In November 2013, five Project Redwood partners traveled to Nicaragua to visit the sites of several funded projects.
Jorge Fernandez, front row left, and the Project Redwood team in Nicaragua.
We saw real poverty among rural Nicaraguans: lack of electricity; dirt floors at home, lack of potable water; illnesses that are hurting many, like Dengue fever; and other basic indicators of need. Poverty is really hard on people living in its hold, and it takes a big toll on individuals’ self- esteem.
We met so many courageous people with a real desire to take charge and lead their lives out of that poverty–the men and women volunteering to run the water committees, those who are starting small businesses, those who are learning better farming practices, the many who came early and from far away to attend our meetings, just to name a few. There was no indifference in them… and with that attitude came also a strong willingness to cooperate with each other.
We met some extraordinary Nicaraguans with a vocation to help, like Jorge Campos, the born teacher and deeply knowledgeable agricultural director at SHI; Sergio Romero, the CTI manager—a master at government and institutional relationships, and the seasoned hands-on supervisor and installer for hundreds of chlorinators; the folks at MINSA, who serve their country working hard to eradicate malaria and Dengue fever, to improve sanitation and water supplies, to prevent epidemics of cholera and other nemeses; and so many more. They could do better in other, more comfortable jobs… and yet they are there, serving.
We, the Project Redwood MBA’s, can make a big difference. Our monetary contributions are part of this, yes, but there is so much more we can do. At our stage in life, many of our experiences and past mistakes have become wisdom…and sharing that knowledge with those in need can provide terrific inspiration, guidance and counsel. Whether we serve on boards, in committees, running a project, whatever… we can make it better for those in need.
Our Project Redwood funds are making a difference to people who have little, but who aspire to a better life for their children, themselves and their country. And the bigger differences happen when Redwood partners get more deeply involved than just signing a check.
In the global task of alleviating poverty, it is hard to make a significant difference one person at a time. For that reason our challenge is: How can we maximize impact? Whom do we support in order to do that? How do we stay with them for a longer time so impact can be had?
We had lots of good ideas on how to make Redwood better yet… While answering these questions is difficult and will take serious thought and effort on the part of Project Redwood and everyone who joins in this type of work, I want to say it is intellectually stimulating to travel and work together with classmates on these causes. As we found at business school, we continue to learn much from each other, by seeing, talking, sharing, asking and doing together.
It’s a funny thing — I woke up the first day home from our trip, and was ready to get in the pick up truck and go out to visit Nicaraguan communities with our now close-knit group, but then reality hit… If we are fortunate, we’ll be able to do this again, perhaps in Nicaragua, perhaps in another country where PRW is making a difference. And I hope many more of our classmates will have the opportunity to participate in a trip like this.
For us, one of the best things that came from our trip is the thought that if you, like us, feel that our role in life is to make a positive difference, and leave a better place for those that come behind, you should then feel that in a good measure we, at Redwood, are doing that.