McCook says he hopes SEUganda’s microcredit program raises enough funds to give loans to the farmers to help them acquire organic certification. Since the farmers don’t have the money to invest in pesticides, they’ve never used them in their fields. As a result, they grow some of the purest produce in the world. McCook found the farmers receptive to the idea of getting organic certification, and loans would help cover the administrative costs of their applications. “The certification will allow them to sell their products in markets such as Europe and Japan for a higher value,” says McCook, who grew up on an organic farm in New Mexico. Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Sara Medina-Pape, coordinator of SEUganda, says the program provides students with the chance to do more than simply see another part of the world. “It also gives them the opportunity to do work that will make a difference in many people’s lives,” she says. “I feel fortunate that St. Edward’s has been able to offer such a rewarding and educational trip for our students.” Most recently, Zebrowski and MedinaPape traveled to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the Global Microcredit Summit in mid-November. “I’d done all of the field research I could,” says Zebrowski. “So the conference gave me the chance to speak to experts and ask a lot of questions.” She also met Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, who established the microcredit concept over 20 years ago. Zebrowski says that until her involvement with SEUganda, she never realized how easy it was to help people who are so far away. “It puts a perspective on globalization, how if you take $50 out of your pocket, you can see how it can change another person’s life.” To learn more about giving to SEUganda, visit www.stedwards.edu/seuganda
photos courtesy of Sara Medina-Pape
Margaret is a single mother in Kirinda, Uganda, with six mouths to feed: her child and the five children of her sister and brotherin-law, who died of AIDS. She gets by with the money she makes running the Holy Cross crafts shop, but to pay for her kids’ education (primary school in Uganda costs nothing, but secondary schools charge a fee, and the required uniforms for both aren’t free), she needs to expand the business. That would require a small amount of seed money — too small for a bank to trifle with, but just the right size for the microcredit program being established by SEUganda and the Holy Cross Family Center. Meeting Margaret put a face on the research of Rachel Zebrowski, ’06, a recent St. Edward’s graduate who studied microcredit for her Capstone project. After working at the Family Center for a month last summer as part of an SEUganda delegation, she put off plans for graduate school to help SEUganda and Holy Cross get money in the hands of budding entrepreneurs with no other access to capital. “This has put a fire underneath me to keep this project moving,” she says. Ugandan women could buy a cow or a new sewing machine with the nominal sums (typically $85) SEUganda loans them, enough to start a small business. And through the infrastructure already set up by the family center, established in 2001 as a medical clinic and vocational school for local women, SEUganda found the perfect way to reach them. Microcredit programs tend to focus on women, but if the initiative raises enough funding, it could help another segment of the local population: the farmers. While on the summer SEUganda trip, Jake McCook, ’06, met with several farmers to research for his Capstone the way they’ve inadvertently become leaders in organic agriculture.
Margaret (top, center), a single mother and crafts seller who cares for six children, is one of many Ugandan women for whom a microcredit loan can have a big impact. Rachel Zebrowski, ’06 (above, right), meets microcredit loan applicants at the Holy Cross Family Center in Kirinda, Uganda.
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