#gcele

Entrepreneurship in Nicaragua

Being an entrepreneur can be a scary task, especially when you don't have the right resources or guidance to start your business.  That's what many locals in Chinandega, Nicaragua face everyday.  Just like us, they dream of building a successful business, with unlimited revenue potential.  Unfortunately, for many it remains just that - a dream.  

Through Centennial College's Global Citizenship & Equity Learning Experience (GCELE) program and Waves of Hope - a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing local communities within Nicaragua - I got a chance to work directly with local entrepreneurs and high school students to help turn their business dreams into reality.  For 2 weeks, the GCELE team (comprised of 12 students and 3 faculty) partnered with local translators and community members to build a marketplace to host 6 new businesses.  Needless to say, this experience is one I will never forget.

Here are 3 things I learned about entrepreneurship in Nicaragua:

Profits aren’t the only objective

Sure, we’d all like to make millions of dollars (who wouldn’t?), but it’s clear that most successful organizations have a deeper goal than just profits.  The same holds true for Nicaraguans.  When asked what success for their business looks like, one entrepreneur said, “being able to provide for the community”, while another said, “paving the way for our future children.”  These types of selfless responses spoke volumes about their beliefs and core values - caring, family-oriented and community-first.  After our first few days of assessment, our GCELE team quickly realized that a traditional North American business workshop approach was not the way to go.  We needed to learn about their culture and understand what drives them.  They wanted to make money, but they wanted to do it as a community in a sustainable manner.

Their natural ecosystem is their biggest asset

One of the biggest differences in cultural thinking between North America and Nicaragua is that, in North America, we would rather tear something down completely and rebuild it perfectly from scratch, than to work with what we already have.  In Nicaragua, they are the opposite.  They have adapted to their ecosystems so well that they don’t require much technology to complete day-to-day tasks - they simply use the natural resources available to them.  From laundry to health and fitness maintenance, Nicaraguans have developed a sustainable cycle that preserves the existing ecosystem, while accomplishing their goals.  Why tear down trees to build a barn when you can utilize them and save on resources/costs?  This was one of the biggest learning points I took away from their cultural thinking.

They have their own business culture

This was something we expected going in.  We knew that besides a language barrier, we would need to make adjustments to establish working business relationships with them.  One thing that stood out to me was the trust-building phase.  While the locals were friendly and welcomed us with open arms, there was some initial hesitation with trust, especially regarding confidential business information.  This was not surprising and we did everything we could to remind them we were here to help.  It took a few days of working together before most of the entrepreneurs felt completely comfortable with us.  To them, they needed time to get to know us and our intentions before they could trust us - friendship is part of their business relationship.

The change you want to see in the world, in your community and in your school, begins with you!!! Ever since I knew about the Global Citizenship and Equity Learning Experience (GCELE) to Advocate for LGBT Human Rights, I decided to be part of this project, to be involved in the movement for LGBT rights and share with my school and community the issues that LGBT people face in different countries around the world.

As part of this GCELE, we traveled to New York City where we visited historical sites such as the Museum of Tolerance and the Stonewall Inn, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch, the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission and the United Nations that work towards the global initiative to recognize LGBT Rights as Human Rights. I had the privilege of enjoying this unique and meaningful learning experience that allowed me to reflect, analyze and synthesize information about the principles of social justice, equity, tolerance and acceptance.

A lot of feelings came up for me during this experience. I found it shocking to learn about the violence against the LGBT people and the violations of the existing international human rights law in many countries around the world. On the other hand, I feel confident that the organizations we visited are true examples of human rights defenders working to protect LGBT people and end with the discrimination against individuals based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Some people might think that LGBT rights and human rights are different things; but if we look them closely they are one and the same. Being LGBT does not make you less human, inferior or less intelligent, and that is why LGBT rights are human rights, and human rights are LGBT rights!

I realized that the most violent element in society is ignorance! How many times have we pointed out other people because they are different? Different in the way of think, way of walk, way of dress, talk or love. We feel with the right to judge others just because they have a different opinion than ours and we forget we live in a plural society, where everyone has a place and where everyone should be listened, and even more the minorities who have been marginalized and are suffering a silent discrimination.