!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
Streamline Training & Documentation
Streamline Training & Documentation
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Working People of Holyoke VI: Urban Agriculture
In the nineteenth century, the largest immigrant groups arriving in Holyoke were the Irish and, later, French Canadians. More recently, the population of Puerto Rican extraction has grown to the point that it now comprises over a third of the total.
Many of the Puerto Ricans come from a rural background, so there was a logic back in 1992 to creation of an organization — Nuestras Raíces (Our Roots) — that promotes and enables small-scale farming within the city by adults and youth.
Senorita Ada's Casita at la Finca (The Farm) of Nuestras Raíces (2008) (masslive.com)
Urban agriculture has proven to be an effective way to promote community development because it is a way for the residents of downtown Holyoke to maintain a connection to their culture while putting down roots in their new home. Most of our members grew up on the farms of rural Puerto Rico and many first came to the Northeast as migrant farm workers. Though they may live in the city now, they are farmers at heart. They have lifetimes of experience in agriculture and it is part of their heritage. Projects based on agriculture, such as markets and community gardens, build on the skills and knowledge that participants already have, and are proud to have the opportunity to use to improve their community and to teach to a younger generation.
To read about Nuestras Raíces' various projects, including La Finca (The Farm), a thirty-acre spread on the shore of the Connecticut River within the city limits, you can start at this page of their website. A nine-minute video showing an exhibition of paso fino horses, some of which are stabled at La Finca, is below.
Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve, La Moskitia, Honduras (Erika Nortemann)
Map of the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in northeastern Honduras (click to enlarge) (Smithsonian Institution)
A non-profit organization called Rare includes the Río Plátano Reserve among a wide range of conservation projects it has undertaken in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific in which Rare pursues its mission "to conserve imperiled species and ecosystems around the world by inspiring people to care about and protect nature."
A major element in Rare's efforts is training of local people in effective promotion of conservation, including through sustainable tourism.
For instance, Rare runs a Nature Guide Training Program for local residents of areas visited by ecotourists such as the Río Plátano Reserve. The guides' training involves "three months of coursework, learning the natural and cultural history of the region and gaining the necessary skills to translate their knowledge to visitors from around the world."
A similar program has trained guides employed by La Ruta Moskitia, "a locally-run ecotourism operation launched in early 2006, which includes six indigenous communities from the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve ..." This training involved "eight weeks of intense classes and field study in ecosystems ranging from coastal lagoons to highland cloud forest to learn about the dramaticaly different ecosystems and natural history of the areas in which they will be leading their visitors."2
Rare's general approach to promoting conservation is to use marketing techniques to achieve the attitudinal and behavioral changes needed at the local level for conservation objectives, such as rainforest preservation, actually to be met. You can read more about Rare's social marketing approach here.
Of particular interest are the details of the Masters in Communication program that Rare offers to individuals who undertake two-year Pride Campaign projects. The curriculum, accredited by the University of Texas-El Paso, is impressive in its comprehensiveness, as you can see by reading the program brochure (pdf).
Rare assesses project success by monitoring relevant metrics. In general terms, the organization watches the "3 C's": the capacity for conservation that a project builds, the constituency that is built, and the conservation that is actually achieved.
__________ 1 As defined (pdf) by UNESCO, "Biosphere reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. They are internationally recognized, nominated by national governments and remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Biosphere reserves serve in some ways as 'living laboratories' for testing out and demonstrating integrated management of land, water and biodiversity. ... There are over 500 biosphere reserves in over 100 countries."
"Each biosphere reserve is intended to fulfil 3 basic functions, which are complementary and mutually reinforcing:
a conservation function — to contribute to the conservation of landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation
a development function — to foster economic and human development which is socio-culturally and ecologically sustainable
a logistic function — to provide support for research, monitoring, education and information exchange related to local, national and global issues of conservation and development
2 As explained in a 2008 press release, "La Ruta Moskitia was established by Rare ... and the Small Grants Programme (SGP)/GEF/ Honduras United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in an effort to link sustainable tourism, biodiversity protection, and poverty alleviation in the [Río Plátano] Reserve."
Yesterday's post touted a model for rural economic development that includes peer learning as one of its basic principles.1
A prime example of what this principle looks like in action can be found at the training facility that Practical Action, a non-governmental organization headquartered in the UK, set up in the town of Sicuani in the Peruvian Andes about 90 miles south of Cusco.
A Kamayoq (agricultural extension agent) assisting with guinea pig husbandry (Practical Action)
The basic concept is to train farmers to deliver agricultural extension services to fellow farmers back in their home villages. These peer extension agents are called "Kamayoqs," the Quechua (Incan) name of people in olden times who were skilled in reading the weather and using their forecasting and other agricultural expertise to advise farmers on such things as when to plant their crops.
In line with another of the principles of the "new development paradigm," the interchanges between Kamayoqs and their farming peers are intended to be two-way, i.e., there is a concerted effort to identify best practices in horticulture and animal husbandry, whether from existing standout performers or from experimenting to see what works best. Learning by doing is central to this Kamayoq-facilitated approach to raising poor farmers' standard of living.
The Kamayoqs live in Andean communities above 3500 meters (11,500 feet), communities barely served by the extension staff of Peru's Ministry of Agriculture. The initial Kamayoq training at the Sicuani school occupies one day a week over an eight-month period. The topics covered include irrigation, Andean crops, horticulture, livestock, forestry, and agro-industry and marketing. Continuing education is also provided.
As explained in a 2006 article (pdf) about the Kamayoq program,
Throughout their training, the Kamayoq establish contact with technical experts from the private and public sectors and with other farmers, a useful network which they can tap into when they need information and technical advice once they finish their training. This "social capital" is recognised by many as one of the greatest benefits of the whole course.
The success of the Kamayoq program is seen in the willingness of farmers to pay for the Kamayoqs' services; the addition of marketable crops (e.g., carrots and onions) to traditional subsistence crops (maize, potatoes, and beans); higher farmer income, some of which goes for additional education for children; improved disease prevention and treatment for farm animals; and more sustainable use of natural resources.
An important qualitative impact of the Kamayoq program is increased self-confidence among farmers, an attitude adjustment that motivates innovation. Willingness to innovate is essential for continuing to raise living standards in the face of the changes that are occurring in the farmers' physical and socioeconomic environment.
__________ 1 Practical Action's methodology draws on the work of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator who devoted himself to developing pedagogy for the underclass. You can read more about Freire's work by visiting the website of the Paulo Freire Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tomorrow, I'll describe a particular example of the development model outlined below, but for today I just want to highlight the model's central principles. This improved paradigm for alleviating, even eradicating, rural poverty, is receiving increasing attention among economic development experts because of the good results it is generating when effectively implemented.
The particular version of the model I reference here comes from Pachamama Raymi, a Peruvian non-governmental organization (NGO) whose mission is "to contribute to eradicate rural poverty and reclaim the environment." "Pachamama raymi" means "fiesta of Mother Earth" in Quechua, the language of the Incas.
Pachamama Raymi identify seven shifts in the way development assistance is handled that underlie the methodology — also referred to as "Pachamama Raymi" — that they use:
Old: NGO undertakes project implementation New: NGO provides program assistance
Old: NGO project staff have the leading role New:Community people have the leading role
Old:Top-down approach to deciding on activities New: NGO seeks to stimulate community people’s initiatives
Old: Top-down knowledge transfer New: Peer learning (the focus of tomorrow's example)
Old: An external implementing agent New: Implementing agents who are integrated with and strengthening local governments
Old: Projects invest in hardware New: NGO helps build the capacity of local actors to undertake investment
Old: Amalgamation of fragmented approaches New: Holistic management, involving the three major issues of sustainable development and poverty eradication: health, education, and economic development
In accordance with the set of "New" principles above, the Pachamama Raymi methodology:
identifies the best performing individuals, families and communities, in issues as diverse as natural resources or small business management. [A core element] of Pachamama Raymi is recognizing and giving credit to these outstanding persons and organizations, as well as public recognition of the value and importance of their (ancestral) knowledge and know-how. Another core element is diffusion of this knowledge and know-how among equals through exchange and other elements of Pachamama Raymi. An important tool for motivation is contests between families and between their territorial organizations, with significant prizes. Contests are also a way to identify best practices.
You can read about the history of the Pachamama Raymi methodology here.
Some of mypreviousposts have looked at social entrepreneurship — people coming up with new solutions to social problems and then implementing them on a large scale, often in a profit-making way (as opposed to mostly depending on government subsidies and grants for funding).
Continuing in this vein, I'd like to highlight a project in Mexico whose story is particularly well-documented and thus can serve as an instructive case example of how some social entrepreneurs work to achieve their objectives in a sustainable fashion.
The project (pdf) in question involves combining the efforts of two non-governmental organizations and a for-profit firm to supply affordable irrigation systems to impoverished small-scale farmers. As described by Ashoka, an umbrella organization for social entrepreneurs that is facilitating the project, it involves
... a partnership between a leading water distribution and irrigation company [Amanco] and a group of selected Ashoka Fellows with strong local presence in rural communities in Mexico. Together, they are inventing a new type of rural distribution channel, not only to deliver irrigation systems appropriate to the needs of small farmers, but also to bring value-added services such as affordable technical assistance in production, crop certification and marketing and financing mechanisms needed by most clients at the grassroots level as well as other critical products. The partners are committed to developing sound business solutions that will ensure impact at the farmer level by increasing household incomes, position [Amanco] to lead in this underserved market representing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential sales, and enable social entrepreneurs to generate new sources of income for their organizations and further their social mission.1
Amanco (pdf) is supplying the irrigation technology on preferred distribution terms to the non-governmental organizations, along with promotion materials and training; the company is "committed to long-term product innovation in order to further decrease the cost and tailor the irrigation systems to small farmers' needs."
Ashoka points to three principles that have emerged from their experience in working with social entrepreneurs on projects like the irrigation project in Mexico. A business firm must:
Design products and services that tap into the wealth of the poor (e.g., land, livestock, saving capacity).
Adopt a radically altered business model, one in which engaging in a large number of small transactions is profitable.
Leverage the power of communities as both consumers and producers, i.e., design a business model that takes into account how boosting income from production increases family buying power, which can then further raise income in a virtuous circle.
After a year or so of running their two pilot projects in Mexico, Ashoka had drawn several lessons:
Successful partnering of social entrepreneurs and traditional profit-making companies is not simple. The partners should expect to take time to get to know each other and to refine their approach.
It is essential "to intricately link the products sold (i.e., irrigation systems) with the mission of the social entrepreneurs." (Note that not all social entrepreneurs will benefit from partnering with a profit-making company.)
There is a steep learning curve for most organizations. External financial resources and specialized human resources, as well as appropriate systems and work processes, are required.
All partners will need to shift their mindsets to some degree. Ashoka found that this shift in perspective can be promoted through such factors as:
Involvement of an outside facilitator to accelerate the trust-building process.
Systematic reflection on lessons learned, achievements, and bottlenecks.
Evaluation metrics that are periodically revisited.
External mandates and incentives that create pressure to perform.
At the business firm, designate a team leader reporting directly to the CEO and dedicate human resources that can focus exclusively on the new business model.
It takes time to reach critical mass and capture the interest of key players in the business firm.
Expect to learn as you go, e.g., the business firm can expect to make technical changes as it gains field experience, and the social entrepreneur can expect to have to explore a variety of possibilities for mobilizing financing.
Note that the Ashoka irrigation project can also be seen an example of the profit-driven strategy for alleviating poverty that C.K. Prahalad calls for in his influential 2004 book, The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits. Prahalad argues that it is entirely feasible to create wealth among the 4 to 5 billion severely impoverished people of the world by using innovative business models. The idea is to balance positive social impacts and profit-making goals in a way that fairly benefits all participants.
__________ 1 From ashoka.org, retrieved 12/9/08. (Ashoka is named after "the Indian leader who unified the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BC, renouncing violence and dedicating his life to social welfare and economic development. For his creativity, global mindedness and tolerance, Ashoka is renowned as the earliest example of a social innovator.")
A 2007 update on progress with the Mexican irrigation project is here.
Yesterday's edition of Bill Moyers Journal included one of the most arresting features I have ever seen on TV. In the segment in question, Moyers presented lengthy excerpts from "Playing for Change: Peace Through Music," a film produced by Mark Johnson, a sound producer/engineer and film director.
As explained at the Bill Moyers Journal website:
"Playing for Change" "brings together musicians from around the world — blues singers in a waterlogged New Orleans, chamber groups in Moscow, a South African choir — to collaborate on songs familiar and new, in the effort to foster a new, greater understanding of our commonality.
Johnson traveled around the globe and recorded tracks for such classics as "Stand By Me" and Bob Marley's "One World" — creating a new mix in which essentially the performers are all performing together — worlds apart. Often recording with just battery-powered equipment, Johnson found musicians on street corners or in small clubs and they would in turn gather their friends and colleagues — in all, they recorded over 100 musicians from Tibet to Zimbabwe.
You can watch the "Stand By Me" portion of the film in the video below. A transcript of Moyers' interview with Johnson is here.
All of the "Stand By Me" performers are wonderful. I found myself especially taken with "Grandpa Elliot" Small, a New Orleans street musician.
Microlending has been much in the news over the last several years. In fact, Muhammad Yunus, the best known proponent of microlending — through the Grameen Bank which he founded in Bangladesh — was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.
2006 was also the year that Dean Karlan, an economics professor at Yale, and Martin Valdivia, research director a Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo, issued a paper (pdf) reporting their research indicating that "microfinance institutions can improve client outcomes cost effectively by providing entrepreneurial training along with the credit." Specifically, clients who received training showed improved business knowledge, practices, and revenues.
Karlan and Valdivia also found that the client training has a positive impact on the microfinance institution itself. Both repayment and client retention improved, which meant higher profitability.
Another key finding was a negative correlation between the interest a client expressed in receiving training and the magnitude of the impact of the training on the client's business practices and results. Karlan and Valdivia note that this result suggests that microfinance institutions should be wary of charging a fee for training, since a fee may especially deter the clients who would benefit most.
The training Karlan and Valdivia evaluated was delivered to clients of FINCA Perú, a small non-profit microfinance institution. Some of the clients were in three particularly poor districts of Lima; others were in the area of Ayacucho, the capital of the Andean province of Huamanga.
In Lima 98% of FINCA's clients are literate; in Ayacucho the client literacy rate is approximately 85%. Most of the Lima clients have finished secondary school, and 40% have some post-secondary schooling; in Ayacucho only about 30% of clients had finished secondary school. This difference in the level of formal schooling led the researchers to use somewhat different training programs in Lima and Ayacucho:
The training materials in Lima were organized in two modules. The first module introduced attendees to what a business is, how a business works, and the marketplace. Clients were taught to identify their customers, competitors, and the position of the business in the marketplace and then learned about product, promotional strategies and commercial planning. The second module explained how to separate business and home finances by establishing the differences between income, costs, and profit, teaching how to calculate production costs, and product pricing.
. . .
In Ayacucho, the training program was grouped into 3 modules with topics less advanced than those taught in Lima. ... Module 1, “Manage Your Business Money,” begins by defining the differences between money for personal expenses and for the business. Women are taught how to calculate profits and about the use of profits for the household and business. Sessions cover how to handle selling to customers on credit, how to record business expenses, how to prevent losses, and the importance of investing in the business. ...
Module 2, “Increase Your Sales” begins by providing an overview of five key elements in sales: 1) customers, 2) business product or service, 3) product placement, 4) pricing, and 5) marketing. Many of the following sessions are dedicated to providing women with practical means of applying these concepts. ...
The third module, “Plan for a Better Business,” teaches members how to incorporate planning into their business. Sessions begin by presenting why planning is beneficial and what traits characterize a successful business. Attendees are instructed on how to solve business problems and how to introduce new products or changes. Later sessions teach the tools needed to prepare a sales plan, calculate business and loan costs, search for new resources, and handle unexpected problems and opportunities.
The research was carried out by assigning clients randomly to treatment and control groups.
The treatment groups received thirty to sixty minute entrepreneurship training sessions during their normal weekly or monthly banking meeting over a period of one to two years. Control groups remained as they were before, meeting at the same frequency but solely for making loan and savings payments.
Karlan and Valdivia note that follow-on research is needed to evaluate the degree to which the positive impacts of training are sustained.
In its July 2 edition, the New York Timesreported on the shortage of highly skilled workers that Brazilian companies are facing as the overall growth of the Brazilian economy moves along at a brisk pace of about 5% a year.
Because the Brazilian education system has not been providing the numbers of skilled workers that are needed, companies like Petrobras (oil), Vale (mining), Ultrapar (petrochemicals), and Embraer (aircraft) are making substantial investments in internal training programs. As Andrew Downie, author of the Times article, explains:
Some [companies] teach basic literacy and arithmetic to janitors and manual workers. Other more advanced courses help factory and production line workers better understand math, science and composition. And major companies are increasing the amount of on-the-job training they give to engineers and professionals.
Downie gives particular attention to Embraer's Engineering Specialization Program, instituted in 2001 because
company directors realized that with only three Brazilian universities offering courses in aeronautical engineering there would not be enough graduates available to help them design, build and sell planes in a rapidly growing market.
So the company created a program that selects the country’s best engineering graduates and puts them through an 18-month specialization course.
In June, Embraer opened a new Personnel Development Center at its plant in São José dos Campos. According to the company's press release (pdf), "The Center will be the focus of all of Embbraer's educational, training and development programs, thus optimizing logistics and the funds invested." One of the Center's two buildings will be the new site for the Engineering Specialization Program.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), headquartered in Washington DC, produced a discussion paper (pdf) last year that provides helpful findings concerning the success factors for public-private partnerships aimed at achieving agricultural innovation in developing countries.
Capacities to identify opportunities, develop common interests, and negotiate commitments are prerequisites for successful public-private partnerships. Yet, many public-private partnerships fail due to lack of both skills among the partnering agents and efforts to strengthen these skills.
The data underlying the authors' findings concerning how to address this issue of deficient skills come from research conducted in nine Latin American countries, starting in 2002. The discussion paper itself examines
seven cases of public-private partnership-building in which private-sector companies, producer associations, and research organizations engage in collaboration for the purpose of developing innovations in agricultural production and value chains.
The seven partnerships studied were located in four countries — Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and El Salvador. The authors' main conclusions from their study are (slightly edited):
1. Capacity-strengthening1 in partnership-building is specific to the value chains2 and actors it involves. The value chain is an appropriate context for analyzing opportunities for innovation in areas of common interest that can best be exploited through public–private collaboration.
2. Capacity-strengthening for partnership-building goes beyond traditional training to include horizontal learning among the partners; it is a continuous, customized process in which needs are identified, taking all partners into consideration.
3. Determining when to enter into a partnership depends on the partners’ analytical skills and the information available on technological and market opportunities. Participation in diagnostic exercises strengthens the capacity of partners to enter into present and future partnerships.
4. The choice of appropriate capacity-strengthening measures depends on the existing level of cohesion among the potential partners. For example, awareness building may not be necessary if talks about potential collaboration are already occurring. The possible entry points for partnership-building measures need to be considered to enable common themes and objectives to be identified. One approach is to go through an exercise in which potential partners map out their country's agricultural value chain, noting where there are opportunities for development. This also helps in identifying key stakeholders and suitable partners.
5. Strengthening partnership-building capacity should predominantly focus on identifying and exploring common interests among potential partners. It is necessary to clarify interests in terms of technology development, production, and sales. If partners do not become seriously interested in pursuing the partnership, they will not attach the necessary importance to its planning. Third-party catalyzing agents (brokers) are necessary to bring partners together, motivate them, provide information, and organize space for negotiations.
6. It is important to have at least one visionary leader among the partners. The leader supplies the capacity for sectoral analysis in the partnership and can help to clarify and communicate the advantages the partnership offers. The leader is also important in motivating and attracting potential partners. Through a gradual transfer process, the internal leader may eventually take over the initiative from the external promoter.
__________ 1 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ... defines capacity strengthening as “the process by which individuals, organizations, institutions and societies develop abilities (individually and collectively) to perform functions, solve problems, and set and achieve objectives.” (p. 17) In the IFPRI study, "successful capacity strengthening elements relat[ed] to identifying partner’s interests and motivation, negotiating partner commitments, fostering leadership, and building relationships that enable joint learning and innovation." (p. 10)
2 Agricultural value chain: sectoral arrangement that allows buyers and sellers of a commodity, separated by time and space, to progressively accumulate value as products pass from one member of the chain to the next. Agricultural value chains embrace all the actors dealing with the commodity from the farmer to the final consumer. The value-adding activities that occur along the chain include production, transport, processing, and marketing.
I've received an email notice from MASS MoCA that Dianne Walker will be spending several days in North Adams giving talks and classes and then performing on February 23.
Walker is a wonderful tap dancer and dance teacher. The video below is the only one I found at Youtube showing her in action. The video is a little over six minutes of what I believe is improv done to the theme from the movie "Black Orpheus," as performed by an uncredited live ensemble.
You can read a February 2005 Dance Magazine interview in which Dianne Walker discusses her approach to teaching here.
You can watch and listen to a 1963 performance of the "Black Orpheus" theme by its composer Luiz Bonfá and Perry Como (singing English lyrics) in the video below.
In its December 24 issue, Fortune publishes its 101 Dumbest Moments in Business, 2007. Yes, they're all dumb, some are funny, and several are truly appalling. My personal Top Ten:
10. "Diebold tightens security after it is revealed that a simple virus can hack its electronic voting machines. Months later a hacker uses a picture of a key from the company website to make a real key that can open the company's machines."
13. "Disneyland announces plans to close the 'It's a Small World' attraction to deepen its water channel after the ride's boats start getting stuck under loads of heavy passengers. Employees ask larger passengers to disembark — and compensate them with coupons for free food."
44. "A Bank of America branch in Ashland, Mass., is evalucated after it receives a fax with the image of a lit match being held to a bomb's fuse. The fax, sent by the company to alert employees to an upcoming promotion, somehow comes through without its text, which should read 'The Countdown Begins ... Small Business Commitment Week June 4 – 8.'"
45. "Just one week after unveiling the world's most expensive dessert — the $25,000 Frozen Haute Chocolate, 28 cocoas infused with edible 23-karat gold served in a goblet with a diamond bracelet at its base — New York restaurant Seredipity 3 is shut down for failing its second health inspection in a month. Inspectors find a live mouse, multiple piles of mouse droppings, fruit flies, houseflies, and more than 100 live cockroaches."
49. "A worker in a German screw factory smuggles out 2,000 to 7,000 screws per night, ultimately stealing more than a million units. He sells the screws below cost on the Internet, artificially depressing the entire screw market."
50. "Exploiting a flaw in a Defense Department purchasing system, South Carolina parts supplier C&D Distributors rakes in $20.5 million in shipping fees on just $68,000 in sales. The scheme is finally detected when a Pentagon clerk spots a $969,000 bill for shipping two 19-cent washers to an Army base in Texas."
57. "'The segment was intended as a lighthearted tribute to Mexico and its vibrant cultural heritage, which we all admire and enjoy.' — Australian TV production company Endemol Southern Star, in a statement apologizing to the Mexican government for a segment of its Big Brother reality program in which contestants wear sombreros and floppy mustaches and throw water balloons at a Mexican flag.
80. "After Hugo Chávez calls the former Prime Minister of Spain a 'fascist' at a summit in Chile, Spanish King Juan Carlos leaps to his countryman's defense. His retort to Chávez, 'Why don't you shut up?' ['¡¿Por qué no te callas?!'] becomes one of the nation's most popular cellphone ringtones, downloaded more than 500,000 times within ten days."
93. "On its British Airways flight from New Delhi to London, first-class passenger Paul Trinder wakes up from a nap to find the corpse of a woman who had died in the economy cabin being placed in the seat next to him. Upon complaining about the incident, Trinder — a gold-level frequent flier who logs 200,000 miles a year with the airline — says he is told he will not be compensated and should just 'get over it.'"
97. "Google's Blogger software misidentifies a company-written blog as spam and automatically disables it." (I know from personal experience that the Google spam detector is suspicious of blogs that have lots of links.)
Denmor Garment Manufacturers is notable because it has adopted a employees-are-our-greatest-asset business model that is enabling the company to compete successfully in selling clothing on the world market.
Dennis Morgan founded Denmor with a partner in 1997. Since then, the company has grown to the point that it was exporting over 15,000 dozen garments per week to North America as of 2005.
Dennis Morgan was born and raised in poverty and never completed his secondary school education. Having also gone through a series of very low income jobs prior to establish[ing] Denmor, Morgan was motivated at the very outset to pull other people out of poverty and provide them with many of the opportunities he had been denied. He has had a particularly strong urge to help vulnerable women out of poverty and has actively provided training and jobs to women who are underprivileged, school dropouts, socially ostracised, single parents or otherwise disadvantaged.
Tough competition from the likes of China compelled Morgan to devise a strategy that would keep Denmor viable. He decided
to move into areas in which the company had a comparative advantage. Morgan found Denmor's advantage to be its capacity for the rapid delivery of relatively small orders of diverse high quality garments.
Morgan reports that he was convinced that his strategy would work only if he treated "employees as the most precious asset." One outgrowth of this view is that the company spends about USD 250,000 a year on training its 1,000 workers. Some of this training helps with basic literacy and numeracy; there is also considerable emphasis on cross-training.
Today's post about Kaieteur Falls in Guyana from Peace Corps volunteer Mark Hejinian is an example of the education in geography one can easily get by subscribing to the daily digest Global Voices Online offers. You can also subscribe to notices of GV content updates.
Mark Hejinian with Peace Corps friends Adannaa and Malane at Kaieteur Falls in Guyana
You can see a map of Kaieteur National Park, where the Falls are located, here.
