In January, one dean and three students embarked on a journey to Latin America’s third-poorest country — Honduras — with hopes of taking Students in Free Enterprise’s (SIFE) mission of service and sustainability across national boundaries.
Dr. Bryan McKinney, dean of the Hickingbotham School of Business and the university’s legal counsel, began exploring options to connect in Honduras last year.
“We’d previously focused our efforts within Arkansas, but it seemed that most of the most competitive teams at SIFE Nationals had a meaningful international project,” McKinney said.
As plans unfolded, Honduras became not only a possibility, but also a sensible choice for the international project. Ties between Honduras and Ouachita were already in place and a flight to Honduras is relatively accessible, according to McKinney.
The first of the three SIFE projects in the third-world nation is through a larger organization, the World Gospel Outreach (WGO) in Tegucigalpa. WGO operates Rancho Ebenezer, an orphanage that aims to pay for itself through the production and sale of Cloud Forest Coffee. However, the orphanage has not been able to sell much coffee and is currently losing money producing it.
“We’re helping them turn that into a more profitable business and market their coffee better and hopefully sell it in the U.S. eventually,” said Justin Young, a sophomore business management major and SIFE’s Honduras project leader, said.
SIFE has been in contact with several coffee shops and distributors in the United States who have expressed interest in selling Cloud Forest Coffee, and is currently working with WGO and those companies to help set up sales.
The second part of SIFE’s involvement is helping local entrepreneurs operate their businesses more efficiently. The team is starting with two carpenters who graduated from the orphanage and started their own business.
“They’re really good at what they do, but they don’t really know the business aspect of it yet,” Young said. “We’re going to teach them about finances and how to run their business.”
SIFE is also helping the carpenters create a website to sell their furniture.
The third aspect of SIFE’s work in Honduras involves Casa Hogar Luz, an orphanage in San Pedro Sula. The orphanage is capable of housing 40 children, but only had the funding to house 14. Following Compassion International’s model, SIFE created a sponsorship program for the orphanage, and families and individuals can now sponsor an orphan for $35 per month.
Since SIFE’s involvement with the orphanage and the creation of the sponsorship program, the increased funding has resulted in three more children having been admitted to the home, bringing the total number of children able to live there now to 17.
The next steps in the three projects include: creating a finance class to present to the carpenters, bringing WGO’s coffee to the United States and finding outlets for its sale and continuing to raise awareness and support for Casa Hogar Luz sponsorships.
Earlier in the semester, SIFE hosted a competition to design a new bag for WGO’s coffee. The winning designs were sent off to WGO, which is currently choosing the design they would like to be the new face for Cloud Forest Coffee.
Later this year, SIFE will be returning to Honduras to check up on the organizations and help further the projects in which they are involved.
After these projects have had time to grow and gain experience, McKinney said his hope is they will become self-sustaining and SIFE will be able to tackle larger projects, but still be involved with the work going on in Honduras.
For more information and to purchase Cloud Forest Coffee, visit www.hondurascloudforestcoffee.com. For more information about Casa Hogar Luz and how to sponsor a child, visit www.casahogarluz.org.
Picture courtesy of Judith Brizuela.
