Blanca Melissa Saenz is an intelligent, hard working, humble 15-year-old student from a rural community in between the Nicaraguan cities of Granada and Masaya. She, along with many of her classmates, sometimes walks over an hour in the midday heat just to get to and from Bertha Pacheco high school where I teach. Most of the kids from these rural communities never even make it to high school due to extreme poverty faced in the area. Of the lucky ones that do start high school, only around 20 percent make it to graduation. Thus, the majority of students and kids are forced to make a living either selling in the markets or working in the agricultural field (or in the case of many young girls, making babies and finding a husband to support them).
In spite of various educational obstacles such as the complete lack of textbooks and computer access, minimal family support, and unreliable water and electricity, Blanca, along with five of her classmates, just had the opportunity to compete in the national business competition of La Empresa Creativa (LEC), the Creative Enterprise Project. This joint entrepreneurial project of Peace Corps and the Ministry of Education pairs local teachers and Peace Corps Volunteers like me to teach fourth year high school students how to create, open, and administer an innovative, viable business. Blanca and her five classmates are the co-founders and owners of Telantro, a successful business that makes, packages and sells a variety of teas, with cilantro (cilantro en español) tea being the principle product.
After winning both their local and regional competitions, Telantro traveled to the Holiday Inn in Managua, Nicaragua’s capital, to present their business in front of a panel of judges, and an audience that included their peers and student entrepreneurs, all vying to win first prize. They had already bested some very creative businesses in the regional competition such as Sillas Mochilas, backpacks that doubled as chairs, CYMA, a home based recycling center for plastic products, and a group that wove and transformed littered plastic bags into artisan bags. Now they were up against even stiffer competition with products such as natural honey shampoo, portable desks, and backpacks with an attached waterproof gear.
It was incredible to see how these young students utilized their natural, local resources in order to start creative, productive businesses with on average of only 20 dollars in startup capital. During their business plan presentations, all of the students proved that they knew how to do basic accounting, design a marketing strategy, conduct a market study, and calculate their costs and profits. They showed that they were, in fact, micro business owners capable of making their own money instead of relying on the severely limited Nicaraguan job market. And even though this was primarily an educational exercise, the hope is that these young entrepreneurs will continue their education and then go on to create truly successful businesses that will allow them to support their families and generate jobs throughout the country.
On the day of the national competition (Nov. 12), my students, Telantro, were very nervous before the PowerPoint presentation and in awe of the size of the hotel. This was the first time that any of them had ever been in such a large, luxurious hotel. Able to calm their nerves (I recommended that they drink some of their very own tea), they presented extremely well, stayed perfectly within the seven-minute time limit, and responded to the judges’ questions beautifully. Unfortunately after the judges’ deliberation, they did not win first place or any prize at all.
Amidst their disappointment, I reminded them how far they had already come, how they had already sold well over 200 packets of tea, and how they had created from scratch a REAL business with profit potential. And even though they were still disappointed, I knew they were proud of themselves. They knew they now had the knowledge and skills to create and manage their very own business. And to really cheer them up, all it took was a quick elevator ride up to the sixth floor, the first time five of the six students had ever been on an elevator! The terrified, hopeful look on Blanca’s face when the elevator started to move was truly priceless.
More on the Competition Season
An integral part of the La Empresa Creativa course is the fact that the kids must participate in the business plan competitions that take place on a local, regional, and national levels in the months of September, October, and November. Throughout the year the students learn about how to start a business while applying this knowledge in the creation of their own business. Before the local competition in which every student participates, all business groups must submit a basic business plan and do a presentation on their idea. The winners of the local move onto the regional, and the winners of the regional move onto the national. The competitions serve as motivation for the students and also allows them to better the public speaking and presentation skills.
When I first came to Granada last August, we were just a month away from having the local/school competitions and I was thrown right into the fire. Without knowing what I was doing, I jumped right in and with the advice from the Nicaraguan teachers and principals who had already participated in previous competitions, we did pretty well organizing the events. This year, with that experience under my belt, the competitions went extremely well. The quality of the products and businesses were much improved from last year and the events ran much smoother.
I was responsible for organizing the regional competition in Granada and spent the good part of a month fundraising, organizing, getting the students ready, etc, etc. We held the event in La Casa de 3 Mundos (The House of 3 Worlds) and more than 250 students, parents, teachers, and tourists were in attendance. Telantro, from the rural school of Bertha Pacheco, won first prize. Second prize went to a group from Nandaime, a city in the department of Granada, called Canastas y Mas (Baskets and More) that produced from recycled materials beautiful artisan fruit baskets. And third place went to a disappointed group of students from Carmela Noguera, a school here in Granada, who ran a business Sillas Mochilas (Chair Backpacks) that produced backpacks that converted into chairs. If it were up to me, Sillas Mochilas would have one but my three distinguished judges believed otherwise.
This will sadly be the last time that I participate and organize competitions here in Granada but I am honored to have participated in this project and truly believe that it will benefit Nicaragua’s entrepreneurial community in the future.
