May June 2020
Where Christian faith gets down to business
More cash for coconuts:
Project helps Kenyan farmers
Winnipeg contractor values work-life balance Small changes for work happiness Financing Africa’s “missing middle”
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The Marketplace May June 2020
Roadside stand
MEDA’s new CFIO had long road to education, leadership
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rvie Bowman’s life journey to interest in developing countries. He a senior leadership position and his wife (who was born in Uganat MEDA involved a cultural da) served for two years in Papua shift and much hard work. New Guinea and they continue to Bowman, enjoy international travel. MEDA’s new chief He replaces long-time financial and investCFO Gerald Morrison, who ment officer (CFIO) moved on to become CFO at as of early March, Haliburton Forest and Wildlife was raised in an Reserve and affiliated compaOld Order Mennies in Haliburton, Ontario. nonite family in Waterloo County. COO Kim Pityn retires He attended a MEDA lost another longparochial school time leader earlier this year. until grade 8, after After three decades with the which, as is the cusorganization, chief operattom in that commuing officer Kim Pityn left nity, he left school MEDA to enter into retireOrvie Bowman to work on the farm. ment. Pityn also served At age 16, he left the Old Order as vice-president of international church, as his two older brothers had operations and director of human redone. He worked in construction, lations during her MEDA career. factories and pig slaughtering. In his early 20s, he got his high Small thing, big impact school diploma and started a three Musa Lubango recently provided an month co-op position with insurapt example of the impact MEDA’s ecoance firm Manulife Financial. He nomic development efforts can have. subsequently did a university degree Lubango is country director of and earned his professional desigMEDA’s Strengthening Small Busination by correspondence, in the ness Value Chains project in Tanevening for many years, after zania. He told an his young children had gone interesting story to bed. about the project “It wasn’t easy,” he rein a reflection for calls. “I really wanted it.” MEDA’s annual Prior to joining MEDA, staff planning seshe was chief financial officer sions in Kitchener. at Allianz Global Assistance He began his Canada. He also held senior talk with a scriplevel roles at Sun Life Financial, ture passage from Schlegel Villages and Manulife. Matthew 16, where The CFIO is a member of Jesus asks his MEDA’s executive leadership disciples “Who do Musa Lubango team and provides strategic you say that I am?” leadership to achieve MEDA’s finanand ended with what others are saycial, investment and legal goals. ing about the MEDA project. Bowman has had a long-time Part of his team’s work involves The Marketplace May June 2020
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providing 600,000 pineapple seedlings to 500 small-scale farmers, in an effort to strengthen their operations and the pineapple processing industry. MEDA’s partner in this venture, Tomoni, was losing about 40 per cent of harvested pineapples because they didn’t have an efficient storage facility. In 2018, MEDA worked with the company to install a solar-powered refrigeration unit. This helped the firm look to exporting frozen fruit to Europe, as they can freeze pineapple all year long and use it when need arises. It also allows them to buy more pineapples from MEDA’s farmer clients. “It may be a small thing to MEDA, but for us it is a gamechanger,” said Franklin Mabagala, Tomani’s managing director. Other organizations agree. A director of a Norwegian development organization spoke approvingly of MEDA’s efforts, saying, “This is the kind of work we should be doing.”
Apologies
A story in the March issue of The Marketplace contained an acronym that a reader found offensive. The acronym has several meanings, a couple of which are considered to be profane in the Christian faith tradition. The reader suggested that profanity has no place in the pages of this publication, and that we should apologize for its use. We agree on both counts and apologize unreservedly that this slipped through. ◆
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In this issue
Features
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Balancing labor and rest
Employees of Roost, a Winnipeg renovation firm, work four-day weeks while retrofitting homes to be energy efficient. By John Longhurst
Nairobi clothing firm benefits from BPI investment (pg. 21).
Departments 22 24 10 20
Roadside stand Soul enterprise Soundbites Reviews Roost employees plan over breakfast.
Maximizing yield
Volume 50, Issue 3 May June 2020 The Marketplace (ISSN 321-330) 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 2018 by MEDA. Editor: Mike Strathdee Design: Ray Dirks
Postmaster: Send address changes to The Marketplace 33 N Market St., Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805
MEDA grant helps Tanzanian farmer reap more bountiful crops
Change of address should be sent to Mennonite Economic Development Associates, 33 N Market St, Suite 400, Lancaster, PA 17603-3805. 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, email mstrathdee@meda.org or call (800) 665-7026, ext. 705 Subscriptions: $30/year; $55/two years. Published by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). MEDA’s economic development work in developing countries creates business solutions to poverty. MEDA also facilitates the connection of faith and work through discussions, publications and conventions for participants. For more information about MEDA call 1-800-665-7026. Web site www.meda.org
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Shamte Hamis with his irrigation pump
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The Marketplace is printed on Endurance Recycled Velvet and is 10% recycled (post-consumer waste), FSC® Certified to help meet client sustainability requirements, Acid Free, Elemental Chlorine Free
Habits for a happier work life
Workplace wellness researcher warns against obsessive passion
Lending cash and expertise to African companies MEDA partner BPI provides funds and technical guidance to growing firms
Cover photo of Omar Mwalivunzi by Krista O’Brien
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The Marketplace May June 2020
Soul Enterprise
Seeing the divine in everyday tasks Book calls readers to reflection, rituals to find spiritual meaning in our labors Working in the presence of God: Spiritual practices for everyday work by Denise Daniels & Shannon Vandewarker (Hendrickson Publishers, 2019 216pp, $22.00 US)
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n the beginning, God was a worker. God invited the first humans to be co-creators with God, modelling work as a good, positive activity meant to provide meaning and structure to life. Circumstances have often made work seem otherwise. Multiple studies indicate that most employees are neither fully engaged nor content at their jobs. A sizeable minority hate their daily toil. For people whose daily interactions with co-workers are an important part of finding joy in their labor, layoffs or work from home dictums due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic have eliminated the stress relief provided by collegial joking. In some cases, there is heightened stress due to uncertainty over finances. In their thoughtfully argued book, Working in the Presence of God: Spiritual practices for everyday work, Daniels & Vandewarker remind readers of God’s original intention for work. They suggest a series of habits and rituals to help us maintain or regain that orientation. “Spiritual practices open our eyes and tune our ears to where we may have missed God working,” they write. “If God cared enough to show up at wells and in mud, then certainly he can show up in spreadsheets, commutes, meetings and performance reviews.” Eleven chapters broken into three The Marketplace May June 2020
sections cover multiple aspects of the spirituality of work. The first section, on orienting work, covers the liturgy of commute, workplace as holy ground, surrendering the calendar, and reading the scripture at work. The middle portion, engaging in work, explores affirmation of calling, gratitude and celebration, confession at work, and lamenting work. Part three, reflection on work, includes discussions of solitude, a prayer of examen (a way of reviewing the day with God) for work, and ceasing from work through Sabbath. The chapters include scriptural explanations around each theme, stories of how individuals relate to or reinforce each suggested practice, and questions for reflection or discussion. Sections on gratitude and celebration, lament, and Sabbath are 4
particularly intriguing. Keeping a gratitude journal, the authors note, provides physical and psychological benefits. “These people (who write journals) sleep better and have better mental and physical health than those who do not document the things for which they are thankful.” They also encourage people to take a service-oriented mindset around work, to seek “to bring out the best in others, not just in yourself.” Discussion of lamenting work is the most poignant section of the book. The authors draw on examples of lament from the biblical examples of 1 Samuel, Psalms, Job, and the gospel of John. They note that while lament is not common in the Western world, in Scripture it was frequently a way people expressed themselves to God. Lament, they note, is not a whine. “Rather it is a prayer that opens us to God’s response, input and correction to the situation.” They also encourage the practice of solitude, being alone and away from distractions in order to hear God’s voice. The book’s concluding section, dealing with Sabbath, provides useful reminders and advice for our always-on society. God, who rested out of a sense of abundance, cares deeply about both our work and our rest, the authors note. As is the case with many volumes which challenge the ways we tend to live, Working in the Presence of God is a book that will require rereading and contemplation over time. The prescriptions offered within are well worth considering and attending to. — MS
Who’s washing your feet? By Greg Leith
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ecently, I experienced a tough situation where I was at my wits’ end. Some rough news was shared, and I was a mess. Of course, my first impulse was to do what leaders do and keep this to myself and put on a game-day face. Right? WRONG! That’s what prideful leaders do who think they should be immune to pain, always perfect, never real. Remember the story of Peter who didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet? Let’s take a quick look. Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” John 13:4-9 Why didn’t Peter want Jesus to wash his feet? Maybe he was embarrassed that he hadn’t tried to serve first. Maybe he was too full of pride to receive that type of service. To be sure, accepting a gift of service to oneself means you are willing to be vulnerable, willing to have needs. In short, allowing ourselves to be served requires humility. I remember being in a CEO’s office in Paris, France one day. It’s the only CEO’s office—the only office of any type, for that matter—I have ever been in that had a shoeshine chair in it.
Eric Celerier, the CEO, asked me to sit in the chair, roll up my pant legs, and let him shine my shoes. Predictably, I declined, saying my shoes were okay, and he did not need to take his time for my shoes. Why was my first impulse to not let Eric serve me? It was nothing but pride. However, Eric convinced me that I should let him shine my shoes, and he did a beautiful job of it. Back to my tough situation. Into my office that day walked a dear friend. He asked how I was doing, and instead of hiding behind my pride I told him, “not so good,” and cried a river of tears into his shoulder. I opened myself up to receive his care for me that day. All pride was surely gone, and it was the best 5
encounter of my week. So, will you let someone serve you this week? Maybe you could begin by answering more honestly next time someone asks, “How are you?” Instead of giving a glib or fake answer, try being real, even going so far as to share the tough situation you’re in the middle of. You’ll be surprised at how much your friends want to love you. And you’ll be giving them the blessing of serving by humbling yourself enough to receive. ◆ Reprinted with permission from the Convene blog. Greg Leith is the CEO of Convene, where Christian CEOs and business leaders gather monthly in peer groups to help each other operate with excellence, profitable, God-honoring businesses. www.convenenow.com
The Marketplace May June 2020
A balanced approach to building repair Manitoba renovation firm prioritizes employee care, energy efficiency By John Longhurst
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lates were filled with bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast. A buzz of comfortable conversation filled the air at Wannabees restaurant in west end Winnipeg as owners and employees of Roost Custom Builders gathered for breakfast one early March morning. The weekly get-together, held every Monday until the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to eating out, was part social gathering and part staff meeting — very much woven into the fabric of the small company of eight. “It’s 80 percent social, 20 percent business,” said Roost co-owner Myron Martens, 43, of the breakfast gathering. The company pays for food and time spent eating it. During the hour together, staff talked about their families, what they did on the weekend, current events and casual banter. Near the end of the meal, plans were rolled out and the discussion turned to the week ahead. “It’s a good way to start the week, a small investment in good relations and a positive workplace culture,” said Martens. “It’s a good way to catch up on each other’s lives.” Creating a positive workplace culture is a high value for the company, which was founded by Martens and Jonathan Fast, 36, in 2011. Jaron Friesen, 32, joined as a co-owner two years ago. In addition to the unique weekly breakfasts, Roost offers something else The Marketplace May June 2020
Myron Martens and Jaron Friesen, two of Roost’s co-owners.
unusual — a four-day work week. The idea came from Jeff Thiessen, 44, who joined the company in 2014. When he came to Roost, Thiessen asked if it would be OK to work only four nine-hour days, not five. “I had been working for myself, juggling too many things,” said the father of three children. “When I asked, I thought it was pie in the sky. But they said yes.” The result, he says, is he feels “really cared for” by the company. He likes how it gives him more time at home with his kids. “Three-day weekends are wonderful,” he said. “It makes doing things as a family so much more do-able.” 6
Others agree. Josiah Brubacher, 29, likes the shorter workweek. “I really value the time I get to spend at home.” The father of a one-year-old says he “never felt work should be only about making money . . . I don’t want work to take up my entire life.” For Jotham Penner, 33, also with a young child, it’s about establishing a new way of living. “You hear a lot about millennials not wanting to work, being lazy, not knowing what hard work is,” he said. “But we saw our parents live that way every day, and we saw where it got them — debt, houses they can’t afford, only now living
the lives they that people enwanted when joy and want they retire,” to live in. he went on to “It’s say. “That’s exciting to not worth it, think through at least not someone’s for me.” ideas, and to Penner come up with likes how a plan to Roost shares help them use those same space more values. creatively in “Work is a way that not everything Roost employees gather for Monday breakfasts to discuss life and business, before will contribin our lives,” ute to a betthe Corona virus pandemic. he says. “I ter day-to-day like working for a company that con- ergy for heating and cooling.” life,” said Friesen. Roost utilizes a practice called siders our personal lives as important “We’re not super interested in “deep energy,” which can be broadas our working lives.” just doing facelifts. We want to ly described as retrofitting older Martens, who has two older make a home better, more livable buildings so they can achieve peak teens, is happy to hear those sentiand efficient.” energy performance. They also use ments. “It’s crazy we didn’t think of Added Martens: “We want to environmentally friendly building it sooner,” he said. “Everyone likes build something that the customer materials, such as non-petroleumit. It’s a way to keep people healthy fits into, and that fits them.” and satisfied. It’s just like we want to based insulation, and reducing Another way they show their energy use in the building process. work ourselves.” commitment to caring for the en“We think about the materials Co-owner Jaron Friesen, a father vironment is by using a small car we use for when the building is no of four, feels the same way. “We all with the company logo on the sides more,” says Friesen, of what happens for business calls — something that just want to be happy in our work,” he said. “For our employees, it means when a house is torn down and the stands out in a sector where everydetritus heads to the dump. they can be fresh, not burnt out.” one in the business drives a truck. “We want to have regard for the It also grows out of the vision the “It fits with our image, reflects three owners have set for the company. next generation,” added Martens, our values, and the customers like noting that caring for the environ“Our approach flows out of our it,” said Martens. faith and values,” said Martens. They ment “is a Christian virtue.” Back at breakfast, the food is fin“We ask ourselves, ‘why want to create a workplace where ished, and the last cups of coffee are wouldn’t we do it this way?’” said employees feel valued and where gulped down. As plans are inspected, Friesen. “It makes sense economithey can all put into practice their discussion turns to talk about the cally, ethically and environmentally deep concern for the planet. work week ahead—who needs what to build in such a way that is appro“We live in a harsh climate and materials and supplies, how things priate for the climate. It’s the right should be building better,” said coare progressing, which customers thing to do.” owner Jon Fast, a father of three. need to be called. They also want to build homes Roost’s specialty is refurbishing For Friesen, it feels good. “Roost and upgrading older houses, making feels like an extension of me. It’s all them as energy efficient as possible. interconnected—faith, relationships, “We all just want to “It’s a small way we can address the environment,” he said. climate change,” Fast added. Martens joked, what be happy in our work. doesAlthough, This includes addressing the techit say of them as owners if they For our employees, nical challenge of building for Win“have to pay our employees to have nipeg’s extreme climate—one where breakfast with us?” it means they can be temperatures can range from minus With a smile, he headed out to 31F in winter to over 90F in summer. fresh, not burnt out.” the work week ahead. ◆ “Many houses in Winnipeg — Roost co-owner aren’t well-suited to the climate,” John Longhurst is a freelance religion reporter Jaron Friesen said Friesen. “They use tons of enand columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press. 7
The Marketplace May June 2020
Drip Irrigation for a better livelihood Matching grant from MEDA helps Tanzanian farmer multiply his harvests and income
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rowing vegetables in an area where rains are not predictable can be challenging. Under these circumstances, irrigation becomes a necessity. But many small-scale farmers cannot afford the cost of equipment that would increase their yields. With help from MEDA, Shamte Hamis has learned what a difference a proper irrigation system can make. Hamis lives in the Ikwiriri area of Tanzania’s coastal region. His vegetable garden is about four kilometers (2.49 miles) from the village of Ikwiriri and close to the Rufiji river outlet. At the river outlet, he places a suction pipe and machine to siphon water and irrigate his vegetable garden. Assistance from MEDA helped him to purchase a new water pump. Before getting that equipment, he used to harvest around 20-40 crates of tomatoes twice a year. That harvest would provide earnings of between 300,000 to 600,000 Tanzanian shillings ($130 to $260 US). He had a small pump, but it didn’t have the capacity to supply his whole garden. A farmer friend told him about a short course on drip irrigation technology offered at Sokoine University of Agriculture in the community of Morogoro, about 350 km (217 miles) to the west. Hamis’ farm is near the Rufigi river, so he opted to put the technology into practice. He began by establishing a small greenhouse where he practiced drip irrigation
The Marketplace May June 2020
Irrigation systems are crucial for farmers like Shamte Harris.
using a small water pumping system which had very low horsepower. That system did not allow him to expand his crops, so he depended only on small greenhouse farming. Hamis is also a member of the ‘Heshimu kazi’ (‘respect your work’ in Swahili) group. One day during their group meetings, he heard from the group chairperson who outlined MEDA’s electronic voucher program that helps small businesses buy equipment. He was keenly interested in a more powerful water pump which cost about 480,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($208 USD.) MEDA uses vouchers instead of cash for its grant programs to ensure that funds are used for the specified 8
purpose. E-vouchers are used instead of paper to minimize fraud, reduce cost and the time required to complete a transaction. MEDA provides an alphanumeric text to grant recipients. The recipient shares the text information with a supplier, who verifies it before providing the equipment. In the five years since MEDA’s program began, 371 farmers have received e-vouchers to buy pumps. In total, the project has provided cost-shared assistance to over 13,000 farmers. Hamis was among the first to enlist his participation in the MEDA program and prepared himself for a 50% matching contribution, mean-
ing that he would pay half the cost of the pump. After a few days he received an electronic voucher in a text message to his mobile phone. He redeemed the voucher when a supplier came to Ikwiriri to deliver the equipment to small businesses who had also received vouchers. The pump allowed him to expand his vegetable garden Growing more tomatoes via irrigation from one acre to 2.5 acres, as last year and using a drip irrigation he realized this system was more system for his crops, he now harvests powerful and efficient than he had more than 100 crates of tomatoes and even imagined. earns more than $649 US from each After installing the water pump
of his two annual harvests. He also grows okra and peppers. “There is a huge difference in my income since I began applying drip irrigation farming powered by a water pump from MEDA’s program; I can now diversify part of my income to another business i.e. a small retail shop (near his home) where people get basic groceries. The income from the shop more than suffices household needs. I am so grateful and appreciative to MEDA and its partners for such programs that assist small scale farmers.” ◆
Shamte Hamis with the pump he purchased with help from MEDA 9
The Marketplace May June 2020
Soundbites
MEDA partner in Jordan uses Canadian-funded equipment to combat COVID-19 virus
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Jordanian packaging materials manufacturer that received funding from MEDA is now using its new equipment to help Jordan with its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. RZ (Alhadaf Int. Co for Importing and Industry) received an innovation fund grant from MEDA’s Jordan Valley Links project to purchase stateof-the-art paper cup manufacturing machinery capable of producing millions of biodegradable disposable paper cups annually. The JVL project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and MEDA supporters. In late March, RZ and its core employees were given special security clearances to work, despite a strict government curfew, so that they can fulfill urgent orders of over a million single-use disposable paper cups, wrapping and other packaging materials and 300,000 single-use gloves. Rami J Saheb, RZ’s chief executive officer, is providing the single-use gloves to medical authorities free of charge. “What doesn’t break us makes us stronger,” Saheb said. “We will do our (ut)most efforts to overcome the current situation and support our country to the max we can.” Recipients of the much needed supplies include Jordan’s hospitals, the Jordanian Army’s military consumer’s establishment, Syrian refugee camps, hotels that have now been designated as quarantine centers, and correctional facilities.
Faith and farming in Nigeria
is working with Christian farmers in rural Nigeria to understand the connection between their farming and their faith, Christianity Today reports. A three-day workshop explored Biblical teachings about farming, and how Christians might respond. The workshop combined spiritual elements with practical advice on composting and growing vegetables during the dry season. Learning about farming and farmers in the Bible gave participants a sense of encouragement in their work.
Blood avocados? Is rising demand for guacamole and avocado toast sowing misery for the residents of Mexico, the world’s largest producer and exporter of the green fruit? Should people avoid buying avocados from Mexico to avoid fueling gang violence, as some have suggested? The answer depends on who you ask, and the situation is more complex than it would seem. The “green gold” has lifted many in rural Mexico out of poverty, an article in The New York Times International Weekly suggests. Exports have risen from $293 billion in 2016 to $358 billion last year. The industry pays up to 12 times Mexico’s minimum wage. But drug cartels have taken to extorting growers. One risk analysis group says avocados could become the next conflict commodity, similar to “blood diamonds” from Sierra Leone or rare
For decades, MEDA supporters have explored the faith-work connection at regional gatherings and at MEDA’s annual convention. Other charities are picking up on that theme. Wycliff Bible Translators The Marketplace May June 2020
Overheard:
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minerals extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Concerns have been raised about overuse of water, illegal deforestation and logging for avocado growing, as well as killings and child labor, a story in The Guardian says. Experts say a boycott would mainly harm thousands of growers and their families. Some growers have set up defence forces to combat the gangs. Others say that if the US certified more areas of Mexico to export the crop, the exports from gang-infested areas such as Michoacãn would be less lucrative.
Connecting growers and buyers Kenya’s Twiga Foods has been named one of the world’s 50 most innovative companies by Fast Company magazine. Twiga, launched in 2014, connects urban retailers with small scale farmers who grow tomatoes, bananas and other produce. The company, which uses the bold slogan “The future of African retail” to describe its work, has a mobile-based, cashless, business-to-business supply platform. Twiga works with more than 13,000 farmers and serves 5,000 retail outlets, kiosks and market stalls a day. Peter Njonjo, Twiga’s chief executive officer, observes that the higher the level of retail fragmentation, the more consumers spend on food. The firm wants to reduce what African consumers spend on food and lift people out of poverty. ◆
“True transformation begins when you continue to do the things God has called you to even when the only thing changing is you.” — Pastor Jonathan Brooks from his book Church forsaken: Practicing presence in neglected neighborhoods
Cracking more value out of coconuts MEDA-supported project improves lives of Kenyan farmers
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Photos by Krista O’Brien
mar Mwalivunzi grows coconuts on his 15-acre (six hectare) farm, which is surrounded by forest in a rural area 35 km (21.7 miles) south of Mombasa, a coastal city of Kenya along the Indian Ocean. He has 10 children, two of whom are still dependent on him. Omar is one of 3,000 coconut farmers who MEDA and its partner Kentaste are helping maximize what they earn from their harvests. The effort is part of MEDA’s M-SAWA (Maendeleo Sawa — Swahili for equal prosperity through private sector development) project. Kentaste is a lead firm. MEDA provides financial incentives to Kentaste so this processor will provide technical assistance and support to its farmer suppliers. Omar and other farmers are small enterprises in Kentaste’s supply chain. They receive training in organic certification and good agricultural practices including soil and water conservation and pest management. These efforts result in Kentaste getting a better quality product. That allows Kentaste to expand, and the farmers to enjoy improved incomes. Farmers that Kentaste contracts with are paid more than the Kenyan minimum wage, with annual increases at or above the rate of inflation. “If you help change the situation for farmers, they change themselves, and you transform the community,” said Nathan Gachugil, Kentaste’s chief
A Kentaste employee holds coconuts with (L) and without (R) their outer husk. 11
The Marketplace May June 2020
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operating officer. Kentaste produces natural coconut milk, cream and oil used in sauces, drinks, curries and desserts. It also sells desiccated (dehydrated) coconut, and oil used as a skin moisturizer and hair conditioner. Omar Mwalivunzi has asthma. His contract with Kentaste means that he has access to financial advances if needed to obtain medication. Supplying coconuts to Kentaste has more than doubled his income from four to five shillings (four to five cents US) per coconut to 12 shillings (12 cents US) per coconut. In a single harvest, Omar can expect up to 7,000 nuts from his 150 trees. Nuts grow relatively
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quickly, and harvest takes place approximately every three months. He used to get paid in cash, which had risks associated with it, and payment was often delayed by up to a month. Now, he is paid via a message to his mobile phone within a week. There are additional environmental benefits from the MEDA partnership. The M-SAWA project has encouraged Kentaste and another lead firm to find value from the waste they produce. Coconut husks and shells are re-used to make briquettes and chili waste converted into compost, respectively. To read more about MEDA’s work in Kenya, visit www.meda. org/msawa ◆
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1)At Omar’s farm, local hired man scales coconut tree to harvest the nuts. 2)Coconut graveyard at Kentaste — foreground shows all the discarded husks 3)Kentaste employee preparing the coconut meat 4)Hired worker collecting fallen coconuts from harvest, and piling in front of farmer’s house 5)Kentaste employee working to remove inner husk from nut 6)Pile of 6,000+ nuts in front of Omar’s home, representing that day’s harvest 7)Omar, proud organic coconut farmer, sitting on his property
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The Marketplace May June 2020
Working where you help people — and businesses — thrive Computer firm models healthy corporate culture By Melodie M. Davis
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magine a kindergarten child — in a family where no one has ever gone to college — being encouraged to start a savings account for college or technical school. When Daryl Myers and Dave Smucker co-founded VistaShare LLC in Harrisonburg, Virginia almost 20 years ago, they never expected their software would become one of the main platforms supporting children’s savings account programs. From its earliest days the company has worked with a range of social services organizations in the US and Canada. Their clients deal with domestic violence issues, mediation, restorative justice and economic development. VistaShare delivers information systems to document results that allow nonprofit and social service agencies to provide life-changing support for others. “We get to help people who help people,” says Smucker, the firm’s president. Their mission statement is to “strengthen nonprofit organizations which serve people and communities.” This mostly-Mennonite company of 14 employees helps make it possible for kindergarteners of all races and income levels across many cities to set up those early savings accounts. VistaShare sets aside time for a group staff lunch every month, with The Marketplace May June 2020
pizza provided. Employees can share prayer requests if they wish and pray together. “We also have a policy that encourages employees to do service in the community or elsewhere,” matching days they use as vacation time, Smucker said. “If they serve using two days of vacation, we provide two additional days of paid time off,” he explained. The company tithes (donates 10
Daryl Myers, VistaShare’s co-founder 14
percent) of their profits. The firm focuses their giving on nonprofits doing education, development, or relief work locally or elsewhere. Myers is vice-president of operations. Along with co-owner Chris Kratz, he leads a team of eight who do product development. Myers also manages a team who provide implementation and customer support services. Smucker leads marketing and sales
Photos by Melodie M. Davis
Dave Smucker enjoys helping “people who help people.”
efforts with the help of one coworker. Myers and Smucker got their start in the computer services industry working with Dwight Wyse. Wyse founded and ran Computer Management and Development Services, a successful early Harrisonburg tech company in the 1980s. Smucker also had a graduate school internship working with MEDA’s ASSETS (A Service for Self-Employment Training and Support) program. ASSETS was founded in 1993. It was launched as part of a bigger initiative for North American microenterprise development through MEDA. (At one point, the initiative grew to 25 cities across North America. Eventually, MEDA spun out the program to local partners. Two ASSETS projects remain, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Toledo, Ohio.) Smucker was originally asked by Howard Good, a MEDA vice-president at the time, to find software to help run the ASSETS programs. “At the time MEDA contacted me,” Smucker said, “they asked if I would help them find software. I couldn’t
find anything available and that was what seeded the idea of creating Outcome Tracker and VistaShare.” This involvement with MEDA helped them understand that if you can get small businesses running in a community, a lot of positive things happen. Employment, money staying in the community and investment in civic life all increase. Smucker and Myers also credit their mentor Dwight Wyse for a vision statement they adapted, and for some early practices borrowed from Wyse’s firm. “Dwight was a good model for integrating his faith with his business,” Smucker said. “I’m very grateful that I got to learn from him.” Smucker and Myers reminisced how in 2001, they came online as a web-based company when that wasn’t common. Back then, dial-up modems were still prevalent. One hurdle was that nonprofits worried they wouldn’t have a speedy enough internet connection. But “right about this time high-speed internet got going,” a real boon for VistaShare, Smucker said. 15
Another hurdle was whether nonprofits would trust VistaShare with their client data. In time, the answer was yes. Customers pay an upfront fee which helps with set-up, and then pay a monthly subscription for ongoing service. “This subscription greatly stabilizes our business,” said Myers. “It’s helpful to know what your monthly income or budget will be.” Smucker spends most of his time in marketing, conducting online webinars to introduce new clients to the benefits, and delving into how the software is used. He also helps tweak Outcome Tracker, a web application, to respond to requests he hears from customers. He attends several conferences a year to staff exhibits, do seminars, meet potential clients, and keep up with trends. Lancaster native Patrick Ressler has worked for the company for about six years as a sales representative. He helps potential customers determine if Outcome Tracker is a good fit for their needs. If an organization licenses the system, Ressler transitions them to work with VistaShare’s implementation team. John Yarbrough works at training and consults with clients for the operation of Outcome Tracker. In the early days, “information technology (IT) products came in a shrinkwrapped package. Not anymore,” he said. An English major from
Patrick Kessler affirms VistaShare’s environment. The Marketplace May June 2020
Arkansas, he previously did technical writing for nonprofits working at social justice and humanitarian issues. He enjoys the fit at VistaShare, saying nonprofits are happy to find a tech company motivated by the same things they are. Smucker and Myers look back and recall many occasions where the company they founded has “certainly been provided for,” as Smucker put it. In their start-up phase, just as the company’s cash was about to run out, a neighbor asked Myers if he knew of any computer programmers who needed work. This casual inquiry turned out to be a godsend for the young company. The new influx of income helped fund the development of Outcome Tracker, currently their only product. Advances in technology frequently came along at fortuitous times, helping their momentum. On a personal basis, Smucker survived a critical illness—including months of not being
The Marketplace May June 2020
John Yarborough does training with VistaShare clients.
able to go near the office. Employee Ressler, like others on staff, appreciates working in an environment that puts people above profits. He enjoys the people he works
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with and the company culture of VistaShare. “With the mindset that we are helping people help people, it’s more than just a sales job and sharing technical expertise,” he said. ◆
Reorienting thinking for workplace happiness Ongoing “baby steps” needed to rewire our thinking
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any employees are neither happy nor fully engaged at their jobs, Jennifer Moss says. Studies show that only 13 percent of people globally are engaged and happy at work, Moss said in a presentation to MEDA staff from around the world at the organization’s annual planning meeting. Half are what she describes as weekend warriors, and 20 per cent actually hate going to work every day. “This is unfortunately what a huge amount of the workforce feels.” Moss has considerable experience looking into the subject. A workplace and happiness expert, she is author of the best-selling book Unlocking Happiness at Work. She is also co-founder of Plasticity Labs, a happiness and workplace wellness consulting company, and a member of the United Nations Global Happiness Council. Moss believes that observing more and demonstrating empathy are important in building supportive workplace culture. We need to look at changing the Golden Rule from “Do unto others as you would have done to you” to “Do unto others as they would have done unto them,” she said. The average person spends 115,000 hours at work in their lifetime. That prospect may excite some and depress others, she said. At 2:39 pm Friday, people start to mentally check out from their work. There are a number of reasons why people are unhappy in general,
Photo by Katie West
People should avoid saying always or never, Jennifer Moss suggests.
she suggested. Some people suffer from breaking news disorder from a constant 17
barrage of bad news, which sends the stress hormone cortisol through our body. As many as 28 percent of The Marketplace May June 2020
people are worn out by the amount of negative news. The impact of technology and the volume of new media also stresses us out. Each hour there are 300 hours of video posted on YouTube. If YouTube quit uploading new content, you could watch that online channel 24 hours a day for the rest of your life and not see everything. Loneliness is another reason for unhappiness. “The impact of loneli-
ness on our body is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” she said. Cigna’s chief medical officer says loneliness is even more dangerous than obesity. Inside our organizations, we need to reach out to people, she said. “The workplace can be a great place for people to feel connected, it can also be a place where people feel even more isolated.” As many as seven in 10 people feel burned out at work at some photo courtesy the Moss family
Jim and Jennifer Moss co-founded Plasticity Labs.
point. Passion-driven roles such as employees of non-profits, teachers and health care professionals are most at risk, according to Gallup’s 2018 state of the workforce report. In an article for the Harvard Business Review entitled “When passion leads to burnout,” Moss debunked the age old notion that if people do what they love, they will never work a day in their life. “It’s a nice idea, but a total myth,” she wrote. Moss is working on a new book about burnout, which she says is a workplace issue because people don’t know how to put the brakes on. People need to have a harmonious passion for work, not an obsessive passion. When we want to make changes in how we think and live, taking baby steps is crucial. Complexity reduces the chance of a change sticking and being adopted, she said. Making short, incremental microchanges consistently over time turns habits into traits. But it can take several years to create a habit, not 21 days as some have suggested. “It is very hard to create and engineer subconscious new behaviors.” Humans want the path of least resistance, she said. Simple actions
Gratitude: A gateway drug with many health benefits
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• being more forgiving and generous • being more outgoing • feeling less lonely and isolated Part of the journey towards gratitude involves tricking our brain into noticing things that are positive. Keeping a gratitude journal can be an effective tool, she said. A 40-year heart health study begun in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1948 found that heart health is contagious. Researchers Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler then wanted to learn if happiness is contagious. Among their findings: • If you have a happy friend living within one mile, you are 25 percent happier; • If you have a happy sibling living within one mile, you are 14 per cent happier; • A neighbor can increase your happiness by 34 percent; • Our spouses make us eight percent happier. ◆
ennifer Moss views gratitude as being a gateway drug to happiness, giving the brain the same chemistry as we experience when eating chocolate or “doing all the fun things we like to do.” Gratitude is a skill that develops whenever we focus our attention on what we have versus what we don’t have, according to leading gratitude researcher Robert Emmons, a psychologist and professor at UC Davis. The science surrounding the practice of gratitude shows significant health benefits, Moss noted in a presentation to MEDA staff recently. These benefits include: • lower blood pressure • a stronger immune system • sleeping longer and better • being more optimistic and happier • having higher compassion
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provide complex benefits. Something as simple as setting a meeting reminder for 2:39 pm each Friday and using that time to send someone a quick note thanking them can help to spark a culture of gratitude in an organization, she said. Happy, healthy, high-performance people have seven habits. Moss uses the acronym HERO GEM to describe these seven traits: Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, Optimism, Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. These seven traits increase people’s lifespan, make us more motivated to work and improve the productivity of companies, she said. Increasing hope can be achieved by an action as basic as making your bed every morning. That habit increases cognitive hope building.
“The workplace can be a great place for people to feel connected, it can also be a place where people feel even more isolated.” Self efficacy empowerment involves believing that you are empowered to takes risks and have the autonomy to try new approaches at work. Instead of saying “fail forward,” companies should encourage a “culture of try” instead, she said. Switching language can be powerful. Moss suggests saying “I get to” instead of “I have to” for a few days when facing mundane tasks. “It changes the value of what you do.” She also encourages people to avoid saying never or always. Optimists don’t have permanence. “Always is a really unhealthy word to say. So is never.” Our brains are very lazy, she said. Our brains can attend to only 40 things per second, but billions of things happen behind the scenes. To cope with that overload, our brain wants shortcuts.
Knowing that the unconscious brain can process 11 billion bits of information per second, but the conscious brain only has the capacity to deal with 40 bits of information per second is an important starting point. “We have to work to make our subconscious work for us.” Our most uncomfortable moments tend to be the ones that drive us forward to the most exciting time. “We’re always rebounding (from
challenges), tiny little rebounds.” People say fine 14 times a day but only mean it 19 percent of the time. We need to ask deeper questions, and “don’t accept fine if a person doesn’t seem fine,” she said. Mindful brains exercise communication between the front and the back of the brain. When this happens, primal responses to stress are superseded by more thoughtful ones, she said. ◆
Family tragedy leads to career in discussing happiness
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ennifer Moss’s career speaking and writing about happiness and gratitude was sparked by an unlikely event — the aftermath of a personal family tragedy. In 2009, Moss and her husband, Jim, were living in San Jose. He was a professional lacrosse player who competed for Canada in the World Cup. She worked in public relations. Jim contracted multiple diseases — West Nile, Swine Flu and Guillain Barré Syndrome. One day he was training by running up mountains with a backpack of rocks, the next he was lying immobile on the couch and taken to hospital. Jennifer Moss was given do not resuscitate forms to consider completing. Hospital staff were uncertain if her husband would make it through the night. Jim survived, but needed to relearn basic functions such as brushing his teeth and walking. “The doctors said he would not walk without assistance again.” In an unusual response to that overwhelming challenge, Jim decided to focus on practicing gratitude. Faced with stress, he pulled from his sports experience and coaching. “Jim decided he was going to walk out of that hospital.” Doctors and nurses enjoyed being around him due to his attitude. “It was a contagion. He was changing his brain to be able to produce the results, to be effective.” Seeing some progress, doctors suggested Jim could leave the hospital in a wheelchair in about six months. Six weeks later, he walked out of the hospital holding his 2.5-year-old son’s hand. At the time, Jennifer was 8.5 months pregnant with their second child. “Going through this process with Jim was terrifying.” After the child’s delivery, they moved back to Canada. “We realized we wanted to study this (amazing recovery).’’ Jim went back to university to understand his post-traumatic growth, which occurred in circumstances that could trigger post-traumatic stress disorder in others. “How do we reframe situations in our lives to create benefits?” That journey led the Mosses to co-found Plasticity Labs, a happiness and workplace wellness consulting firm where Jim currently serves as chief happiness officer. ◆ 19
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Reviews
Living a fully integrated life Collection of essays explores vocation, meaning The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work Steven Garber (InterVarsity Press, 2020 136pp, $20.00 US) By April Yamasaki
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orona virus. Influenza. HIV/AIDS. Famine. Armed conflict and more. In a world where life itself seems precarious, what does it mean to live a “seamless life,” and why does it matter? In the introduction to his latest book, Steven Garber puts the question this way, and offers a concise answer: What does it mean to see seamlessly? To see the whole of life as important to God, to us, and to the world . . . to understand that our longing for coherence is born of our truest humanity, a calling into the reality that being human and being holy are one and the same life. The rest of this book unpacks this brief explanation. For the author’s grandparents, living a seamless life meant life on their ranch where prayer and work went hand in hand each day and each season of the year. In the world of business today, it means enlarging the narrow concern of making money and embracing the common good. It means seeing work not only as what occupies our time, but what it means to us and how it connects to God’s work in the world. In The Seamless Life, Garber continues with the theme of vocation that has been the focus of much of his The Marketplace May June 2020
work and writing as a professor and founder of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture. But his emphasis this time is on storytelling as he shares about his family, some of his experiences speaking and connecting with people across the country, books, films and music. Each of the 35 short reflections begins with a full-color photograph — like his grandfather’s saddle blanket, a room in his son’s house, U2’s Bono, the Golden Gate Bridge, a still from the movie, The Hundred-Foot Journey. Together these illustrated reflections tell the story of his life-work and encourage readers to reflect on their own vocation and story. The book is organized in two sec20
tions: “At Work in the World” and “Making Sense of Life.” But the two section titles hardly seem necessary, since the first part sets work in the context of all of life and the second continues to explore the theme of work. The two sections fit together so seamlessly that I didn’t even notice passing from one to the other as I read through the book. That in itself is an example of the seamless life, where work and life are not at odds with one another, not opposites in an always-elusive work-life balance, but part of a seamless whole. I read this book in order from beginning to end, but since each illustrated essay is a complete unit, readers can easily start anywhere. “Work Matters,” “When a Dream Becomes a Life,” and “Remarkable Joy, Remarkable Sorrow” are among my favorites. These and other essays offer an inspiring vision of “what vocation is for everyone everywhere, a calling to care about the way the world is . . . and working through the days of our lives at what could and even should be.” This collection of essays is an engaging read for personal reflection. As a small hardcover book with color photographs, it also makes a great gift for graduates just beginning their vocational journey and for anyone interested in work and the meaning of life. ◆ April Yamasaki is resident author with Valley CrossWay Church in Abbotsford, B.C.; editor of Purpose, a monthly magazine of everyday inspiration; and author of Four Gifts, Sacred Pauses, and other books on Christian living.
Building bridges across the funding gap African lender serves medium-sized firms known as “the missing middle”
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ccess to finance is a challenge for many of the clients MEDA works with in developing countries. Some of MEDA’s efforts to bridge this financing gap involve investing in organizations that specialize in lending to small and medium-sized businesses. One such company is Business Partners International (BPI). MEDA has invested in BPI through MEDA’s Risk Capital Fund. BPI is a specialized risk finance company, set up in 1981 to provide support to small and medium-sized businesses. It provides customized financial solutions, mentorship and technical training. Started in South Africa, the firm now operates in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Namibia. BPI has grown to an investment portfolio of over $230 million. It has over 2,000 active investments on its books across seven countries. The firm makes between 350 and 750 new investments annually, totalling about $100 million. Over the past 39 years, BPI has invested over $1.6 billion USD, created job opportunities of over 788,000, and financed 77,000 small and medium enterprises. BPI doesn’t just make loans, said Sally Gitonga, who served as the organization’s Kenya country manager for 14 years. “Entrepreneurs need more than just money, so for us, we don’t provide just the money,” she said. “We want to be able to provide entrepreneurs with other services.”
“Their challenges are not just access to finance. There’s a lot more than that. There’s a lot of hand-holding required.” (Not long after making a presentation to a visiting MEDA group which forms the basis of this story, Gitonga left BPI. She now works for the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, an impact investing development institution based in Nairobi. — ED) Examples of businesses that BPI has invested in include a Nairobi medical clinic and Equator Apparels Company. Prior to receiving an investment from BPI, Equator lacked sufficient working capital and struggled to fill new orders. Some of the major
clients for the corporate uniforms and protective clothing it produces are institutions that do not remit payment for goods shipped in a timely fashion. BPI’s Kenyan office invests across the entire country, providing both loans and technical assistance funding. It will invest in all sectors except residential real estate, non-governmental organizations or primary agriculture. BPI does work in valueadded, secondary agribusinesses. The company works with formally registered businesses that comply with all regulatory requirements. Investments range between $50,000 and $1 million USD. The average deal is between $300,000 photo by Krista O’Brien
Benny Kittakah with Sally Gitonga. BPI has worked with the Montessori school Kittakah heads. 21
The Marketplace May June 2020
photo by Sid Dueck
BPI’s assistance provides working capital for Equator Apparels, a Nairobi clothing firm.
and $400,000 USD. The small and medium enterprise (SME) space is a difficult one to be in, Gitonga said. “As much as we know there are many financial service providers who say they are in the SME space, it’s not very many who are in it and doing it well.” Micro-businesses are well taken care of by various lenders, as are large businesses. So-called lifestyle businesses, started by brothers or husbands and wives to pay their school fees, mortgages and support their lifestyles, are high risk, she said. Not attractive to the banks, and often not qualifying to be in the micro space, these ventures struggle to find capital. “This is why it’s called the missing middle, because they are not very attractive to players in the market.” Many players shy away from the missing middle due to the SMEs lack of collateral (pledgeable assets). “Even when it comes to realizing the security (where assets were pledged as security and the borrower defaults on a loan), the court process does take a while.” Appraisal costs are also high because SMEs are not sophisticated. This complicates and lengthens the due diligence process. “Sometimes The Marketplace May June 2020
you get financials that are not that refined, because they are also audited by an SME firm.” SMES also lack sophisticated human resources, raising the cost of investing in them. Limited upside also discourages many investors. BPI offers term loans for five years, during which time the client only has to service the interest component. Many competitors offer only 24-month to three-year terms. An unusual perk that BPI provides to clients is a secondary loan. This is a technical assistance loan provided interest-free to each client. Subordinated to the main loan, this is provided purely for enhancing business processes, technical or capacitybuilding areas that the business requires. A client can access an additional amount up to 30 per cent of the main loan that they have taken, at any point during the term of the loan. This helps businesses save on their working capital. “That’s something we strongly believe in offering to them.” A three-year study of BPI’s clients found that those who took technical assistance increased employment by 26 percent. Their sales increased by 32 percent and profits grew by 76 percent. 22
Only eight percent of clients who took technical assistance defaulted on their loan. Twenty-two percent of clients who did not take technical assistance defaulted. “That just shows you how aligned the technical assistance is to any commercial loan that you give.” BPI does not insist on 100 per cent collateral, instead focusing on business viability. “We will just take whatever security or collateral that they have, then we price for the risk.” The organization has also developed an efficient structure to conduct appraisals and due diligence. BPI makes its investments as a mix of debt and equity to provide it with adequate upside. Sector-specific knowledge is a key strength that differentiates BPI in the market, Gitonga said. Evaluating potential investees and processing their application takes four to six weeks on average, plus another month or two to get the money to the company. Product structures are aligned to the cashflow of each business. “Each business is different; each business generates different volumes and has different cash cycles.” In Kenya, BPI has approved 185 investments totalling $42 million USD. Women-owned businesses make up about 25 percent of BPI’s Kenyan portfolio, lower than its 30 per cent average across all operations. “Women are more risk-averse, but they are better payers. That’s the irony.” Investments in Kenyan firms have maintained 6,000 jobs and created about 1,800 new jobs, she said. Recently, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s INVEST program agreed to fund a pilot project that will see MEDA working with BPI to open a second chance investment window. This fund will be used to make investments in women-led businesses that unsuccessfully applied for BPI investment. After receiving technical assistance tailored to their business needs, they will reapply for a second chance. ◆
Comments? Would you like to comment on anything in this magazine, or on any other matters relating to business and faith? Send your thoughts to mstrathdee@meda.org
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Omar's daughter (see photo essay pp. 11-13) helps pick up dried coconut fronds from the forest floor. The individual leaves will be pulled apart and woven together to create mats, baskets, or to cover the roof of their home. Credit: Photo by Krista O’Brien
