Gloria Rodriguez - Pharmaceuticals

One of my favorite parts of working in business development as "field staff" is getting to actually go out of the office and meet the amazing businesspeople we serve.  A large part of my time is spent more on "administrative" work - ensuring our local partners have the business training materials they need, helping to create a mentoring handbook, ensuring that finances are in order and that both Ecuadorian and North American partners are well informed about what their counterparts in another part of the world are doing.  But when I can meet with a businessperson like Gloria and hear how the work I do in the office to support our partner organizations like PCDE equips them to in turn empower Gloria, it brings an extra ounce of joy to the day.  So here is a story from a recent visit with Gloria and her husband.

Gloria Rodriguez is no stranger to work in pharmaceuticals.  With over 30 years experience working for multinational pharmaceutical companies to develop formulas, Gloria learned every aspect of production.  However, within large companies any formula she developed belonged to someone else, and she was powerless to help underemployed coworkers find extra hours of work.

Using her work experience and a class taught by Partners Worldwide affiliate PCDE, Gloria wrote a business plan to expand the laboratory she had slowly built with small purchases over several years.  Her goals were to meet the needs of aquaculture and poultry farming contacts, provide employment, and develop new product lines based on her knowledge of biochemistry.  With a small loan, she finished the production areas in the laboratory next to her house and purchased the machines she lacked.

While growth is slow and requires many government permissions and patents, Gloria has already begun to expand her business and give weekend work to underemployed workers.  And with the growth of the business, she already has fulfilled one of her hopes--to provide employment that would allow her husband to return.  He had spend many months living in another city during the week in order to keep his job.  Now he is able to be with his family and put his energy into expanding a family business that they hope will create many more jobs in the coming years.

Latin America Blog Launched!

Come visit Partners Worldwide's new blog for Latin America at la.partnersworldwide.org.

After months of hard work by our four regional team members, we have a new platform for posting stories from all the countries from the region--Nicaragua, Honduras, and Ecuador.  This comes in answer to a need that has arisen over the years.  As the only Partners Worldwide region with a unified language other than English, we in Latin America have looked for ways to ensure that our businesspeople and partnership leaders have the same access to general Partners Worldwide information and stories in their language.

Hence, this new blog will share stories and information both in English and Spanish and will hopefully help to bridge the gap between our English-speaking teams from North America and our Spanish-speaking leaders and businesspeople in Central and South America.

So enjoy more stories about Ecuador and other countries in the region at the Partners Worldwide Latin America Blog.

Connections in Cuenca

Two years ago during the visit of the Global Business Affiliate to Ecuador, a team member from New Jersey took the opportunity to connect with his wife’s cousin, Boris Ordoñez.  Through the experience, Boris accompanied the local Quito leaders and the North American team members to visit a bakery owner and strawberry growers, all the while learning more about Partners Worldwide’s vision of working through business as ministry to alleviate poverty in communities. 

As a leader of his church in Cuenca, Boris was already involved in a number of ministries in addition to being the successful owner of four businesses.  Over the years, Verbo Church of Cuenca had established orphanages, a hospital, a radio station, a school, a language institute and many other ministries.  However, a ministry that could connect Christian business leaders and empower them to have an impact in their community for Christ was missing.  Boris saw the potential to develop a ministry for businesspeople and began conversing about the possibility with Partners Worldwide.

Through subsequent visits and conversations, the Verbo Church led a business training course for 40 people, developed a group of businesspeople in the church willing to serve as consultants, and formed a team dedicated to launching the ministry.  At the beginning of April, I met with the Verbo leadership team to formalize plans for a partnership in the city of Cuenca.  By formalizing this partnership, the group in Cuenca plans to offer more frequent business training, establish a mentoring program, and eventually provide access to small loans through an independent lender.  While there is still much work to do, this is a concrete step toward providing Christian business development support for businesses in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Maria's Chickens

Maria Iza grew up in an agricultural family on the outskirts of Quito, so it is no wonder that she currently raises chickens, as well as an assortment of ducks, turkeys, guinea pigs, and rabbits. However, her experiences leading up to this point were not quite as predictable. Maria’s parents helped her enter into work as a seamstress at the early age of 16. After the birth of her four children, Maria decided to return to agriculture, and was able to help provide for her family with the milk production of 14 dairy cows. When the country became unstable and several of her cows were stolen, Maria chose to sell the rest and start a small business with two sewing machines. As her children grew, she sent them to high school and then the university, but she did not have money to buy a computer, which her daughter needed to finish her thesis and graduate from the university. Maria made the difficult decision to sell her sewing machines and buy a computer.

Today it is quite obvious that this was the best decision that Maria could have made. Joy radiates from her face as Maria explains that all her children graduated from the university and are professionals. Maria, in turn, has also built up her current businesses. Without any experience with chickens, Maria decided one day to buy a box of 200 chicks. She had seen a man on the street selling newborn chicks, and it piqued her interest. There was a steep learning curve when Maria started. Of that first group of 200 chicks, she was only able to sell 100 full-grown chickens. However, she has grown and diversified the business over time, most recently adding the traditional Ecuadorian guinea pig as one of the animals she raises. With a loan from the local PW partner in Quito, Maria was able to renovate her chicken coops, adding ventilation and replacing the old, leaky roof. She also built separate nests for the ducks and “wild” hens. As her business continues to grow, Maria hopes to purchase more cages for guinea pigs and rabbits, and possibly buy a truck one day to help her bring the animals to the market. In all this work, Maria relies on God to give her strength for the present work and provide for whatever plans He has for the future.

21K Mitad del Mundo

Back when I wrote about the We Run Quito race in October, I mentioned the possibility of running a half marathon (21 kilometers) at the end of November.  Well, it happened.  Without training and without much forethought, I paid the $15 registration fee, caught a cab up to Quito in the wee hours of the morning this past weekend, and embarked on my first half marathon at daybreak.

2 hours, 12 minutes, and 51 seconds later I crossed the finish line, having fought and won the mental battle to force one leg to lift and then the other, placing one foot in front of the other.  Since "not walking" is some sort of bragging right for runners (not sure why!), I'll mention that the only walking I did was at hydration stations, and walking at those points is actually recommended by some top runners.

 In addition to receiving some cool gear, I come away from the race with a renewed appreciation for the importance of hard work and training.  The course route is unique in that it's set up as a double out-and-back.  As I was running out toward the 5k turn-around, I could see the top runners coming back to finish the first 10k of the race, and as I was around kilometer 11, I watched the soon-to-be-winner coming down the home stretch.  Observing those top Ecuadorian runners, I was impressed by their extreme focus and the extent of their training.  Someone doesn't win a road race by accident.  It comes through hour after hour of grueling physical and mental training.  Applying that to the spiritual life, the Apostle Paul said,

Do you not know that in a race all the runner run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to gain a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. ~I Corinthians 9: 24-27

I Have a Dream

I have a dream that one day Ecuador will be a country of peace where children play in parks and mothers walk through the streets without fear.  I have a dream that one day sicarios will not exist, and youth will play soccer and read books instead of robbing their neighbors.  I have a dream that one day each Ecuadorian child will have access to education both in Spanish and in Kichwa.  I have a dream that one day the mestizo, the indigenous, the montubio, and the afroecuadorian will join hands and proclaim freedom and equality for all.   

I have a dream that jobs will be available for those willing and qualified to work.  I have a dream that businesspeople will see their work as service to the Lord, and wealth will be used to improve the lives of those who have the least.  I have a dream that one day corruption will be stigmatized and honesty will take its place.   

I have a dream that one day the Evangelical Church of Ecuador will not have the reputation of being so divided that it is no “threat” to political leaders.  Instead the government will be run by Christians who are passionate about leading their country with integrity.  I have a dream that one day the Gospel will be proclaimed from the peak of Chimborazo to the Napo River to the lagoons of Cajas to the Galapagos Islands.  I have a dream that we can conserve the natural beauty and diversity of Yasuni and Sumaco and minimize our human impact on the jungle.  I have a dream that the beauty of this rich country will one day be complemented by the beauty of a truly free, peaceful, transparent, flourishing society.

This is my dream, but it cannot only be mine.  Will Ecuadorians dare to articulate a bold vision for their country?  Can they see the current reality and yearn for a better future?  Can that yearning become so great that we are discontent with the current state of things and determined to bring about change?  Will we never settle for anything short of our most lofty vision?  I know that there are others who dream, but we are too few.  Too often I hear of problems, but rarely do I hear a call to action or dreams of a better Ecuador.  

 I have only been in Ecuador for a year and a half and may not have the legitimacy to propose a larger vision for this country.  However, I have been ripped off, outright robbed, and subjected to machista comments.  I have seen children begging in the streets; youth who can’t find jobs; and adults who see corruption, cronyism, and dishonest behaviors as completely acceptable.  I’ve complained about all these things, but if that is the only thing I focus on, it will suck up all my energy and distract me from the good things in life.  Instead, I have a dream of a better Ecuador, and I am determined to be part of making that dream a reality.

Ecuador Cities

When I was looking up a details about Cuenca for my last post, I came to a realization about how ridiculously long the official names of Ecuadorian cities are.
In truth, Cuenca is just a "short version" of the city's name.  Full name: Santa Ana de los cuatro rios de Cuenca.  Translation: Santa Ana of the Four Rivers of Cuenca.  Most cities in Ecuador are similar in keeping very long names.  For example, I live in San Juan de Cumbaya, right outside of San Francisco de Quito, and I helped on a medical brigade in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas.  Notice the trend of including the name of the Catholic patron saints in the name of each city.  If that's not enough, most of the original city names had "Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de..." before their titles.  I find that ironic because "Very noble and loyal city" doesn't really fit with the whole revolution and independence from Spain part that happened a few years later.

Speaking of independence, Ecuador does have an independence day (August 10), but the real celebrations are on  the independence days of the three main cities of Ecuador (Guayaquil - October 9, Quito - May 24, and you already know Cuenca's).

As if Ecuador doesn't have enough holidays with its 4 official independence days, the days on which the principle cities were founded by the Spanish are often celebrated as well, albeit on a regional level.  Personally, I'm looking forward to Quito's founding on December 6, but there are also celebrations in Guayaquil on July 25, in Cuenca on April 12, and probably in some other cities on other dates as well.

This trend toward regionalism is important for understanding Ecuadorian culture.  You can tell just by the way a person talks whether they are from the coast (Guayaquil), Quito, Cuenca, or an indigenous group.  Quiteños call people from Guayaquil monos (monkeys), and the monos respond with something like "potato eaters."  Diet, agriculture, and industry change dramatically when one moves east from the Pacific Coast to the Andean mountain highlands to the Amazon jungle.  While Ecuador might be about the size of Colorado, the regional diversity noted in the distinctions between cities goes far beyond that which is noted in any one US state.