“Transformation is not what we do for other people.
Transformation is what God does for us when we enter into an
equal relationship of sharing and receiving with other people.
We do not serve because we are transformed
but we are transformed when we serve.”

—Jose Ramon Alcantara Mejia

Milton Ramos has always been interested in seeking ways to improve the manner that business is done, both in his own business and in the country where his business is located, Nicaragua.  He transferred much of that passion into his role as a founder of a small Nicaraguan organization dedicated to that vision.  Eventually, Milton’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to a deeper search for ways that he could have a healthy impact on the lives of local businesses and their employees.  His solution was through the development of his family-owned pharmaceutical business, Laboratorios Ramos.

Peter Schaafsma is a former executive of a large pharmaceutical company.  He’s currently retired, yet today remains connected to the industry.  Peter, like Milton, also feels drawn to serve his fellow businesspeople by utilizing the knowledge and experiences he has accumulated over a lifetime.

An unexpected introduction in Managua, Nicaragua became a catalyst for positive change on both ends. 

In early 2005, Peter visited Nicaragua on a short-term work trip, never expecting the rewarding relationship that began developing over a short period of time.  As Peter was painting walls at a local school, the CRWRC and Partners Worldwide staff working in Nicaragua approached him with the notion of spending an afternoon getting to know Milton Ramos.  After learning that Milton owned a medium-sized pharmaceutical company, Peter jumped at the opportunity. 

A few days later, after just a few moments of introduction, the two were deep in conversation regarding the state of the pharmaceutical industry in Nicaragua and its impact on Milton’s business.  Months later, Milton invited Peter back to Nicaragua to deepen their cooperative analysis of pharmaceutical issues, and a deepening of their relationship, a sharing of support, experience, and knowledge.

During a two-week trip, Peter analyzed every facet of Milton’s business, from organizational structure to best manufacturing practices.  According to Peter’s recommendations, and with a new loan of $50,000 from another North American partner, Milton was able to improve the organizational structure and employee ownership of Laboratorios Ramos, give managers more opportunities to influence the company direction, and make quality control improvements that increased production capacity.  Today, Laboratorios Ramos has fulfilled a large order from the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, using the profit to free itself from nearly all outstanding debt. 

Like Laboratorios Ramos, the mentoring relationship between Milton and Peter has also continued to grow.  During their last visit, Milton wanted to show Peter much more than his business, to show him the “real” Nicaragua.  After days of consulting, evaluating, and sharing their experience and expertise, they traveled with family to some of the most beautiful natural wonders Nicaragua has to offer.  Illustrating mentorship at its purest, the two continue to listen, learn, and grow together.

“Helping others to live better changes your life without you even thinking about it,” says Paul Ducarmel, owner of Douco Chocolat and member of Federation of Entrepreneurs of Léogane (FEL).  This shared vision of changing community into ideal community began at a business conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

In October 2005, entrepreneur Emmanuel Jeremie was encouraged by a friend to attend the first International Christian Business Conference held in Port-au-Prince, led in cooperation by Partners Worldwide and business affiliate Haitian Partners for Christian Development (HPCD).  There, Emmanuel was inspired and led to a deeper understanding of the purpose of business as a calling. 

Emmanuel immediately returned to his small town of Léogane, just 18 miles west of Port-au-Prince, with a revolutionary idea to bring about change in a society that was, and continues to be, in need of transformation.  Haitian society was shaped by colonialism and slavery more than two centuries ago.  Today, most entrepreneurs struggle amidst the ongoing economic instability, corruption and civil unrest which together form a business climate that inhibits most businesses from thriving in the market. 

It was during Emmanuel’s first meeting in Léogane that a shared hope for societal transformation began.  An astounding number of businesspeople arrived, expressing interest in what a local business affiliate might offer them.  However, upon learning that the potential affiliate was less about providing easy money, and much more about using business to positively change the community, most of the attendees never returned. 

Six local entrepreneurs, however, chose to remain with Emmanuel.  From a variety of fields, including agriculture, Christian schools, dairy franchise, and the production of beverages and chocolates, the new members committed to the formation of FEL.  Their vision is to positively transform the community through more purposeful business tactics, a development of their role in civil society, and mutual support through mentoring. 

Upon agreeing that business is both “the foundation of a strong economy” and “a calling from God”, three goals have emerged from the seven members of FEL.  Together, they intend to 1) change community into an ideal community, 2) create employment for Haitians, and 3) reduce poverty.

Ducarmel, one of the remaining members of FEL, reflects on the value of a business affiliate as “the importance of connecting businesses so we can learn from one another and encourage each other.” Today, the members of FEL are striving to maintain their goals after the tragic loss of Emmanuel Jeremie in a car accident soon after FEL was formed.  As they step forward in faith and mutual support, they will continue to believe that transformation is possible. 

”Before it was more a question of loan reimbursement, but now it is different.  We see ourselves as exercising a ministry,” says a member of PWOFOD, a business affiliate in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  A powerful example of someone daily living out her ministry of business is Madame Marie Michele Lefèvre.

Madame Lefèvre began a small popsicle business years ago, and, to her surprise, it grew exponentially.  Today, she operates a business with 22 freezers, 40 employees, and 300 merchants, and is close to paying off her most recent loan from PWOFOD of 13,000 USD.  Through her perseverance, Madame Lefèvre has affected her community by creating employment opportunities that sustain hundreds of families in Port-au-Prince.

Empowering others through employment, Madame Lefèvre developed the opportunity for individuals to rise from poverty by working.  According to Beatrice Pierre, Million Mentors Coordinator of Partners Worldwide, “When a poor person comes and asks her for money, she gives that person some product and tells him or her to go out and sell.  She makes salespeople out of them.” Of her 300 merchants, most arrive each morning and purchase the popsicles to sell, or, with her permission, commit to sell and pay for the inventory at the end of the day. 

The profits belong completely to the merchants in her sales model.  In this way, Madame Lefèvre invests in the growth of each merchant’s success.  Through this arrangement, each merchant makes significantly more compared to the average earnings of Haitians working in the informal market sector. 

According to Madame Lefèvre, mentoring and a better knowledge of finances are her current needs to further improve her business.  In light of her experience in mentoring, Madame Lefèvre believes that the practice of mentoring should continue to grow locally and internationally through Haitian business affiliates and Partners Worldwide, respectively. 

Pierre agrees that the local mentorship has positively affected Madame Lefèvre, saying, “Thanks to her mentor, Samuel Sanon, her enterprise grows and continues to grow both in term of dimension and administratively.  After having made a lot of investment in machinery and equipment, she realized that she needed competent staff and the building has to be renovated.  Now, her products are of far better quality than three years ago and are made in more hygienic conditions.  She can compete now with any ice cream maker.”

Madame Lefèvre presently envisions a greater expansion of her business.  Yet, her vision doesn’t end there.  She wants mentoring to be available for the market women up the street.  Mentoring has encouraged Madame Lefèvre to thrive; now she passes this along by encouraging hundreds of others to do the same. 

Near one of the most beautiful areas of creation surrounding Mombacho volcano, Nicaraguan coffee farmers are venturing toward “new possibilities in business creation.” Mombachito Coffee is a growing business with a new approach toward value-added production, business concepts, and confidence.  The outlook of eight Nicaraguan farmers, as well as the perspective of their North American partners of Farmer-to-Farmer, has undergone transformation. 

In 2005, Nicaraguan farmers initiated a large-scale organic coffee cooperative with the goal to more efficiently market the coffee of local farms in compliance with the highest organic standards.  Today, the cooperative has 170 farmers, expanding their horizons through the training of a local organic coffee expert.  Yet, within the first year, many were adversely affected by an extended drought that resulted in less profit than was expected. 

In response, eight of the farmers chose to take the risks, and seek after the possibilities, of value-added production in their small-scale business, Mombachito Coffee.  With the encouragement of Partners Worldwide local staff to step forward “into their future as businesspersons”, the farmers of Mombachito Coffee now roast, grind, package, and market coffee themselves, a decision that, in the first year alone, provided a 100% increase in profit on the fraction of the season’s crop—300 pounds—which they privately produced. 

Furthermore, the outlook of partners on both ends of Farmer-to-Farmer has also undergone change.  In December of 2005, a group of Iowa partners visited with their Nicaraguan partners, learning from one another and strengthening each other as they together harvested the season’s coffee.  The visit provided the Iowa partners with a new view into the lives of the Nicaraguan partners, resulting in a better understanding of, and a deeper appreciation for, the work behind a morning cup of coffee.

Not only did the quality and profit of Mombachito Coffee’s organic products increase; so, too, did their business concepts and their confidence to continue.  Jennie, one of the farmers involved, says that after seeing the first completed package, labeled Mombachito Premium Organic Coffee, their outlook transformed from the notion that “we will always be to poor” to the belief that “this is a project we can attain!”

Mombachito Coffee has recently found a niche market in North America through their partnership with the affiliate, Farmer-to-Farmer.  Because of their initial success over the past year, they plan to meet the growing demand by producing next season’s entire crop through their growing business, utilizing their unique value-added production.  Through the opportunity to develop relationships with local expertise and international mentorship, the farmers of Mombachito Coffee continue to step forward with confidence. 

One of the most crucial tools of a small business is hope. When people have hope, they have a pathway out of poverty toward a higher standard of living and a better future, made possible through local training and affordable credit to strengthen their businesses. This premise has been proven true by millions of entrepreneurs who are now building their businesses, creating employment and training opportunities, and repaying their loans to benefit others.  George M.D. Nziu is a living example of such entrepreneurs.

When George received a loan of 15,000 USD in April 2004, his hope was revived and his business, Longonot Outlets, got a new lease on life.  Three years down the line George has given hope to many more by providing access to affordable computer training for both able and disabled persons, thanks to Kenya Investment Trust (KIT) and Partners Worldwide.  His computer centers penetrate urban areas, such as Machakos, a growing city about 50 km southeast of Nairobi, as well as smaller towns in rural areas of Kenya.  At the centers, youth and locals alike are offered intensive computer training at affordable rates.

What started as a communication bureau of just one photocopier in 1997 has become a computer training center for over 135 customers today.  George received multiple inquiries in 2001 regarding the possibility of more computer training; at that point, his bureau could not accommodate more than customers at a time.  Because of the growing demand for Kenyans to be computer literate, George curved a niche market in urban and rural areas so that more people—students attempting new careers or local entrepreneurs hoping to improve their computer skills—have more access to computer training at an affordable price.

“As a businessman, I saw an opportunity present itself and I therefore decided to look for a helping hand. That is when I approached Kenya Investment Trust for financial support,’’ says George.  KIT provided multiple loans and the annual turnover of Longonot Outlests increased from $21,800 in 2000 to $90,900 in 2007, while the number of employees increased from 5 to 13.  Today, Longonot Outlets has 38 computers total, 17 at the main center while the rest are spread among the rural towns.  George acknowledges the widespread success during the past six years, yet, to meet the growing demand, he plans to add 24 more computers with the next loan offered by KIT.

A local institution also confronted George this year with the challenge to make his computer training available to the disabled.  “That was great inspiration for me. My contribution to society was being molded and I took this as a calling to share my perfect gift from God,” says George.  He accepted the challenge by visiting the institution and discussing the possibilities with the local administration.  They together agreed to train two members to accommodate the needs of disabled customers, an addition to the program they are excited to develop.

George foresees Longonot Outlets as a leading information technology center in a variety of communities.  Profiting through his cyber cafés, calling centers, and the computer training programs, George believes that the business will continue to benefit more people each year.  As an entrepreneur committed to his community, George heaps praises on his business affiliate, KIT, for walking with him on the journey, recognizing that loans enable businesses to boost the economy from the grassroots.  Through their ongoing growth, businesses such as Longonot Outlets are increasingly able to provide the tools, and hope, that people need to succeed.

“Now I’m a man of integrity.  Before, I was not.” As an entrepreneur of integrity, John Matheri is transforming his role as an employer into a transformer of lives.  With the intent to both protect and empower young women, John and his wife Margaret Gichohu employ females—many from underprivileged communities of Nairobi—as seamstresses and salespeople of Alpha Embroidery, their growing business of interior design. 

John and Margaret began Alpha Embroidery on the side in 1990 with a loan of $40, just enough to purchase a treadle-operated sewing machine.  In 2001, they were able to dedicate themselves fulltime to their growing business, after years of John’s mason work that did not meet the needs of their family.  It was the initial loan and the membership of a Kenyan business affiliate called CHESS (Christian Entrepreneurs Savings and Credit Society) that made the growth of their business possible.  That same year, they were able to employ five new women and increase their production by 30%. 

They also joined a 20-person cell group of CHESS, a group that became the inspirational model for the institutionalization of cell groups throughout the world through the Million Mentors Initiative of 2003-2007.  In that cell group, as well as a mentoring relationship with North American businessman, John Vanderploeg, John Matheri and Margaret found ongoing support as they shared mutual business concerns and increased their marketing contacts. 

Today, through Margaret’s expertise in tapestry and John’s entrepreneurial spirit, they produce a variety of high-quality products—cushions, curtains, and bedspreads—in a highly competitive field filled with imports from large Indian and Chinese businesses.  Alpha Embroidery has successfully found the niche in the city center market through unique interior design and the fulfillment of special orders for various homes and restaurants.  And, as Alpha Embroidery has grown, so has the opportunity to socially transform the lives of their employees. 

John and Margaret now have 15 employees, most of whom are young women who dropped out of primary education.  Some of the employees are also former prostitutes who are now gainfully employed, able to support their children through their work.  In order to provide these opportunities for ongoing employment, John takes the risk and extra expenses of hiring inexperienced workers; Margaret then guides the women through intensive training toward a maturity of the skills needed to continue in the field of tapestry. 

Not only did their business grow, but over the years, John and Margaret’s understanding of a locally-owned business has also grown.  Through their mentoring relationships, their outlook on the role as employers has been transformed.  According to John, he learned from his cell group peers “that you can be a compassionate businessperson” and “succeed while still giving”.  As compassionate businesspeople with much integrity, John and Margaret encourage their employees to be proud of who they are and what they do.  Through their commitment to provide ongoing employment for those who need it most, John and Margaret are transformers of lives. 

-Matt Decker

Many Engineering, Pre-med, and science majors are especially anxious to line up their travel plans, as interim is the only chance they have to go abroad during their years at Calvin.

Calvin is recognized as an institution of excellence in international affairs by NAFSA: Association of International Educators and is just one of four US colleges and universities to be honored with a Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization for 2007.

Though Calvin offers a wide variety of off-campus programs--11 through Calvin and several through other colleges --the department is lacking a semester specifically designed for science and engineering majors.

Ellen Monsma, director of the Off-Campus Programs office and member of the Interim Committee, hopes that soon the department will be able to provide programs for the needs of students it is not currently serving.

Though many engineering and science majors will spend the interim in Germany, Cambodia, Ecuador, or China studying major-specific topics in different global situations, these whirlwind tours only graze the surface of the cultural context.

Monsma sees the value of both interim and semester studies, but she concedes that a semester experience is much deeper and broader than an interim excursion. Semester programs allow students to spend time in another culture, not just as tourists, but as residents.

Monsma said, “At Calvin, you’re with a lot of people just like you,” but spending a semester abroad often challenges students to see the world in new ways, to be “more conscious Christians.”

Calvin’s mission statement includes a pledge to be “agents of renewal” in all parts of creation and to be faithful in “offering our hearts and lives to do God’s work in God’s world.” But Monsma said that in order to renew the world, “you have to know it!”

The Student Alumni Association, better known as Knights 4 Life, is getting its year started off right with yet another successful sophomore dinner.
The dinner took place on October 18, in which over 500 people attended. “The Knights 4 Life dinner is to remind students that they are now considered alumni and we want to thank them for coming to Calvin College,” said Norm Zylstra the coordinator of Student and Young Alumni Programs, “We want to make students feel comfortable by building a sense of home.”
The dinner is set in more of a “party” atmosphere, welcoming all sophomores and other campus organizations to have a good time and enjoy a meal together. “It is a big event because the entire alumni board is there, the cokes and clubs organizations are there to promote student organizations and most of the sophomore class shows,” said Zylstra.
“There was better food and it was a better atmosphere than usual,” said sophomore Leah VanSchouwen, responding to the dinner.
The dining services prepare a special meal of almost all the students’ favorites; including circle pizzas, French fries and an ice cream bar complete with a variety of toppings. There are also give-aways of canvas chairs, two liters of Pepsi, the Prism and K4L t-shirts. “The atmosphere was definitely welcoming. I liked how they came around with prizes instead of making people come to the front,” said VanSchouwen.
Sophomore Kelli Visser agreed saying that “at times it seemed kind of over the top but it was a lot of fun.
“The Alumni Office sponsored the t-shirts and the Alumni and Student Life offices split the cost of the Prism so that sophomores were able to receive these for free,” said Zylstra. It is very important for these organizations to give the students these gifts because as Zylstra said, “[they] want people to keep remembering their experiences at Calvin.”
Besides all the prizes and games, the sophomore night is set up for fellowship among class members. “I took this position so I would be able to have a mutual relationship with the college, and through these events it allows a multitude of campus committees and leaders, along with students, to get involved,” said Zylstra.
The Knights 4 Life has many other events planned for the rest of the year, including events for other classes. Keep your eyes open for upcoming events or refer to the Knights 4 Life postcard which students should have received in the mail.

Through KE’s annual program “Light in the Night”, hundreds of children—ranging in age, ethnicity, and creativity in costume—joyfully trampled through the hallways of KE on a rainy night, imagining for a few moments they were in a fairy tale, Neverland, a barnyard, or the ocean with Nemo.  Andrea Timmerman, Community Life Coordinator of KE, says that “Light in the Night is a great opportunity to reach out with a welcoming hand to our community.”

Resonating with that goal, Zeta’s RA Kwabena Bediako stated that “it’s a chance for the families to get together.  We’re showing the community that KE is here and we’re open.”

Matt Sowash, a member of the Programming Activities Council, also shared his thoughts on the immense preparation and creativity the residents of KE shared to provide a safe space for people from the community, saying, “It’s great to see the apartment doors being decorated and watching residents coordinate their plans with others!  There has been a buzz among students working to get the building decorated.  The amount of people taking time out of their busy schedules and helping is just fantastic!”

The excitement is shared at both ends.  As a lifelong resident of Grand Rapids, Kimmy DeVries looks back on her annual trick-or-treating experience, saying, “I remember coming here as a kid to trick-or-treat; it was super fun!  I was awestruck with all those college kids living on their own.  It’s cool to be on the other side passing out the candy, remembering how much fun I had.” The effect Light in the Night has on the residents was also described by Theta’s RA, Abby Skeans, who said, “It was a lot of work, but a big payoff.  We’re reaching a lot of kids at one time; it’s really impactful to me.”

Families of the community were grateful for the opportunity, as described by George Jeffries, a staff member of Inner City Christian Federation (ICCF), a Grand Rapids based nonprofit housing corporation.  Jeffries stated that the families attending were so excited to be trick-or-treating at KE on Wednesday night, simply adding, “they may not have otherwise had an opportunity to go out and do this.” He also described his desire to continue cooperating with Calvin College students in order to carry on the various programs they have shared in years past. 

Yet there is an even deeper purpose beyond the goal of providing a safe space for community families to trick-or-treat.  Timmerman says that the title, and purpose, of the program emerged from John 8:12:  “I am the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Timmerman says that on Halloween, KE lit up the night “with hundreds of candles, [doing] our best to represent Christ as we open[ed] our doors.”