Winds of Peace Foundation

Steve Sheppard | May 12, 2011

In past entries here I’ve alluded to the development of research on rural cooperatives in Nicaragua and the effort to help small-scale producers to better reap the rewards of their work.  Winds of Peace has commissioned a study on cooperativism in Nicaragua so as to better understand the history and context of why the coops function as they do, and whether there are opportunities to strengthen them beyond basic funding.  The study has been undertaken by researchers Rene Mendoza and Edgar Fernandez, two well-respected, Nicaraguan practitioners of organizational and rural development.  The final draft of their work is revealing some important perspectives that have already been useful in Winds of Peace development of its programming and funding.  In particular, the study led to the development of two, three-day workshops that I have also recounted here in earlier entries.

The full content of the study is now available for reference by anyone with an interest in a new perspective on the cooperatives.  On the Winds of Peace site, look to the left side of the Home Page for Rural Development, and beneath that tab you will see the link to the study.  You will find that the opportunity for the rural producers, buyers, technical assistance personnel and even lenders is greater than what is currently being realized; with a little collaborative effort that circumstance can be significantly improved.  Take a look at what’s happening!

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Steve Sheppard | March 3, 2011

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Steve Sheppard | February 21, 2011

In conjunction with my January visit to Nicaragua, I also accompanied a delegation from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, the parent organization for The Center for Global Education (CGE).   The delegation included Augsburg’s President, Paul Pribbenow, five members of the college’s Board of Regents (of which I am one), and a number of Augsburg faculty and staff members and spouses.  This occasion marked the first time that a Regents’ delegation had traveled to any of the CGE sites around the world and thus served as an important moment for that governing body.  After all, it’s more difficult to adequately consider strategic direction and investment for an organization like CGE without having any direct knowledge of its work, and the only way to really attain that is by going to where they are.  The visit proved to be invaluable to the Regents as an act of asset evaluation, of prudent stewardship.

The visit also proved to be a special one for the staff members of CGE, affording them the opportunity to demonstrate the transformative nature of their work as they carefully immerse delegates into the difficult realities of Nicaraguan life.  Their work is not to spoon-feed answers, but to cultivate questions for our own deliberation and conclusions.  Our collective reactions over the four days of traveling together suggest that the staff performed their work beautifully.  Within a week, the Regents convened at their winter meeting, in part to share their experiences and feelings about the journey.  Their reflections served as strong testimony to the personal impacts that such experiences often provide, and affirmed the importance of their first-hand observations on behalf of the Board:  in other words, good stewardship.

I remained in Nicaragua for another week after the Regents departed, visiting our current and prospective partners, trying to understand how and where Winds of Peace might make a difference, and even participating in a workshop on cooperatives which the Foundation sponsored.  It struck me that I was performing the same sort of work as the Regents: assessing the work being done and, in the process, being a good steward of the resources being employed.  I noted to myself the similarities of purpose between the two weeks, the first on behalf of Augsburg College and the second on behalf of WPF.  And it dawned on me that there is likely a third stewardship at play during any of the visits made to Nicaragua, the stewardship of hope.

Just as Augsburg Regents are the keepers of the CGE asset and WPF staff are the keepers of Foundation resources, anyone who has the chance to travel to a land like Nicaragua and discern the realities there is a keeper of something valuable: the notion that somewhere in the world there are people who care about what happens in such a place.  For Nicaraguans, knowing that someone else has witnessed the struggles of their lives is a comfort.  To those who daily face the uncertainty of how to survive an oftentimes friendless circumstance, the commodity of caring is priceless.  It is a gift to be given by those of us who can, a wealth which conscious stewardship calls us to share.  It is an accompaniment which transcends material aid, a development not of economy but of the spirit. 

I’m pleased that Augsburg Regents are looking after the “jewel” that is CGE.  I’m privileged to be watching out for the use of Foundation resources for sustainable impact.  But likely the more important work for each of us is being a good steward of optimism and good faith, which our neighbors in Nicaragua so desperately need….

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Steve Sheppard | November 30, 2010

As Winds of Peace has increased the number of cooperatives with whom it has worked in recent years, the total number of cooperatives has been on the rise, as well.  Our partners are essentially agricultural coops, with a growing accent toward some of the grassroots coffee cooperatives.  These are sometimes complex organizations which possess a great deal of potential when they are organized and managed effectively, just like any other business enterprise.  We have been willing not only to fund some of these groups, but also eager to make available to them some of the tenets of shared ownership that we have experienced here in the U.S.; the worlds are not as far apart as one might imagine.

Toward that end, Winds of Peace has commissioned a study on cooperativism in Nicaragua so as to better understand the history and context of why the coops function as they do, and whether there are opportunities to strengthen them beyond basic funding.  The study has been undertaken by researchers Rene Mendoza and Edgar Fernandez, two well-respected, Nicaraguan practitioners of organizational and rural development.  The first draft of their work is revealing some important perspectives that will be useful in Winds of Peace development of its programming and funding.

Rene has also recently written an article titled The Boom of the Coffee Cooperatives (PDF) about the direction of the coffee cooperatives specifically, one which is intriguing and insightful.  We’ve also posted it under the Rural Development page on our website for anyone with interest in gaining some understanding in the evolution of  the coffee coops as we work with them.

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Steve Sheppard | September 26, 2010

I traveled to Nicaragua a couple of weeks ago, likely my final trip for the calendar year, and as usual came away with a range of emotions that include hope, despair and everything in between.  We visited the Genesis Cooperative in Ciudad Sandino once again.   They continue to await delivery of the spinning equipment which is now some nine months overdue, despite its having been paid for.  The women have labored for months, and without income, to make the spinning plant dream a reality, only to run afoul of an unscrupulous U.S. businessman.  (See http://peacewinds.org/blog of August 26.)  We visited the Women of UMOYS, that remarkable group of 1,700 women from 22 communities that has transformed their communities into high-functioning civic voices and transformed its members into confident, activist leaders.  We read and digested a full scholarly study on the state of cooperativism in Nicaragua, undertaken by social scientists Rene Mendoza and Edgar Fernandez at the request of Winds of Peace Foundation.  In it, I was pleased to read about the somewhat “model” performance of one of WPF’s long-standing partners, Jose Alfredo Zeladon Cooperative and the excellent organizational work they are  doing for themselves, in addition to growing world-class coffee.  I also lamented the fact that not many other models could be found. 

The study on cooperatives presents some groundbreaking work.  It identifies some of the structural obstacles that have prevented grassroots coop members from improving their economic situations more than they have to-date.  It describes some of the sociology at work when significant outside funding becomes available to a coop but then fails to find its way throughout the membership.  It identifies the weaknesses of cooperative leadership which has few models from which to draw, except for the standard hierarchical, top-down authority so long exhibited by U.S. corporations and other organizations.  (If you’re interested in seeing the study, let me know.)

In the end, the conclusions are clear:  success follows a pattern of broad participation, involvement, communication and the development of a sense of ownership throughout the cooperative.  It’s what keeps the Genesis women together when there is little other “glue” to do so.  It’s what the Women of UMOYS have used to re-engineer their lives and communities according to their own priorities.    It’s what Jose Alfredo Zeladon has employed to achieve pre-eminence in the coffee marketplace and as a stable organization that is truly helping its members to grow holistically.  I came away from the Nicaragua trip with an affirmation that the principles that seem to be vital for success in WPF grantmaking and microlending are, in fact, the principles that seem to undergird some of the most successful Nicaraguan organizations.

Within a week’s return from one of the poorest countries in the world, I next found myself in the mountainous splendor of Sun Valley, Idaho.  The opportunity to speak to The Northwest Chapter of The ESOP Association and The Wood River Economic Development Partnership on behalf of the Employee Ownership Foundation took me to this picturesque spot which has hosted as many luminaries and wealthy guests as any spot in the U.S.   There is no poverty evident here; rather, it is a place for spending of one’s success in a decidedly luxurious surrounding.   Bald Mountain and the area were built for this.  It’s a long way from Nicaragua.

Not all of the companies present in these two speaking venues were swimming in exorbitant profits, to be sure.  Some, perhaps most, had been hard-hit by the economic recession.  All of the Chapter attendees were either from employee-owned firms or were professional providers to ESOP companies.  They came to the conference to learn more about what makes a strong ESOP, what makes a great ESOP company, where the “magic” lies in creating ESOP value.  It’s a topic that is addressed at virtually every ESOP gathering across the country, as ESOP companies (end even non-ESOP firms) strive to discover some incredible secret that will vault them to transformational success.

The presentations were exciting for me to deliver and I truly appreciated the focused interest that the attendees brought to the meetings:they really did hope to hear some bit of magic to apply during this tough economic time.  Whether they realized it or not, they received exactly that.

As I headed for the airport on Thursday afternoon, I realized once again that the message carried to impoverished Nicaraguan cooperatives and community organizations is precisely the same as that taken into ESOP companies across the country.  Where organizations build themselves holistically, with broad participation, communication with all members and with some form of true ownership stake in the outcome (positive OR negative), they stand a much better chance of flourishing, even in the face of economic hard times.  How ironic to be preaching a message of people needing to be a part of their own worklives!

It’s a message that lots of organizations in NIcaragua don’t like to hear.  It upsets the status quo in the way communities and organizations have been governed for generations.  It seems to threaten the role of the leader.  But then, it’s a message that lots of organizations in the U.S. don’t like to hear, either, and for the same reasons.  That reality may not be the most comfortable thing for leaders to learn, but the truth isn’t always an easy thing to hear….

 

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Steve Sheppard | September 19, 2010

I was told during a recent trip to Nicaragua that the popular TV series “Survivor” launched a new season this past week, filmed in the Central American country.  I must confess to having never seen even one episode of the show,  But I do know that there are many winners in Nicaragua, people who were heroes long before any TV camera crews arrived. 

The number of their stories is endless.  Nearly anyone you might meet in Nicaragua has a story of survival, whether against military conflicts, natural disasters, extraordinary poverty or political tyranny.  But perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds is something which many Nicaraguans have had to become good at.

What really drove this reality home for me occurred in Nicaragua recently, while I was staying at one of my favorite hotels in the entire world, Hotel Cuallitlan in the city of Esteli.  Esteli is one of the bigger cities outside of Managua, which means that the poverty there seems somehow even more concentrated than in some other locations. To arrive at Cuallitlan, you must drive through neighborhoods as dirty and destitute as any you have ever seen. And just about the time you wonder what this place must look like, it emerges from behind a wall of trees.

 

The guests pass through a gate which ushers them into a true oasis in the midst of great squalor. Flowering trees and bushes, tropical blooms of all sorts, exotic parrots and Tucans surround wood cottages cut from a fairy tale.

 

Inside, the towels are individually folded in the shapes of swans or ships, and the quarry tile floors emanate a welcome coolness even on the hottest  days. Outside in the courtyard, dinner is served beneath a vine-covered trellis that is so thick with growth that even the rains do not penetrate, and there is no threat to the candlelit tables at all.

I have come to love this spot and its proprietor, Marisela Rodriquez. She is a single woman who has further garnished this garden spot with her warm and outgoing personality, someone who defines the term hospitality. Some of her grown children help her manage the place, but it is Marisela whose personal touches have transformed this spot into an absolute haven. I have remarked to her on many occasions that this is my favorite hotel in all the world, and she blushes and scoffs at such an idea. I can only marvel at what she has created.

And then last year I noticed a new decorative hanging from one of the trees in the lush courtyard. When I examined it and finally translated what I thought it meant, the reality of this garden came into focus very clearly. 

                                                  

Translated, “Do not envy my progress if you don’t know my sacrifice.” Further translation: “This took a lot of hard work, patience and faith that has required a great deal of me.” In other words, it takes a lot. Success doesn’t just happen and make you lucky. In one of the most impoverished places on earth, Marisela has been willing to become a successful business owner, to create her own success, to be a true survivor. 

It has not been easy.    The economic turmoil of the past several years has diluted occupancy at times.  Jealousies on the part of the local, municipal government still create occasional conflicts.  And the personal strain from recent torrential rains, which have virtually flooded her property and cabins, showed in her eyes last week, despite her usual cheerful smiles.

I don’t really have an opinion about whether the setting is a good one for the action of the television show Survivor.  But I know that it is both ironic and appropriate for the it to take place in Nicaragua.  Ironic, because the true survivors, the real survivors, are already there and have nothing at all to do with a TV cast.  Appropriate because there may be few lands on earth which feature people of such resilience, strength, stamina, hopefulness and as deserving of ultimate survivor recognition.

Survivor?  Few of us us really even begin to understand the meaning of the word….

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Steve Sheppard | September 7, 2010

One of the hallmarks of the agricultural year 2009 was the severe drought which afflicted many of our partners.  Nearly every one of our visits during the year included stories of failed crops, dustbowl-type conditions, withheld plantings, migrations of anxious farmers and serious hunger everywhere.  The conditions and resulting futility, coupled with an already-distressed national and global economy, presented some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable.  Most of the groups which we encountered last year talked about how they were praying for rain of any kind to alleviate the stress. 

With a new year, new hopes arise, as well, and my trips to Nicaragua in January and April were marked by an optimism that this year might be different.  Many of the elders spoke of “signs” of better rains in 2010, that certain of Nature’s signals, the recognition of which had been handed down to generation after generation, indicated better growing seasons ahead.  In fact, some early rains in April were already elevating the hopes of farmers across the country. 

Whatever those ancient signs might have been, it seems as though the rest of us might be well-served to pay attention!  The rains in Nicaragua throughout the past months have been persistent and even torrential at times, creating serious flooding and crop loss.  Bean crops were ruined as heavy rains commenced just prior to the sensitive picking period.  In some cases the second planting of crops will be eliminated altogether due to the wet fields, the very same fields which just last year prevented second plantings due to drought.  It’s a frustrating reality to be hit by both ends of the same stick.  I truly wonder about the resiliency of the human spirit when I witness such difficult challenges, one after the other.

It could still stop raining, even though it is the rainy season.  The cloudless skies from last year could suddenly return.  Fields could dry out, crops could flourish and harvests could exceed all expectations. I can only wonder when it will be Nicaragua’s turn…. 

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Steve Sheppard | August 16, 2010

One of the many needs within Nicaragua is that of fighting against abuse, of helping the sexes- and men in particular- to understand the needs, rights and expectations of all members of the society.  Abuses of women, in particular, take all forms: physical, psychological, economic, and social in nature, and to an alarming degree. 

The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) report, published in September 2009, revealed that at least 25 of the 45 women killed in Nicaragua in the first half of 2009 were victims of domestic violence.  When she presented the outcome of the investigation, national police chief Aminta Granera stated that of the more than 65,000 women who reported that they had suffered some form of abuse, only 15,000 filed a formal complaint with the police. The women who pressed charges had suffered the worst abuse, including sexual assault, bodily injuries, mutilations and torture, Granera said. More specifically, 4,129 were cases of domestic violence, 2,253 were cases of sexual assault, and 8,645 were cases of physical and psychological harm, such as threats, blackmail and verbal abuse.  “The rest of the victims kept quiet. This shows that even though it is the leading public security problem (in Nicaragua), it is the least reported crime, and, therefore, the one with the greatest impunity,” Granera said.

In light of the reality, Winds of Peace has long maintained its support of women’s groups which seek to raise awareness of such problems and to help both women and men recognize the physical, emotional, family and economic costs related to such abuses.  One organization to receive WPF support is Foundation Sacuanjoche Women’s Group, located in and serving the department of Matagalpa.  The women who run this group are professional women whose mission is simple if difficult: promoting community development through health and social outreach, while defending the human rights of the family, especially of women and children.

Teaching women about their basic human rights is one thing; getting the men in their lives involved in the education process is quite another.  Yet this element is critical to the Sacuanjoche initiative.  We were pleased to receive an update about the progress being made in this regard and the pictures illustrating the significant participation of men in this education process in some very rural locations.  These are places where accessibility to education on topics like these has been very limited, at best.

One might think of educational efforts like this as good, worthwhile work that probably has its number of challenges.  And then I stop to think of what it must be like to arrange for seminars wherein the main participants are men and the primary presenters are women; where the transit to the classroom is often very long, very difficult and partially on foot; where the topic to be discussed is something in the men’s behavior which is unacceptable; where the behaviors being challenged have been largely acceptable in the culture for generations; and where the investment of the participants’ time is in conflict with earning a day’s income. 

In light of all these drawbacks, that men attend at all is a remarkable fact; the odds seem overwhelming.  But it’s critical work that needs doing and the Sacuanjoche Women’s Group  is making a difference in these rural lives.  You can hear it is the classroom discussions and see it in the faces of the “graduates…..”     

                         

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Steve Sheppard | August 9, 2010

I’ve been reading through the latest group of project proposals submitted to Winds of Peace for the next funding cycle.  And while each project contains its own character and nuances, there are oftentimes repetitive themes that emerge from the 30 or so proposals that we consider each year.  That’s not too surprising, given the relatively small size of the country and the fundamental nature of many of the issues there.  One such theme which has evolved over recent years has to do with preservation of native seed in Nicaragua, a practice of identifying, cultivating, planting and sharing agricultural seed which is indigenous to the country, well-suited to the climate, genetically untouched, available and capable of harvest for re-planting.  It’s not a unique idea; Decorah, Iowa is home to Seed Savers Exchange, whose mission and philosophies are remarkably similar to the rural Nicaraguans.

The native seed preservation is just one of many similar initiatives which focus upon “hanging on” to something that is perceived as natural, healthy, essential, important both past and present, environment and economy.  Albeit slowly, some cultures around the world have awakened to preservation of vanishing plant and animal species, forests, clean rivers and lakes, archaeological and architectural treasures, even our atmosphere.  This yearning for retention of certain elements of our world is not born of nostalgia, but of the growing awareness that the diversity which they represent is worth saving, or that some things in our past really were better than their modern counterparts.  For the rural farmers in Nicaragua, native seed is not simply a preference, but a need.

In our own country we take great pride in the return of the bald eagle from the brink of extinction.  We worry about the demise of the polar bear habitat.  We cheer at the birth of each new Panda bear, we stop major construction plans in deference to rare turtles or plants.  It’s as if we are slowly awakening to the awesome variety of life on earth and even if we don’t completely comprehend why it’s crucial to preserve such diversity, we somehow inherently know that it’s important. 

It’s an encouraging movement.  If only our country would have viewed the Native American populations in the same way, or that world governments would come to see their Indigenous populations as precious as native seeds….

                                                  

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Steve Sheppard | July 7, 2010

If you’ve visited the Winds of Peace website in the past and/or read from my observations in this blog, you are familiar with the Genesis Cooperative in Ciudad Sandino.  With help and guidance from the Center for Development in Central America (CDCA), this largely women’s cooperative has emerged from a mere dream to the threshold of viability in the form of an organic cotton spinning plant.  They have built an incredible facility by hand (see June 21 entry here), they have weathered the vagaries of Nicaraguan law in achieving their registration, they’ve even withstood the claims of unscrupulous neighbors who have tried to illegally wrest the ownership of the property for themselves.  If ever there was an organization that deserved and earned a break, it is Genesis.

But sometimes even the most persistent and patient reach a breaking point, and that could be on the horizon for these inspirational people.  The spinning equipment, which is to be shipped from Venezuela, has continued to run into delays and pitfalls, none of which are of the coop’s making.  First there was a problem with the size of the containers that the equipment broker provided.  That generated the need for more funds.  Then the Venezuelan government ran into port inspection problems and instituted national guard inspections, which backlogged all port traffic.  Now the equipment broker could be headed for bankruptcy, further complicating the equipment flow.  In short, equipment which was scheduled for installation last December is still awaiting transport to Nicaragua. 

And behind it all, the women wait.  Without opportunity to earn money but with their very lives invested in their cooperative venture, the women and their families have waited out the process for about as long as they can.  But children need to be fed.  So do adults.  Basic needs still cost money, even when you’re engaged in a noble undertaking.  And the women draw ever closer to the break point, when they will be forced to give up on their dream and seek work and income elsewhere, just to survive.

CDCA has put out a call for “bridge assistance” for these entrepreneurs who are desperately trying to transform their dreams, toils and commitments into a meaningful, long-term business created by and for themselves.  Funding for some very minimal, basic food needs are being sought for the coop members until such time as the equipment is installed and operational. 

Winds of Peace intends to help.  And while it is not our practice to tout giving opportunities, I can provide more information to you or you can visit www.jhc-cdca.org if you have interest.   At the very least, remember the tenuous tightrope these women are walking in their efforts to make their own way.  They have a lot at risk, including their very selves….

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