[Dialogue] [globaltoptrainers] microentrepreneurship

[sunwalker at comcast.net]

Pretty much every Human Development Project did some kind of microenterprise under the guise of economic development. In a village setting, the economy IS micro (usually, anyway). 


In Majuro, we did a farm, we did shark fishing, we did a coop of mom & pop stores and changed the face of that economy by creating competition for the one or two big importers (residents spent 80% household income on basic food stuffs until the coop when it dropped to the more reasonable 30%). We did a chip-making enterprise (taro and banana), basket making for tourists (a big money-maker because they were exquisite and sold at the airport as well as shops in town) -- note, Majuro was the main atoll we worked on with 12,000 residents, but the Marshall Islands had maybe 70,000 on atolls flung across a million sq. miles of Pacific Ocean. I think we had metal shop (boat repair mostly) and several other things -- I didn't work in the economic side except for some training, and it will have been 30 years in August since we left, so memory is fading. 


However, I've always said the Marshalls were our most catalytic project. Everything the "blue shirts" initiated pretty much failed, but they got the idea and enterprises the islanders started were much more successful. 


Sunny 
P.S. That old couple in Ft. Collins were "ICA staff" Ed and Mimi Shinn (plus a man who recently died named Maury Alberston). Bob Sample went to Bosnia with that team. It was all done through Colorado State University. 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lawrence Philbrook" <larry at icatw.com> 
To: "James Wiegel" <jfwiegel at yahoo.com> 
Cc: "Dialogue List Serve" <Dialogue at wedgeblade.net>, "Order Ecumenical Community" <oe at wedgeblade.net>, "US TopTrainers" <ustoptrainers at ica-topnet.org>, "Global ToPTrainers" <globaltoptrainers at ica-topnet.org>, "Cheryl Zaleski" <czaleski at ica-usa.org>, "Springboard Dialogue" <springboard at wedgeblade.net> 
Sent: Wednesday, July 8, 2009 7:32:04 AM GMT -06:00 Guadalajara / Mexico City / Monterrey 
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] [globaltoptrainers] microentrepreneurship 

Janet Sanders, Tatwa Tatsima and the team from ICA Nepal have been working for several years on micro-credit with the Jean Houston Foundation. Evelyn in April was at one of the programs but the program has been ongoing combining Jean's work with ours to build a community leadership framework to support the program. 

With respect, Larry 



James Wiegel wrote: 


	P icking our brains about ICA's / ToP microenterprise experiences over the past 40 years? 

Cheryl Zaleski is looking for concrete examples to use for a microcredit program. 

Nothing much is coming to my mind. 

There is a fellow in Denver (Bob Samples) who has been connected and works with small loans, a couple in Fort Collins (retired I think) who reworked ICA's old wisdom on community development for an organization called Village Earth (villageearth.org) that included microenterprise. Jim Troxel did a series of economic development forums in Chicago neighborhoods, The Oyler's through the Jacobs Foundation did strategic planning for a microcredit organization based in New Mexico. 

I am sending this around to see who else may know of experiences. 

Jim 

SLEEP was a marvelous invention, 
but whoever first thought of filling it 
with DREAMS was truly inspired. -- Ashleigh Brilliant 

Jim Wiegel 
401 North Beverly Way 
Tolleson, Arizona 85353-2401 
+1 623-936-8671 
+1 623-363-3277 
jfwiegel at yahoo.com 
www.partnersinparticipation.com 

--- On Tue, 7/7/09, Cheryl Zaleski <czaleski at ica-usa.org> wrote: 



From: Cheryl Zaleski <czaleski at ica-usa.org> 
Subject: microentrepreneurship 
To: "jfwiegel at yahoo.com" <jfwiegel at yahoo.com> 
Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 11:03 AM 



Hi, Jim- 

Would you be available some time this week so that I can pick your brain about ICA's microenterprise experiences over the past 40 years? I'm looking for concrete examples to use for the microcredit program. 

Thanks, 

Cheryl 

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