The Dilemma of Development in the Rainforest

What happens when you live in the jungle beyond where the road ends, where there is no electricity, and your child gets ill? Chances are you get in a canoe and travel down the river to the nearest large city and figure out some way to pay for the services, possibly with the combination of fish, yucca, and fruit--all of which are plentiful near your home.  That was 10 years ago. 

Fast forward to the present and we now see a road carved through the primary rainforest to your house. Electricity was installed two months ago in your community, and your youngest children have been able to attend school right across the river, as opposed to the 5 hour trek that your older children used to make each week to a boarding school.  It would seem, by external measurements, that your life is improving, that you are taking advantage of the wave of development that is washing over Ecuador.

But let's look closer.  Your production methods on the three acres of farmland that you have always maintained are still the same. You use a machete to cut down weeds, bury new yucca shoots, and cut grapefruits from the shade tree towering over your house. However, selling a sack of robusta coffee beans and criollo cocoa every few months is no longer enough to cover your needs. Sure, you can still eat well from the chickens that run through your fields and the bountiful variety of fruits and vegetables that grow on your 50 acres of rainforest and cleared land, but now you have other expenses.  

When electricity came into the community, you purchased a refrigerator, a flat screen TV, and a computer in the provincial capital.  A savings and loan cooperative in the city loaned you the money at 20% annually, which means you will be paying them back $45 a month for the next 3 and a half years.

Your children also cost more now--they attend a public school for which they need uniforms each year.  Whereas the missionary-run boarding school your eldest children attended provided uniforms, the government's free uniform program does not extend to your community and you must invest $100 every September on uniforms and school supplies for each of your 4 school-age children.

There are other needs, too--those 90-minute trips into town each month on a bus to make your loan payment make you wish you had a motorcycle, and each time you are in town, you usually spend a few dollars on food or clothes or something for the house. Looking at your current situation, you wonder how you could earn more money to purchase those things that would make life easier.

A logging company came by your community last week and offered you $2,500 for all the trees on your land.  Doing the math, that would allow you to buy a few pigs to raise and sell for additional income, plant another acre of cocoa, and ensure your children go to school next month. While you love the forest, where your family has lived for generations, you wonder if this might be the best choice for your children.  Right now you are debating sending only 2 of the children to school next month, and the income from selling yucca, corn, plantains, and pineapple in the market downstream barely covers your monthly loan payment.  With development and new opportunities you have more expensive, and maintaining primary rainforest on your land is not making you any money. 

So therein lies the question--what do you do when development brings new opportunities, but the old production methods do not result in the income you need to fully participate in the new opportunities that have come with development? 

Passion for Making Pizza Leads to Success

CUENCA, Ecuador --- Though he sells pizza in his Spanish-speaking country, Ecuadorian Patricio Hurtado retains a slice of Italy in his restaurant’s name: Pizza Nostra, which translates as “Our Pizza” in Italian. The name fits, because Patricio’s pride and joy belongs not only to him as the owner, but to the community, his growing number of employees, and to the God who led the restaurateur down this entrepreneurial path.

“Ever since I was about 16 or 17 years old, I have been involved in business,” said Patricio, the father of two grown sons. His wife, Emma, is a tradeswoman who sells clothing in an open air market. “As a teenager, I bought shoes in Gualaceo (a town famous for shoes) and sold them elsewhere." Decades later, his creative capacity for business prompted Patricio to pursue a new venture, one that would provide delicious fast food in a neighborhood with a shortage of restaurants (only one other eatery, a rotisserie chicken restaurant, existed). But first Patricio had to overcome fear of failure. “The doors opened and I could see my [pizzeria idea] was really from God,” he said. “Then I had confidence, faith, and peace.”

Linking arms with him on this journey are Carlos Serrano and Boris Ordóñez, both of Cuenca Partners, the local affiliate of Partners Worldwide, based in this city of half a million located in the highlands of Ecuador. Patricio took the Cuenca Partners business training course, and Carlos and Boris mentored him in everything from restaurant management to testing various dough and sauce recipes to achieve pizza perfection. After 6-7 months of planning, Pizza Nostra was born.

“[Opening a restaurant] was always something I found attractive,” Patricio said. “I like to work with my hands, being in the kitchen and cooking at my house. And I knew a pizza place could work well, according to people’s ability to pay. Food is a very practical business, not based on seller financing and credit; people pay immediately.”

Since opening a little over a year ago, Patricio has been able to create jobs for three employees―Juan, Nina, and Edward. Juan, whom Patricio knew from the Bible study group hosted in his home, works evenings, delivering pizzas on his motorcycle. Nina, a student, also works evenings. Edward, on the other hand, was the first employee, working shoulder to shoulder with Patricio from the start. They met by chance after Edward's previous employer closed his business and sold Patricio an industrial cheese shredder. While closing the sale, 
the former boss recommended Edward as an excellent worker. Unemployed at the time, Edward had valuable experience running three pizzerias in Ecuador and Columbia. Investing his passion in his work, Edward beams with joy as he kneads pizza crust, only a year after being unemployed with few prospects. In September, Edward will have saved enough money to open his own pizzeria once more, this time armed with what he’s learned about successful business management through Patricio. Edward’s goal? “To be able to open more businesses that can help other people and me as well.”

Though Patricio will lose a hardworking employee in Edward, it’s gratifying that the worker he’s taken under his wing now plans to open his own business. Patricio believes God is blessing his enterprise in a way that no other business venture of his has been blessed. While he worked in various industries in the past—selling fabric, producing powdered drinks and candy, and promoting good eye care—this is the first time Patricio has had a vision for growth. These prior attempts struggled within a changing Ecuadorian marketplace, but in God’s redemptive economy led to Patricio’s salvation years ago. Now, Pizza Nostra is different. Patricio plans to open a second location of his successful business in the coming year.

“Many people have said, ‘There is something special about the owner of this business,’” Patricio said. “By giving good customer service with a smile, people notice a difference, and in this way we have been able to sow seeds for Christ.”

Read this story on the Partners Worldwide website here. Original story appeared in the Partners Worldwide August eNews.

Well-Nurtured Business Cares for Babies

AZOGUES, Ecuador --- Inspired by the birth of his son Mateo―and the realization that running out of diapers is not an option―Pedro opened a baby supply store three-and-a-half years ago in the town of Azogues. With a vision to serve clients well, Pedro’s business has expanded from his original store to a second store in a close-by community. Like a well fed, well cared-for baby, his business is growing and thriving.

“I’ve learned that my business belongs to God, that everything is his and I am a steward,” Pedro said.  “God is showing me that he is the true owner of everything and I am seeing his blessing.”

Born in a city near the Peruvian border, Pedro moved to Azogues and met his wife, Anita, a school teacher. Though the town of 34,000, located in an Andean valley northeast of Cuenca, has an economy based in agriculture, flour milling, and Panama hat weaving, unemployment is high, and Pedro found it very difficult to find a job. “People didn’t want to hire me because I’m not from here,” he said. “I had many ideas of starting different businesses.  But there was always this fear that the businesses wouldn't go well.  What if the people didn't like my products?”

After Mateo’s birth, Pedro and Anita realized there was a product they could sell that would always be in demand: diapers, not to mention wipes, formula, teething rings, and other baby essentials. Yet Pedro lacked solid training and access to the wider circles of exchange that would allow him to develop his strengths and talents. His business floundered at first, and he contemplated giving up and moving someplace with more jobs.
 
The turning point for Pedro was taking a business training course through Cuenca Partners, the local affiliate of Partners Worldwide in nearby Cuenca. The course “was a huge help for me because I didn't know anything about business,” said Pedro.  “I was taught how to manage the store, take it to the next level, do bookkeeping—all of it. There was an 80% transformation of the business after I took the course.”

One thing he learned was the principle of inventory control. “When we get down to three (items) of a product, we need to start ordering more,” he said. By quickly replenishing dwindling supplies, Pedro runs the kind of store his clients can rely on.

“Pedro has products in stock that at any point his competitors might not have,” said Carlos Serrano, who currently works part-time for Cuenca Partners and part-time for Verbo Church.  “His clients come to him because of that dependability.”

Along with dependability, there’s integrity and the desire “to be faithful to God in everything.” This means resisting the temptation to buy cheaper but stolen goods for his store. “I know it’s not right,” Pedro said. “I only buy things with receipts so that everything goes well.”

Today, the store is bustling; it’s not unusual for Pedro to serve ten customers in ten minutes. The demand is so high that Pedro opened a second location eight blocks away and hired an employee to run it. Both baby stores are flourishing, as Pedro works hard and dreams of building his business, providing for his family and meeting the needs of his community.

“Time will tell what else we can do in the business,” Pedro said. “God has great plans for my life—I am convinced.  Now my goal is to stay faithful to Him.”

Read the story on the Partners Worldwide website here. Original story appeared In Partners Worldwide's August eNews.