and obfuscates. Not known as a religious man, he still would have preferred some good old biblical humility — “be not proud.”
know how the power of investors can be harnessed to improve the financial performance of companies in emerging markets while delivering positive social and environmental impact. As MEDA matured, a second leg was added to its mandate. Members sought to honor God in daily toil, serving as “ministers of commerce” who would be active agents of Christian discipleship. It can be argued that MEDA changed the understanding of business (and daily toil generally) as a legitimate venue for Christian ministry. When it comes to spirituality in the workplace, much of the Christian world has had a moat around its castle. With the help of MEDA, countless Christians in business have seen that ministry is not confined to Sunday, but covers the whole work week. It’s as if we stuck a tuning fork into the soul of business and the tremolo keeps reverberating over the generations. Happy Birthday to us.
Larry D. Miller has announced his retirement as Everence president and CEO, effective in September, 2014. He headed the organization’s credit union for 16 years, then joined MMA as chief executive in 2006. When the two organizations united to create Everence, he continued in the role of president and CEO.
Is good grammar and writing a matter of morality? Maybe. Grammar sheriffs like to rail against the passive voice, which is widespread in business and academic writing. (“He threw the ball” is active
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Warning: Too much religion can be bad for the economy. How? By undermining the drive for financial success, says a study in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. The study of almost 190,000 people in 11 countries has raised eyebrows among some of Britain’s religious leaders for suggesting Judaism and Christianity have an anti‑wealth bias. The study alleges that religious people often report better psychological adjustment when their income is low. It goes on to cite biblical references showing that Judaism and Christianity contradict the notion that wealth produces happiness and better mental health. What’s it like to build a jail? A recent issue of Guide, the magazine of the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), featured tradespeople who were building a stateof-the-art prison in Windsor, Ont. Construction workers like to say afterward, “I built this.” These workers also joked that the best part was being allowed to go home at the end of the day, unlike the inmates who will be housed there. Said one young apprentice, “My mom’s always telling me, ‘make sure you’re just working there and not going to end up there later on’.” — WK
In this issue
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The joy of soy A big new MEDA project in Ghana will teach 20,000 women farmers how to improve nutrition and boost income by growing soybeans and incorporating them into their families’ diets.
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“It gave me a boost” Bullets flew from both sides as his family fled the advancing Soviet army to a harsh new life in Paraguay. There, a young MEDA program helped give him a fresh start. By Dave Rogalsky
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A candid lament about failure ... and hope. Page 16
David Falk (1933-2013) followed his muse from law to music, driven by a passion to fulfill innate gifts, live life creatively and transform material into a meaningful product. By Jack Dueck
Departments 2 4 20 22
The artist as entrepreneur
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Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites News
Potatoes of adversity His plan was to produce high-end pork with a light environmental footprint. Then he suffered a perfect storm of setbacks. Here he reflects candidly on failure and bankruptcy. By Walter Bergen
Volume 43, Issue 6 November December 2013 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 2013 by MEDA. Editor: Wally Kroeker Design: Ray Dirks
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201, Lancaster, PA 17601-4106. 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 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 201 Lancaster, PA 17601-4106
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 2013
Want some peace with that?
You’ve got a job Okay, you got the job. You’re ready to start work. What’s ahead? New people, your own work station or desk. Do you feel like the first day of grade school with a brand new box of crayons — all sharp? Maybe you’re a bit apprehensive. Your mind races all over the place. You may even wonder — is this new job really important in the grand scheme of things? Does it really matter that I’m doing this? Now is the time to imagine God’s Big Picture, and find yourself within it.... The job you’re starting is where you’ll be spending a lot of your life. We all know that every day has 24 hours, and we should sleep for a third of those. If you spend eight hours a day at work, that’s another third. Think of that — during our working years we spend almost a third of our time during the week at our jobs. This is where much of your identity will be forged. After all, when you meet somebody new, one of the earliest questions they’ll ask is, “What do you do?” Like it or not, your job will be part of your identity, a marker of who you are. “Work is one of the most intimate expressions of our identity,” writes career expert Barbara Moses in What Next? Find the work that’s right for you. “Bad work crushes us. It destroys our sense of competence and spills over into all areas of our life. Great work, in contrast, inspires us. It makes our souls sing. It allows us to be the best we can be.” The people you work with may also become one of your primary communities. During your working week chances are you will spend more waking hours with your co-workers than with your family. Most of us want this important part of our life to count for something. We want those hours (about 80,000 during an average career) to be meaningful, to make a difference, to be part of our Christian stewardship. Your job will be important to earn a living. It will be important to your community, as you will be part of a broad fabric of economic support, furnishing goods and services for society, as well as a thriving economic infrastructure to create jobs for others, generate revenue and taxes for community growth, etc. It will also be important to your faith. Imagine, some time in the future, writing your own obituary. What will it say about you? Will it say these were formative years that helped you reach your full potential? Will it say your work made an impact on people and communities? Or will it just say you toiled faithfully and brought home a regular paycheck? If you’re lucky, you’ll find the jobs and develop the kind of attitude so you can love your work, maybe even begin the week by saying, “Thank God it’s Monday.” Excerpted from You’re Hired! Looking for work in all the right places, a career guide from MEDA. Available for free download at www.meda.org
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A Pittsburgh restaurant uses its daily takeout fare to serve up a message of reconciliation. Conflict Kitchen specializes in cuisine from countries at odds with the U.S., shifting the menu every six months. This fall the featured cuisine has been from Cuba, which is still the target of a longstanding U.S. trade embargo. Other menus have featured dishes from Iran, Venezuela and Afghanistan. In September the kitchen served seasoned lamb from Syria. The restaurant serves 250 customers a day. Dialogue is encouraged in an effort to humanize supposed enemies. Food wrappers are printed with interviews of people from the featured country. “We all need to eat,” says one of the eatery’s directors. “If you think of food as an extension of culture, it’s very simply something you can use as a mediator for conflict.” “Good things happen when you gather around food,” adds employee Isaac Beachey. — Mennonite World Review
Do you have these in 10EE? Dwight L. Moody (founder of Moody Bible Institute) joked about his transition from selling shoes to becoming an evangelist. One calling was “selling soles,” the other “saving souls.” Cleric Norman Bendroth makes additional comparisons. Selling shoes at Macy’s taught him a few things about church work, he writes in Christian Century. Putting your religious identity on your storefront takes some boldness. “This retail evangelism or ‘Macy’s Once you’ve declared your spiritual identity, you have to be extra-vigilant magic’ wasn’t unlike church outreach. with service and ethics. Make contact, our Macy’s supervisors Ghana is known for its abundance of commercial shops with religious told us. Ask open-ended questions. Give names. Drive along the main streets of Accra and you’re likely to see names suggestions. Inspire the sale. Finally, like “God is in Control” (cold storage) or “God is Alive” (curtains). celebrate the sale. We never understood Some designations take a bit of thought or explanation. The proprietor what that last directive meant — dance of a beads and crafts store called “No Food for Lazy Man” said the name around a cash register? was based on 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (“Anyone unwilling to work should not “It’s the same at church. Make eat”). contact — What brings you to church And a vendor of handbags was affirming a view of divine sovereignty today? Ask open-ended questions — with the name, “God’s Signature No Eraser Ent. (What is written is writWhat are you looking for in a church? ten).” Give suggestions — We have an amazOthers seen by MEDA staff on a recent visit to Ghana: “Praise the Lord ing youth group that may interest your Shop” (leather goods); “King James Ent.” (electrical supplies); “Anointed” teenagers. Inspire the sale — We need (electrical shop); and “Divine Grace Cafe.” questioning, searching people like you in our congregation. Finally, celebrate the sale — I’m sure you’ll enjoy it here. It seems like a good fit for you and for us.” Bendroth commends his experience to other pastors. “He or she will learn how to punch a clock, take only a half hour lunch, meet a sales goal, work under a boss, deal with irritating customers, and toil alongside people who have no choice but to come in the next day and do it all over again. I could not hide behind a divinity degree or brag about things I’ve accomplished; I had to prove Overheard: “Where the needs of the world and your talthat I could sell shoes.”
Signs of faith
ents cross, there lies your vocation.” (Aristotle)
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The Marketplace November December 2013
The joy of soy For women farmers in Ghana, soybeans pack a triple wallop — a boost in nutrition, income and soil fertility
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rudence Bato gazes proudly over her field of knee-high plants. She stoops to hack out a weed with her machete. Like her, the plants stand tall and bold in the mid-day African sun. Her visitors soon learn that these sturdy plants are a sort of mystery crop. She has never grown them before. She bends down to pull back some foliage and reveal slender pods bulging with seeds. These seeds will give her children a nutritional boost. Those not consumed will fetch cash in the village market. Bato is a brand new soybean farmer, one of 4,000 who are taking a risk on a crop that may change their lives.
That is the hope of MEDA, which is undertaking the massive new venture, perhaps its most ambitious agricultural project ever. Called GROW (Greater Rural Opportunities for Women), it’s a $20 million effort ($18 million from the Canadian government and $2 million from MEDA) that aims to help 20,000 women and their families boost nutrition and income over the next half dozen years. The project works in Ghana’s upper west, primarily in the regions surrounding the city of Tamale, where MEDA has 13 staff, and near the city of Wa, where the MEDA office employs an additional 10. The plan is to help women in these areas to grow soybeans, link “In the future,” says lead farmer Prudence Bato, “I will be somebody.” them with markets, and provide training on farm management at the micro level as well as adapt to changing conditions. This includes getting nitrohousehold nutrition and managing family finances. gen into depleted soil, better rotation of crops (soybeans, A strong streak of agricultural conservation runs ground nuts and maize) using crop and soil residue as through the project. After it’s all over, no one will think it mulch for next season, utilizing minimum or zero tillage, has been a success if farmers aren’t in a better position to and controlling pests without chemicals. The Marketplace November December 2013
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Women are the
Empowering women is a big feature of the project, gatekeepers of as women are the gatekeepers of famfamily dietary intake ily dietary intake but have little to work but often have little with, says Catherine Sobrevega, project to work with. director. She sees the crop as a win-win-win. Besides all the nutritional and agronomic benefits, studies show soybeans have potential as a cash crop. “We told the women they should just try it,” she says.
Soybeans were carefully selected as the crop showing the most promise. For one thing, they are a complete protein and pack a nutritional wallop. For another, they are a restorative legume with strong nitrogen-fixing capacity that will improve the soil. Since women farmers often get only marginal land, the soil-nutrient qualities of soybeans will help them make their soil more arable.
Photo by Marlin Hershey
Another beauty of soy is that it resists striga weed, a noxious parasite that attacks the roots of maize plants. This is an important part of the strategy for soybeans’ crop rotation, says MEDA’s agriculture specialist Livinus Balog, who has never seen striga weed in soy fields. “Three years of soybeans will rid a field of striga weed so that it is safe to plant maize again,” he says.
Women farmers welcomed MEDA visitors with a spirited medley of music and dancing. At left, visitor Millie Kroeker. 7
The Marketplace November December 2013
“We went to the village and community elders and they gave us their endorsement. Our idea is for them to learn on a small plot, then they can grow larger.” The project got underway in 2012 and has just come through its first annual cycle of soybean production. By this summer more than 4,000 women had registered, of whom 1,481 had already jumped on board to plant their first crop of soybeans. Sobrevega expects another 6,000 to sign up this year to reach half of their target of 20,000. (The market is already noticing. Before the first harvest was even completed soybean processors
Passion for conservation
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ivinus Balog is GROW’s agriculture technical specialist. A university graduate in agricultural economics, his specialty is conservation agriculture. In light of changing rainfall patterns from climate change he wants to help farmers adopt practices that conserve soil fertility and use crop varieties adaptable to changing conditions. He is passionate about mulching, retaining soil nutrients and strategic crop rotation. Balog is a big fan of minimum tillage and discourages reliance on tractors. At present, many farmers rent the services of a tractor to open their fields at the beginning of a season. Balog wants to teach them simpler methods that are accessible to all. He is enthusiastic about the opportunities for soybeans. Farmers already have been able to see how easily soy can be incorporated into existing staples, such as khebabs, dawa dawa (the most common local dish incorporating soy), banku (fermented corn ball that is dipped into stew), and fufu (a lump of pounded cassava often eaten in a soup of meat and vegetables). Then too there are possibilities for soy milk and cooking oil. “Farmers seem willing to embrace more technical support, such as grinding Livinus Balog mills to make soybean flour and small processing machines to make soy milk,” says Balog. “People are doing bigger business in soybeans. At the household level women are taking control of their development.” He is also investigating the use of drip irrigation and water cachment technology. Beyond the immediate nutritional features, the market for soybeans is strong, he says. “There is a lot of demand for soybeans. We have a lot of new industry, including for animal feed. They don’t have enough soy in Ghana. People are importing it from Brazil. One processor has already indicated interest in buying everything we produce. So by growing lots of soy there will be an economic benefit to the country.” ◆
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No one will think it has been a success unless farmers are in a better position to adapt to changing conditions. were eager to make deals.) The ultimate goal is to have households living on their own with better income, food and shelter. “After three years we expect they will be able to identify their needs and inputs, know where to obtain them and have access to seeds, harvest, processing and markets,” says Sobrevega. MEDA’s strategy is to work through local partners with compatible goals and values who have a proven track record of community mobilization. Nearly two dozen organizations applied to be key facilitating partners (KFPs). Five were chosen, all of them strong in agriculture. MEDA relies on the KFPs to handle the educational component and spread the word throughout their usual networks, including district assemblies and community
leaders, as well as individual men and women farmers. MEDA also works with these partners to identify the best candidates to serve as lead farmers who will model best practices and pass on what they learn to the 20-25 farmers in their groups.
Although she has yet to gather her first harvest, she is already impressed by what she sees. She likes the idea of being able to feed her children, 12 and six, a more nutritious diet as she will cook the beans in soup and mix ground bean meal into some of their favorite local dishes. She’s also eager to harvest more soybeans than they can eat so they can sell them at market. Bato’s husband is a trader who runs a small agricultural supply store. He supports her farming activities and is willing to help out during busy times.
Prudence Bato was chosen as a lead farmer because she learns fast and demonstrates leadership qualities. The other women in her group turn naturally to her to show them the way. Despite being a seasoned farmer with other crops, she soon found she had things to learn. It was new to her, for example, to use her soil more efficiently by planting in straight rows rather than haphazardly. “If you don’t follow straight rows you have less land to plant,” she was told. Bato also finds soybeans require less weeding than other crops because their foliage forms a canopy that discourages weed growth. “With ground nuts I have to weed three times,” she says. “With soy, only two.”
A hundred women farmers have gathered to welcome visitors from MEDA. They sing, dance, clap, drum and ululate (make a trilling sound with their tongues). They represent several groups who are accessing MEDA’s project through their port of entry, PRUDA (Partnerships for Rural Development Action). After the ceremonial greetings and songs, the women are invited to talk about their involvement with the project,
Overworked and undernourished
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woman running a household in rural Ghana faces several nutritional strikes against her. One is her daily burden of work, like fetching water for the family. Then there’s poor sanitation and lack of diet diversity (milk, eggs and meat are the least-consumed foods). And what do you do when you just don’t have any money to buy nourishing food? “During hunger season half of households cope by reducing the number of meals served,” says Gillian Perera, GROW’s nutrition and food security intern. University trained in biology, nutrition and dietetics, Perera’s task includes helping women incorporate soybeans into their local diets, understand their children’s nutritional needs and adjust their cooking practices, such as not overcooking vegetables and losing nutrition. In compiling a wide-ranging nutrition assessment, Perera found that most women seemed to have a good understanding of nutrition at the household level but were unable to put this knowledge into practice due to limited food options, lack of time to find the right food to supplement family diets, and an inability to afford protein-rich foods. She also found that significant constraints to adopting soybean innovations had to do with lack of awareness of processing methods and related difficulties. Few households, for example, had a grinding machine, an important labor-saving asset for milling soybeans into flour. Perera’s report recommended: • Trained community workers should conduct nutrition demonstrations with support from a nutrition
When things get tough, many households cope by skipping meals, says nutrition intern Gillian Perera.
specialist • Food demonstrations to lead farmers should be paired with nutrition education sessions • Technology and/or labor-saving methods of soya bean processing should be identified and available • Nutrition education and food demonstration messages should be delivered through multiple channels of communication • In addition to women, nutrition messages should incorporate community members such as men and elders • Opportunities for vegetable gardening as a viable dry season activity should be identified Perera reports that GROW is now arranging an agreement with the government’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture directorate for their community workers to implement nutrition education/food demonstrations in GROW communities. ◆
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The Marketplace November December 2013
Photo by Millie Kroeker
and to ask questions. One woman raises a question about chemicals to control pests like grasshoppers. Livinus Balog has an answer. “You don’t need a chemical,” he says. “Take a walk through your field once in the morning and once in the evening and they will fly away.” A number of them ask about obtaining more agricultural information as they grow along with their new crop. Many of them have cellphones in their homes, and say this is a good way to be informed about the latest techniques. Storage has already been identified as a challenge. They will need to find ways to get their beans stored up off the ground away from rodents. Balog says he is working on it. Several things become immediately apFirst-time soybean farmers — full of trust and grit, and not afraid to ask questions and learn.
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essica Adach watches carefully as the MEDA vehicle enters a village. It is a weekday afternoon and flocks of children are on the roadside, all wearing identical uniforms. “A lot of children are coming home from school,” she says. “That’s a positive sign.” Also positive is that many of the children are girls. If a family runs out of money, it’s likely the girls rather than the boys who will be pulled out of school. School is free, but families must pay for uniforms and supplies. Adach, with two master’s degrees in human rights and women’s empowerment, is the project’s gender intern. Her job is to track gender issues, which can be many, given the cultural constraints faced by women in the local culture. In a typical farm household, the men will grow different crops and be allotted larger plots of land by the tribal chief. Men may grow rice and maize; women are more likely to grow groundnuts and cowpeas. Many women farm plots of an acre or two, and it’s often marginal land. The men’s farms come first. This year all crops were delayed when the rains came late. When the rain did come, says Faustina Banenoba, who farms one acre of soybeans, “we had to get my husband’s crops in first.” Men’s fields are first in line for initial groundbreaking with the community tractor. Women’s fields have to wait. That said, many women reported that their hus-
The Marketplace November December 2013
Photo by Millie Kroeker
The men come first
Gender intern Jessica Adach: Gathering data about assets, control and the best ways to communicate.
bands were supportive of their efforts. Says one, “He loves me, but will love me even more if I have a good crop.” On a field visit Adach is alert to how women define their roles. She asks women how they spend their day. Most say that in the early afternoon it is their task to bring a lunch to their husbands in the field. Their own farm work comes later. She asks about radio and cellphone use, to get an idea of how GROW can best communicate with the women. Many women have access to cellphones. “We ask a lot of questions about assets and control as we try to create a profile of farm women. Who does what, and who has what. For example, we’ll ask if they’ve ever seen a man sweep a floor.” ◆
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parent as the women interact with each other and with the project leaders. For one, they are staking part of their future on soybeans and are placing a lot of trust in an organization they had never heard of a year ago. Second, these are women of grit and resolve. It is not hard to think they will succeed.
gaze bespeaks the rational calculus of someone who has faced down her share of challenges, and won. She hopes to earn enough extra money to pursue distance education so that she can become a teacher. “I have confidence. That’s why I’m working hard.” Her jaw sets firmly, her eyes look off to a spot beyond the horizon of her little soy plot. “In the future I will be somebody,” she says. ◆
Likewise with Prudence Bato. Her clear steady
“My children love it”
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ary Magdalene Ziem, a widow with seven Like the other 25 farmers in her CAPECS group, children, is a step ahead of many women in Ziem sows by hand after having her plot cultivated with the GROW project. She has grown soybeans a rented tractor. They plan to keep back much of their before on her acre of land, and knows about their nutricrop for family consumption and sell the rest for cash in tional benefits. the market. “Soy has many uses,” she says, explaining that she Ziem hopes to use that money for her children’s grinds it into flour and mixes it with maize flour for local education. School is free but parents have to pay for dishes. “My children love it.” uniforms and supplies. Last year, lack of money forced Ziem heard about MEDA’s program through one of her to ask two children to drop out. “I cannot afford to its partners, an organization called CAPECS (Center for send them all to school,” she says. Alleviation of Poverty, Environment and Child Support). But that may now change. She hopes her children “They called a community meeting and I heard about it will someday take over the farm. Maybe some can bethere,” she says. come doctors or lawyers “so they can look after me.” ◆ One of the selling points was the promise of new and improved seed. In the past she has used seed from earlier crops, which loses zest over time. Initially she had planned to grow a different crop this year, but when she heard about the new project she changed her mind. From what she has seen so far, she’s happy she did. She is especially grateful for the additional knowledge gained in the regular group meetings. She notes with a proud grin that more farmers are getting interested as they see her soybeans grow faster and Mary Magdalene Ziem had planned to sow a different crop, but when she heard about GROW she changed her mind. reach maturity.
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The Marketplace November December 2013
“It gave me a boost” A wartime escape, a harsh new land, and a fresh start from a MEDA loan by Dave Rogalsky
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ike many others living in Paraguay, Walter Giesbrecht landed there as a refugee. The first wave of settlers from Mennonite Russia arrived in the 1920s and 30s, followed by others in the late 40s. Giesbrecht was born Sept. 30, 1933 at Adelsheim (Dolinovka), in the Yazykovo colony near Chortitza. This was the time of collectivization in the Russian farming system. His mother worked long days, often bringing home only a large sugar beet for her family to eat as her wages. Giesbrecht’s father, trained in numbers, worked as an accountant for the farm. His hours were “written down” for the time when there would be money to pay him. Like other Mennonites Giesbrecht’s family welcomed the German invaders in 1941. These people spoke their language, worshipped openly, and reintroduced capitalism, redistributing land to families. Giesbrecht’s family also received a plot of land. But the interval was short. On Oct. 10, 1943 the family joined the flow of German-speaking people fleeing the advancing Soviet army. Loaded onto boxcars they made their way to Poland. Sometimes they were before the front, sometimes behind; Giesbrecht remembers being under bullets fired by both sides. On the west side of the Elba river they were loaded onto trains to be shipped west. Just before the train left the Gestapo came aboard and ordered all able-bodied men to leave. Giesbrecht’s father walked off, circled around and re‑entered the train. Several “Folksdeutsch” women were sitting on a bench waiting for the train to leave. Seeing the family’s father return they hastily lifted their skirts and said, “Under here,” pointing under the bench. Through their efforts the family fled intact.
Walter Giesbrecht (back row second from right), his family and extended family, just before embarking for Canada.
from the advancing Russians as possible. They ended up at Nabburg and after the war was over eventually moved with MCC’s help to München where they spent the winter of 1946. In 1947 Giesbrecht and his family boarded the Dutch ship Volendam and set sail for a new land, Paraguay, under the watchful eyes of MCCers Peter and Elfrieda Dyck. They landed at Buenos Aries, Argentina, in February. Some families left for the Chaco in West Paraguay but war there stopped the flow. They had fled from one war to another. MCC provided a tent city where they slept on benches as the area was prone to flooding. Just a few weeks later MCC bought land in East Paraguay and the colony of Volendam was established. At the same time Neuland Colony was established in the Chaco. Over 2,400 people had sailed on the Volendam.
Arriving in Dresden, they gathered in the Semperopera, where all the seats had been removed. Exhausted, they slept for a few hours before they were moved again amid rumours of an impending bombing mission by the Allies. Giesbrecht suffered through all this winter travel, his feet frostbitten, wearing boots made of rags. The train took them to Eppendorf about 30 kilometres away. There, two days later in mid-February, Giesbrecht’s father stayed up all night in case the incendiary bombing of Dresden spread to outlying villages. Then further south and west to Bavaria, as far away The Marketplace November December 2013
By September men and older boys, includ-
ing Giesbrecht, then almost 14, were on the land, beginning to lay out villages and build fences to keep out wild animals and neighbouring livestock. Machetes, axes and saws – all hand powered – were the tools in use. Houses were built – first for the widows and others without men. Boys stomped a mixture of mud and straw to build the huts they would call home. Lloyd Fisher, an MCC volunteer who was seconded to MEDA and worked in Paraguay in the late 50s and early 60s, told an interviewer that each
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both for feed and as an oilseed. Then he planted red corn, a second crop in the same year while the loan was running. Giesbrecht’s was one of 174 loans made in the first two years of the program. Unfortunately, Giesbrecht had hung his glasses on a branch while working at burning the field and they were lost in the fire. When he went a few weeks later to see how the crop was coming up he saw something glinting in the early morning sun. He found both lenses but the frames were gone. His daughter remembers him pulling a lens out of his pocket to see who was at the gate to their yard, or to read – there was no money to replace the frames. Later, in preparation to go to Canada, he was supplied with new glasses by the colony hospital – the cost was added to his debt there. Interestingly the end of the MEDA program to try to establish a herd of “Hollander” cattle – Holsteins – also helped the Giesbrecht family. A sickly little heifer was purchased as the program ran down. It grew, produced offspring and “much milk” for the growing family. Eventually the cow and its offspring were traded away with someone assuming debt at the cooperative for Giesbrecht.
family was given 10 hectares of land (about 25 acres), a machete and $100. In time fields appeared in the bush. Crops were planted. Lumber and firewood were sold to the Paraguayans to earn cash. Anni Klassen Each family received from Friesland came to Volendam along a plot of land, a with the masseuse Mrs. Siemens in the machete and $100 early 1950s and caught Giesbrecht’s eye. After working in the capital of Asuncion for 1953‑55 he returned to Volendam, looked up Anni in Friesland and they married in January of 1956. Soon the family started. There were empty farms in Volendam as many had left for Canada, so the Giesbrechts claimed one of them and settled there. In his book The MEDA Experiment, J. Winfield Fretz notes that the population of Volendam dropped from 1,800 in 1950 to only 1,000 a decade later.
And that was how Giesbrecht cleared his debts in preparation to move to Canada – trading belongings to others who assumed debt. This included the land, his bee hives (bees captured in the wild) and the Life was difficult in Paraguay stock. The bee hives paid for the and hunger was common among hospital debt. Even then he had the settler/farmers. By the early to borrow to be able to get the 1960s Giesbrecht was trying to clear necessary papers, medical exams, more land to grow larger crops both shots and plane tickets. Never able for food and for sale. Fisher, who to bear the heat, and despairing had experience with the Production for himself and his family, they Credit Association in Oregon, heademigrated in 1965, settling in the ed up what today would be called a Niagara region of Ontario where he micro‑finance program. Giesbrecht worked as a carpenter and cabinet tells of clearing the brush, by hand, maker and where he and most of of an additional half hectare of land. his family still live – five children, 12 Fisher and the colony Oberschultz, grandchildren and two great‑grandAbram Funk came to examine his children. Life in Volendam improved work. A loan, in the form of credit in the ensuing years with the colony at the cooperative was given him so now flourishing, but Giesbrecht believes he made the best decision that he could “feed my family.” He for himself and his family to move would need to finish clearing the to Canada. land, chop everything fine enough Walter Giesbrecht today, at home in St. MEDA holds a dear place in so that it lay no more than a metre Catharines, Ont. his heart and memory as the loan deep, let it dry, burn it, plant and harvest a crop. Giesbrecht did all that and remembers the “gave a boost” when one was needed. It formed part of day when he and Anni set the field on fire. “It was like the support he needed to eventually move on again to one huge flame,” he says. improve his and his family’s lot in life. ◆ The loan, he adds, “gave me a boost.” Without it he couldn’t have finished the work or he might have had Dave Rogalsky is a writer for Canadian Mennonite, pastor of Wilmot to borrow privately. The first crop he planted was kafier, Mennonite Church, New Hamburg, Ont., and Walter Giesbrecht’s sonin-law. which was a fast-growing corn similar to sorghum, used 13
The Marketplace November December 2013
The artist as entrepreneur Driven by passion to fulfill, create and transform by Jack Dueck
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would engage our true passion. Without that I would not ntrepreneurship, in essence, is artisanal, though have truly lived.” current use defines an entrepreneur narrowly as “But Falk,” I warned, “the world is littered with starvsomeone in a commercial business. Merriam Webing musicians and artists. Why not engage the best of ster defines entrepreneur as “A person who starts both worlds – practice law and a business and is willing to risk make music.” loss in order to make money.” David was undeterred. To the ancient Greeks, however, “We’re not tempted by the big a person who fashioned anyhouse, the respected profesthing out of material – wood, sion.... If Viola and I don’t take metal, clay, fabric, words, paint, the risk, we’ll never know and stone, monetary coinage – was will regretfully wonder all our an artist. The older French use lives. Gifted in music may be our of the word entreprendre debest asset. What we do know is noted “to enterprise,” irrespecthat creativity in music could entive of the medium. gage our full creative powers.” The entrepreneur, driven David had done some legal by inner vision, sees reality work for me so I was acquainted in unique and unpredictable with his professional milieu. outcomes. G.B. Shaw’s character After one trying morning he states it well: “Some people see sighed and said, “This simply is things as they are and tell me not life; I’m tired of dealing with why; I see things as they might angry and conflicted people. be, and say why not!” Artistic entrepreneur David Falk: He worked creEven though one might help The entrepreneur artist, ofsolve a temporary settlement ten with opportunity as the only atively with what he was and had. between hostile and splintered resource, is driven by a passion families, one never sees them again; there’s no horizon to to fulfill innate gifts, to live life creatively, and to transform look into one’s creative results.” material into a meaningful product. Like entrepreneurs, David and Viola invested in their new future, spending four years of study in Detmold, Such a man was my friend David Falk, who Germany. They had sacrificed a suburban home, given died this year. up church and community, separated from professional More than 50 years ago, in a coffee shop in downengagement and income, and bid adieu to family and town Winnipeg, this young lawyer declared to me, a friends to follow their gifts amid unknown controls and friend and music/theology graduate, “Yakob, I need to outcomes. A colleague would later say David’s risky investgive up lawyering.” ment paid off: he mastered the human voice, its support I was shocked. “But,” I replied, “you’ve won the goldand inextricable link to the whole person, and how to en ring: a law degree with academic honors. Judges and truly connect notes into lyrical utterance. colleagues note your promise and courtroom command. Is In 1965 David was offered two positions: one with this an impulse, a temporary leave?” a prestigious Winnipeg law firm and the other with the “No, this is permanent,” he said. “Practicing law does music faculty at Goshen (Ind.) College, a school of 1,000 not mean enough to me. Viola and I believe only music The Marketplace November December 2013
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undergrads in a small city of 15,000. He and Viola, now with four children and virtually penniless, chose the latter with its salary a mere fraction of the other offer. (I joined the faculty in 1966.) He soon found that his first choirs and voice students lacked productive musical training. “It seemed,” he said, “that all American college and high schools sounded the same: little support – shallow breathing from just below the voice box, forced voices and little ability to truly connect notes in a musical lyricism.” But with entrepreneurial zest he recognized latent human potential that begged development. By 1968 an assembly of singers produced the daring Gay’s Beggar’s Opera, and then Mozart’s Magic Flute; later, with full orchestra and soloists, he conducted a large choir presenting Bach’s St John Passion.
Now David’s communitarian mindset came into full fruition: with demanding discipline he exercised his formidable pedagogical powers to connect the whole person in developing full vocal potential. Speaking of complex pedagogy he told me, “I teach human beings, not merely voices, connecting with them on levels of their strength, gifts, goals, fears and weaknesses.” A former student, now in a church music role, commented: “He got under our skin to understand what made us tick and from there lead us into an integrated freedom of expression in making song.” His students performed in various venues here and abroad. He was always keen on how they brought musical gifts to others – opera houses, college, high schools, churches, concert halls, youth and children’s choirs, community choirs. In the summer of 1981, his 13-year-old daughter Laura was diagnosed with leukemia and later died while undergoing cancer treatment. Of 22 families in the area who lost children to leukemia, David and Pat were the only couple to stay married. They passed through their bitter valley of darkness and life‑robbing pain to emerge, with help, on the sunlit slope on the other side. On a long walk David observed, “I learned that each of us has a different way of grieving. Discovering this, I could again genuinely support Patricia.” He added, “In all my years from Winnipeg, Detmold, Goshen and now here I realize again and again that, to quote novelist Joyce Cary: ‘We live in an everlasting battle, an everlasting creation’.”
Shortly after the stellar Magic Flute performance, David and Viola were involved in a head‑on traffic collision. Viola was killed and David hammered into a deep coma. Funeral and memorial proceeded without him. Later he and I sat and sat and sat in silent, spiritual and mental darkness. In one crashing moment creativity, vision and artisanal passion had vaporized. The days, hours, nights and weeks crept by. One day David asked me to drop by. “I did not ask for it,” he said. I assumed he was still mulling over the stupidity of the crash. But no. With hand over his heart he said, “Deep in a small corner of my heart I feel a stirring of love and creativity again.” He had not read the books given to him in bereavement; heard no comforting words – his mind on its own trajectory – but now he said he had been listening to Bach. I asked, “like words from the St John Passion resurrection chorus?” “No,” he said, “words still cannot reach me, but the music opened a window crack to life.” Over time, nudged by vision and passion, he again uttered interest in “making it happen.” Medical professionals were certain he’d never walk again. But through gritted teeth he pronounced, “I can beat this thing,” and proceeded to seek varied therapies and understand ligaments, musculature and bone function. From a wasted, spent form hunched over crutches he adopted a disciplined regimen of research, discipline and exercise, eventually able to totter without crutches, then take long walks, run and finally compete in major races.
In all of life’s joys and vicissitudes (for his last 15 years David wrestled with Parkinson’s disease) he was a true artisan in the business of living. At his memorial I again referred to the passage from II Timothy, thankful that God had given him a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. Today I recall David’s delight at a theologian’s comment that “Wherever creativity is, there is the Creator’s Holy Spirit also.” Over the 50 years I knew him, David Falk was an innovator, an artisanal entrepreneur in whatever identity life gave him at birth and in whatever life placed in his path. In artistry, in grief, in sickness he worked creatively with what he was and had. I visit his graveside again; the question arises out of the dust and ashes: What legacy did this communitarian entrepreneur bequeath? The news as I write today is of the Kenyan mall massacre; our small globe seems inexorably sucked into cacophonous discord and rampant violence. But a vision rises and holds steady: thousands of David’s former students, scattered across our torn globe today, in churches, children’s choirs, concert halls, schools, operas and even funerals, answer the clamorous discord, making harmonies. ◆
In 1969 David and Patricia Yoder Dreves mar-
ried. They asked me to speak at their ceremony. For a biblical text I chose II Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us the spirit of timidity; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” After completing his Ph.D. in voice performance at Indiana University, David moved his family to Kitchener‑Waterloo where he began a 26-year career as Professor of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, helping build a department to rival the best in the country. He exercised pedagogy with the full, whole consort of love, power and mental toughness dancing together.
Jack Dueck is a Canadian writer and story teller living in Waterloo, Ont. He may be reached at eajdueck@gmail.com
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The Marketplace November December 2013
Potatoes of adversity A lament about failure ... and hope by Walter Bergen
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n April I planted four potato peels in a milk box filled with soil. I bathed the eyes in water, nestled them in soil and hoped for their life to spring forth. It had been a tough winter with setbacks and challenges that left me despondent and angry. Then my friend Gareth Brandt preached a sermon which basically said, “my circumstances are crummy, God is still good.” I had a sense of foreboding that a tough winter would be followed by a tough year. A year ago some pigs that I was trying to raise for cash flow broke out of their fenced area at night, worked their way under a barn that was raised up off the ground and killed nearly a thousand replacement baby chicks (I
managed to rescue seven of them). Insurance couldn’t cover the loss since my own farm animals did the damage. When the adjuster came, I felt the shame of rape. This came after our daughter had spent a week in hospital, her despondency fueled in part by our living circumstances, a soured partnership relationship and hostility toward me. So when I came across some potatoes, slightly wilted, with “eyes” beginning to protrude — the dying of the potato portends new life expectantly — I sat down and pondered that quirky truth. I remembered a withered widow speaking of wilted potatoes and God’s determined faithfulness on the steppe of southern Siberia amidst unspeakable and willful injustice. Then I peeled the potatoes, and with thanksgiving for daily bread, ate them, and planted the peels: four in all. ome could regard Walter Bergen as a Mennonite Wendell Berry. Like the Three came to life. One had famous writer/philosopher/farmer, Bergen likes to think deeply about raisno life to give. ing food.
From the heart
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“I think theologically about a lot of things — about food, about work, about creation,” he says. “I believed I could make a living as a renegade farmer.” Bergen served with Mennonite Central Committee in Moscow after the break-up of the Soviet Union, working closely with Christopher Shore who then headed MEDA’s work there. “Chris and his family stayed with us when their apartment building was being hit by sniper fire when protestors had taken over the Russian White House. “We also did aid work with MCC in Chechnya without getting killed,” Bergen says, noting that “one of the businesses in that part of the world was kidnapping.” But all that did not prepare him for the challenge of raising livestock back in Abbotsford, B.C. Using recycled food (his own version of a 100-mile diet) he wanted to produce a tasty pork that was environmentally responsible. Things went well for a while, with upscale Vancouver eateries featuring his product. Then he suffered a perfect storm of setbacks: insufficient capital, inadequate infrastructure, theft, flooding and an economic decline in the restaurant trade. Now he is bankrupt. “I tried so hard to honor some sense of creation care, but I haven’t been able to achieve worldly success,” he says. Most businesspeople don’t like to talk about failure. In the adjacent article, Bergen shares openly about the pain of going broke, and how his Christian faith and sense of Mennonite history sustains him. ◆
The Marketplace November December 2013
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In September 1995 I visited the village of Protussova, and there met Heinrich Dyck, the last elder in the Slavgorod Raion of the Kirchliche Church, and heard firsthand the sufferings of the church during World War 2. In fall of 1942, after the invasion of Russia by Hitler’s army of manifest destiny, the German villages in this region had all their food seized, as punishment for being German, as surrogate punishment for the terrible sufferings the German Wehrmacht was inflicting on the Russian people a thousand kilometers and more to the west. The able-bodied men were arrested and sent to labor camps to work and eventually die. The elderly, the children began to starve and die. Even the grain to be used for seed was seized. Then in the
against hope for enough of a crop to feed at least, the least.
The potato’s “eyes” want to be new life in the midst of dying; they reach for light even as they struggle through darkness. The eyes are where hope dies last. I planted these four potato peels for I knew this would be a year of tribulation for me, and so it is. At this writing I am looking at bankruptcy. A failed farming venture where I sought to grow wonderful food, good food, nutritious food; using recycled human food for animals. In this my wife of 27 years has been as stalwart a support as any man could hope for, or dare to deserve. And I do not. And so I nurture every other day these three potato plants. I water them, and guard them, and wonder what small gem of a potato I will find there beneath the brown‑grey dirt. Will that potato sustain While resources me? Will I be nourished drained away and when there seems to be a famine of God’s grace and worldly sucformer business cess? Will God redeem me, and the years of partners ascribed labor the locusts have eaten? (Joel 2:25) malice, I planted Will this potato redeem the malice four peels, eyes ascribed to me by my business partners, for and all, and waited failure must have some malicious intent as its wellspring. What I for new life. sought to do for good has turned to dust. And the wind of adversity drives the dust into man’s heart, to despair. My heart. My despair. And anger at failure wells up in me like vomit. Vile and putrid and full of rage at failure. How does a man stand before God in failure? How does one answer the anger of a partner, who must also struggle with loss? How do I, a father, turn to his own children, and say, “I have failed, and brought ruin to this house?” How does a husband stand before his wife and say, “all that I have sought to do is for nought.” Not for want of work, or planning, or worry… it is simply for nought. As a church member, I have tried to live out a vision of Creation‑Care centered farming that honors land, animal as God‑created, and God as Creator of all that has life, that breathes, that rejoices at the break of dawn. And this husbandry has failed in the face of factory, and inhumanity, and a withered nutrition.
Walter Bergen: Trying to think theologically about farming and failure.
spring of 1943 huge frozen blocks of seed were delivered by dumptruck. The thawing seed stank. This was the genius of Timofei Lysenko, Stalin’s very own socialist geneticist who argued that socialist science could transform agriculture, and so seed was soaked in water, frozen in fall — something called vernalization — and then delivered to the German villages for planting in spring. The soaked seed molded and no life was in it. Villagers who protested were punished. Women in floursack dresses dutifully planted the moldy grain. Futility and hard labor makes for a rancorous life. Hate begets more hate. And the fields that were supposed to turn green with new leaf were left in that grey black of turned soil, dry from the steppe’s hot winds and pitiless sun. Not only was there famine, each villager knew there would be more famine. And rancor. A woman was caught trying to scavenge old dry cobs of corn from the edge of a fodder field. She was sentenced to two weeks in the village jail. When she returned home her two children were found curled up in their bed, dead of starvation. Dead for want of their mother’s efforts. Dead for want of their mother’s affection. And on it went. In the midst of this misery, a few women gathered by candlelight to sing a hymn, comfort each other, relay news that so and so’s husband had died in the work camp, or that so and so’s husband was still alive. Some under the light of stars were able to find a few potatoes, and shared them, but planted the “eyes” of these wilted tubers, and watered them by dark of night, hoping
Who shall see the humor of a hen? I do. The
antic jumping as high as it can with wings flapping and neck stretched beyond all proportion — to pluck a black,
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The Marketplace November December 2013
Starting early Schoolboy inspired to protect kids from malaria
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ven at the age of 12 you can $331.16 — $183.40 become part of the global battle from his birthday, against malaria. and $147.76 from his Clayton Sinclair, a student at schoolmates at Suddaby. Suddaby Public School in Kitchener, Ont., Why is he so pasbecame inspired to help other children sionate about fighting in need and mounted his own campaign malaria? “Because it’s to help. He raised over $330 in his local been causing poverty, community to support MEDA’s program sickness and death for to distribute insecticide-treated mosquito hundreds of years,” he nets in Tanzania. says, “and I believe that Clayton contacted MEDA this year needs to stop because about getting involved in the fight we are able to fight it if Clayton Sinclair (center), his mother Kelly (left), against malaria. He had already saved we work together.” and Suddaby vice-principal Sanj Sathiyamoorthy. $5 for the cause by setting aside some His father, Andrew of his allowance, but that was just the beginning. For his Sinclair, believes Clayton’s interest stems from watching a 12th birthday party, he asked for donations in lieu of gifts, documentary on the effects of malaria and how it can be with half going to MEDA, and half for Grandmothers To treated effectively with medicine that often is not availGrandmothers, which through the Stephen Lewis Foundaable to the poor. Clayton was confused as to why people tion serves families in Africa facing losses due to AIDS. couldn’t get the medicine. Then Clayton decided to expand his efforts for MEDA “We looked at several organizations fighting malaria,” at school, where he visited each classroom to ask for says his mom, Kelly, “and friends who knew about MEDA’s support in the fight against malaria. In total, he raised work suggested them. MEDA’s focus on fighting poverty, as well as disease, really appealed to Clayton. I liked that it was close to home continued from previous page and my son and I could connect with them directly to see how to go about supporting ripe blackberry from the nest of brambles, and strut away in success. It them. That helped us feel more connected is an endeavor of grace, this berry‑clucking, berry-plucking antic which to the cause.” will result in a silky egg, perfect for the plate of humanity: but only “It’s great to see serious issues like upon this land, with my husbandry, for her sisters are locked in a prison malaria and MEDA’s unique approach to it of wire and disdain for hen‑ness, her endeavour to eat the richness of registering with young people because they God’s creation and gift us a portion of it. will become tomorrow’s workers in inter“Give us this day, our daily….” Yes, that egg you eat — knowing national development,” says Thom Dixon, or not — is a gift of grace. Of God. It has only passed by way of my MEDA’s director of health. “Since malaria hands, now failing, to you. Its author is God. Its goodness is anchored is so prevalent in countries like Tanzania, in the goodness of God’s Creation since the covenant with Noah. we’re happy and grateful for each person And I see it, as others do not, even as I fall into the shadow of who raises awareness and funds for this failure in this world. work. No matter how big or small, they are I sit beside these three potato plants and remember that God, is. making a life‑changing difference.” I sit beside these three potato plants and wrestle with rancor. MEDA’s Tanzania National Voucher I sit beside these three potato plants and worry, that I know not the Scheme (TNVS) helps reduce malaria by cofuture, though bleak its foreshadowings seem. ordinating the delivery of vouchers to proI sit beside these three potato plants weeping with a dog to lick my vide pregnant women, infants and children tears. under five years old — those at the highest For all that I see is of God: the potato “eye,” the hen in her quest risk — with bed nets. Malaria is the leading for succulence, and the egg. cause of illness and death in Tanzania. — And I have failed. ◆ Jaclyn Stief, MEDA news service The Marketplace November December 2013
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The Marketplace November December 2013
Soundbites
Measurement matters All the good business leaders I know are maniacal about measuring things. They know their sales data and customer satisfaction numbers, which divisions of their company are beating expectations and which are lagging behind. Some even analyze their calendars to make sure they’re spending time on the right priorities. (I admit I’m one of those.) Measurement is a big part of mobilizing for impact. You set a goal, and then you use
data to make sure you’re making progress toward it. This is crucial in business — and it’s just as important in the fight against poverty and disease.... If you want a better world, you need to constantly take stock. — Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in Time
that are changed, you really can see communities transformed. — Peter Greer, coauthor, The Poor Will Be Glad
God of leisure? It is bemusing and sometimes saddening to see where people think they find God. They act as if God must be hiding among the forests of a national park or between the gunwales of a canoe. Someone claimed to find God best at a U2 concert. Pity the poor
Changed wallets When you see hearts that are changed and you see wallets
It’s spelled j-o-b-s The biblical way to help people rise out of poverty is through wealth creation, not wealth redistribution. For lasting results, we must offer the poor a hand up, not merely a handout. You spell long-term poverty reduction “j-o-b-s.” Training and tools liberate people. Trade, not aid, builds the prosperity of nations. — California pastor Rick Warren in the Foreword to The Poverty of Nations: A Sustainable Solution
Limited charity
Tarnished brands? What can the church learn from business, or vice-versa? Plenty, says historian Diana Butler Bass, owing to the many things they have in common. For one thing, American churches and 20th century corporations were organized on similar principles and structures, she writes in Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. “Beginning around 1890, denominations built massive bureaucratic structures, modeling themselves after American businesses, complete with corporate headquarters, program divisions, professional development and marketing departments, franchises (parish churches), training centers, and career tracks. Other than the fact that denominations offered religion as the product, they differed little from other corporations that dominated America in the last century.” While corporations have gone through tough times and suffered image problems, so too has organized religion, she says. “The religious model that once worked so well serving to educate, spiritually enliven, and socially elevate so many does not accommodate those goals as well any longer. As with other corporations of the same vintage, church executives became too distanced from the regular folks; managers (i.e., pastors) grumbled about pay, benefits, and working conditions; creativity was strangled by red tape; expenses began to outrun income; and huge facilities needed to be maintained. Faith increasingly became a commodity and membership roles and money the measures of success. The business of church replaced the mission of the church. Slowly, then more quickly, customers became disgruntled. Resources declined. Brand loyalty eroded.” ◆
The Marketplace November December 2013
who cannot afford a trip to the mountains or a ticket to hear Bono, tempted as we all are to embrace celebrity as authority when its views coincide with ours. If you can’t find God in the madness of the city or the frenzy of daily toil, it’s because you haven’t looked. — Haitian philosopher B. Boku
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Charity has never helped any country escape underdevelopment. — Former Haitian president Rene Preval
Climate what? If you talk to farmers they’ll say, “Well, my ponds are drying up, my animals have more heat stress, and I’m planting two weeks earlier.” They’re saying all the right things, but they can’t spit out “climate change” because it’s been politically tainted. — Charles Rice, soil science professor at Kansas State University, in USA Today
Your ego or mine? Most assume a Wall Street investment banker would have a bigger ego than a humanitarian aid worker in Africa. But I have been around do-gooders
my entire life — and am one — so I know there’s a desire to be seen as the hero in all of us. — Peter Greer in The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good
Company town How to describe Rochester, Minnesota? It is essentially
comes there is finding out if they’re sick, already sick, getting better from being sick, or too sick and will probably die. The whole town is like one palliative care unit. The waitresses are grief counselors. They serve you hamburgers and hold your hand as you weep for your son, daughter, mother, father, wife, or husband. All the sales people, the street cleaners, the airport shuttle drivers have an eye out for the wounded. — Eve Ensler in In the Body of the World: A Memoir
cancer town. There is one massive hospital complex called the Mayo Clinic, the thirty thousand people who work there, and everything else in the town exist either to support or supply it.... It is kindness incarnate, almost frighteningly so. Everyone knows that everyone who
Letters
Don’t forget urban shalom
Me, successful?
I appreciate the many fine, stimulating articles in The Marketplace. It is a timely and important magazine. But I must take issue with the Soul Enterprise column “Down on the farm” in the Sept‑Oct 2013 issue. The first line is misleading, “The Bible begins and ends in the garden (farm?).” While it is true that the Bible uses many horticultural images and we are told from cover to cover to be good stewards of creation, the Bible clearly ends not in a garden but a city. Good stewardship must include also another form of creation — the human community. As human communities grow they become villages, towns, and ultimately cities. Can we learn to be good stewards of those creations as well? As a farm boy transplanted to the city, I have deep appreciation for the soil and all things green. In the city we are learning that rooftop gardening, the greening of urban brownfields, and other forms of urban gardening are all important aspects of sustainability. In fact, with over half the world’s population now living in urbanized places we must include urban sustainability in our life cycles if the planet is to endure. The author rightly points out that even in exile the Israelites were to plant gardens and eat what they produced, but fails to point out more importantly that they were to intercede earnestly for the shalom of the city they were exiled in (Jer. 29:7). Only in the shalom of Babylon would they find their own shalom. In tracing the movement from Eden to the New Jerusalem in our scriptures, eminent Christian urbanist Ray Bakke likes to quip, “You have an urban future, whether you like it or not!” How should we and our neighbors prepare for that? — Freeman J. Miller, Philadelphia
How to define success, being rewarded for our efforts, is a vexing question for entrepreneurs. Can a person be viewed
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as successful if they have built a flourishing company but have bred a dysfunctional family? — Richard J. Goossen and R. Paul Stevens in Entrepreneurial Leadership: Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference
The Marketplace November December 2013
News
First women graduate from new Libya program MEDA recently celebrated the graduation of its first training group from the Libya Women Economic Empowerment (LWEE) project. LWEE, reaching 210 women entrepreneurs with job‑creating opportunities for an additional 700 individuals, is jointly funded by USAID and MEDA supporters and is implemented in partnership with three local organizations: Phoenix, Libyan Women Forum and Consultants Alliance. The 20 entrepreneurial women who completed the month‑long business training course can now move forward with their business ideas. Business opportunities for women in Libya have traditionally been limited. MEDA received 300 applications for the 20 spots available in the first class. In gratitude for being able to participate, the women planted a tree in the office garden and called it Hope. “It symbolizes their hope in improving their life and achieving success as Libyan women entrepreneurs following the fundamental training they received,” explains Intissar Rajabany, MEDA’s project manager in Libya. Another 180 women are expected to graduate by the end of the two‑year project. LWEE staff will provide ongoing mentorship and networking to keep in touch with graduates. Through a business plan competition, the project will provide matching grants to fund some Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to wkroeker@meda.org
Some of the first graduates of MEDA’s new Libya program, shown with the tree they planted to celebrate their fresh start. of the top ideas submitted. Although LWEE is in its early days, Intissar reports it is already having a big impact. “The changes we’ve seen in the attitude and behavior of the
women as compared to four weeks earlier are 180 degrees different. As much as these are motivated women who have sacrificed time to do this, they are more outgoing in their out-
look, they are wearing brighter colors, they are very comfortable with the male trainers and they are just full of life and vitality.” — Jaclyn Stief, MEDA news service
It won’t be fought with water pistols “Unclean water is the greatest killer on the globe, yet a fifth of humankind still lacks easy access to potable water,” Chellaney writes. “More than half of the global population lives under water stress — a figure projected to increase to two-thirds during the next decade.” A paradox about water is that it is a life preserver “but it can also be a life destroyer when it becomes a carrier of deadly bacteria or comes in the deluge of a tsunami, a flash
How close are we to seeing major battles waged over water? Closer than we used to be, says geostrategist Brahma Chellaney. An “increasingly parched world” raises the possibility that water could become a weapon of war or a tool for terrorism, he writes in the Globe & Mail. “Water is becoming the world’s next major security and economic challenge.” Wherever water is scarce, there’s conflict in the making.
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flood or a hurricane.” He notes soberly that “There are substitutes for many resources, including oil, but none for water.” The single biggest driver of water stress is growth in consumption, says Chellaney. “Rising incomes, for example, have promoted richer diets, especially a greater intake of meat, whose production is notoriously water-intensive... it is about 10 times more waterintensive to produce beef than to produce cereals.” ◆
Study claims it’s harder to be smart when you’re poor Being poor can take a lot of mental energy, so much that your IQ can drop as much as 13 points. That’s the finding of a new study that claims minds preoccupied with cash woes function less efficiently and have trouble making good decisions. The five-year study, published in the journal Science, ran two different sets of tests — one on 464 smallholder farmers in India, and the other on shoppers in a New Jersey mall. In India, farmers were given psychological tests before the harvest, when most were poor. Then they were tested again after the harvest when
wallets were full. Post-harvest, when they had fewer financial stresses, the farmers answered test questions faster and more accurately, recording IQ scores up to 25 percent higher than previously. The New Jersey mall study tested 400 shoppers to see how they responded to an unexpected car repair bill. If the bill was small, those shoppers who earned $20,000 a year responded much the same as those who earned $70,000. But when the bill was large, the poorer folk had more difficulty thinking logically and solving problems. Some of their IQ scores plunged 40 percent. The scientists, from Har-
vard, Princeton and the University of British Columbia, concluded that financial stress monopolizes thinking and makes other calculations slower and more difficult. This
“money-and-brain crunch” applies in some form to 100 million North Americans who face financial squeezes, they said. “When we think about people who are financially stressed, we think they are short on money, but the truth is they are also short on cognitive capacity,” says one of the study’s authors. He added that people who are always thinking about overdue bills or rent cannot focus properly on other things. Thus, being late on loans could cost them both interest points and IQ points. (Vancouver Sun, Associated Press)
Everence Lancaster receives ethics award The Everence Financial office in Lancaster, Pa., has received a 2013 Ethics in Business Award at an Ethics in Business Forum co‑sponsored by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The Samaritan Counseling Center, which presented the award, cited the organization as one that “stands apart in its dedication to corporate social responsibility in its employment practices, civic activities, environmental concern and ethical conduct.” Everence Lancaster was among 30 nominees for the award. The annual forum brings together business professionals from many industries to share best practices and learn more about incorporating ethics into their business models. Keynote speaker was
leadership specialist Bruce Weinstein, author of the book Ethical Intelligence. A panel of community leaders chooses the award recipient based on a process that includes submitted information, on‑site visits and interviews, and an online employee survey. “We are honored to be chosen for this award that reflects how we do business and the priority we place on acting responsibly,” said Everence Lancaster spokesman Doug Umble. Everence, a ministry of the Mennonite Church USA, helps individuals, organizations and congregations integrate finances with faith. It offers banking, insurance and financial services with community benefits and stewardship education. ◆ 23
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