Winds of Peace Foundation

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….

 

Category: Reflections, Rural development, WPF partners | 1 Comment »
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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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