Her name is Maria

I lose focus sometimes. Does that ever happen to you? I re-read my last posting and was struck by how far I had missed the point. It was like a voice prompted me saying:

Her name is Maria!

It seems I was describing the forest without identifying each of the solid, enterprising "trees". The micro-credit program is a total success because of the hard-working individuals who have the ideas, put in the work, market the products, pay back the loan and start the process all over again. And each of the "trees" have names.

The owner of this poultry micro-credit enterprise is Maria Esperanza Mendoza. She is the third person from the left in this picture. (l to r; Orlando Montiel, Nicaraguan Micro-Credit Project Officer, Wilmer Correa, Nicaraguan Interpreter, Maria, Maria's daughter and Merry Fredrick, Self-Help's Executive Director)

So, next time I mention "micro-credit enterprises" just remember that I am talking and thinking about Francisca Lopez, Theresa Espinoza, Magdelina Gonzales, Eva Chavarria, Maria Antonia Guiardado and hundreds like them in Ghana and Nicaragua who work every day to improve their family's life forever.

Volunteer Power

It has been over six months since I started this blog (see the date stamps on the previous posts). I could claim that it is because my life is so hectic that I didn't get to it sooner. That would not be true. The truth is that Self-Help operates with and depends upon the help of volunteers. They are the ones that carry much of the work load. That's one reason Self-Help has the impact of an organization twice its size. Our Board of Directors, for example, serve without compensation -- an almost unheard of practice. They also pay their travel when they visit our projects in Ghana and Nicaragua. And many of our fund raising events simply would not happen without volunteers. And that includes one skilled volunteer who knows how to connect a blog to our web site. Thanks to all who serve.

... but he doesn't know the territory!

That's a line from the opening scene of the musical, 'The Music Man' by Meredith Willson. My family and I went to see it yesterday. (My son was in the cast.) And it started me thinking about Ghana and Nicaragua.

How can a play written over 50 years ago by a Julliard graduate about Iowa pride and stubbornness apply to starving people half-a-world away? How could a small-town Midwesterner understand a universal truth about world hunger... and then set it to music?

If you are not a student of musical theatre (and why aren't you?), you might not know that Mr. Willson wrote that song as a way to introduce his lead character, Professor Harold Hill, to the audience. You see, Professor Hill is a disreputable travelling salesman who gives other travelling salesmen a bad name. In today's business vernacular, he wouldn't know the target audience; their customs, value-system, beliefs, traditions, mores and history.

International relief organizations can suffer from the same disease. Don't misunderstand me. I believe there is a need for group that sweep in after a natural or geo-political disaster to provide immediate care. That can often mean the difference in people living one more day. But that approach's strength is its weakness. Because of their "transient" nature (and mission), the lasting benefit may not be felt. It can be like a pebble thrown in the ocean. Those closest to the entry point can feel and see its effect, but those farther away can not... and the ripples just don't last.

That's why there is the need for development organizations who commit to a region and a group of people for as long as they need. That's where real progress is made. Funds and trained staff are focused on an area until lasting change occurs. This growing self-reliance is the key to permanent improvement. That is the underlying theme to Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea; One Man's Mission to Promote Peace... One School at a Time. Greg literally stumbled in to a Pakistani village and uncovered (discovered?) his way to defeat terrorism -- through education.

Self-Help International is a development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty and malnutrition by helping people help themselves. They certainly know the territory. Do you know them? www.selfhelpinternational.org