Most of Goizueta’s mid-semester modules past and present focus on high-profile businesses abroad. They are extremely rewarding experiences that begin to build a global framework in which we can apply some of what we’ve learned. But one academic area up and coming at this school was not being served by these modules at all – Social Enterprise. This year Professor Peter Roberts, who is spearheading our Social Enterprise Initiative, Project Manager Ellen Williams, and a group of students led the planning of a Voluntourism (sweet word combo) Trip to Nicaragua.
As they described in the meeting that revealed these trips, the students would first travel to a coastal town known for being an unspoiled surfing destination, live in “homestays” with Nicaraguan families for a week, participate in community service projects, learn about the non-profits’ founders and operations, and then travel to the organic coffee farm which is on a lake in the Nicaraguan mountains and stay in an “eco-lodge” on the property. And, oh by the way, the price would be a $1000 less than any of the other trips. I mean, how awesome is that? I was literally the first student to sign up. And I was the only student. It looked like just me and the Professor would have a jolly old trip to Latin America.
For about a week. Then some intrepid first-years joined the party. In the end there was about 11 of us and our adventurous spirit was rewarded when we learned more details. “Oh by the way,” the planners mused, “the price of the trip covers almost all your food. And in between the volunteer projects we’re going to eat at restaurants on the beach, we’re going to go sailing, we’re going on a zipline canopy tour, we’re going on a boat tour of volcanic islands in Grenada, then we’re actually going to an active friggin volcano.”
Uh, what? Best. Trip. Ever.
And the piece that made the most people nervous turned out to be one of the most informative – the homestays. There’s something to be said for not having a cushy hotel to return to after being out and about in a foreign culture.
Yes, it will provide you with a welcome rest after a day of negotiating unfamiliar circumstances, and yes, there are people there that help you get around, and yes there’s less chance you’ll get the digestive problems that may or may not incapacitate you and horrify your roommate. But with the typical hotel experience it’s also like you’re leaving the country you’re supposedly visiting for standard, familiar surroundings that you could experience anywhere else. For a vacation, that’s fun. But for a learning experience, the homestays added a whole extra level of knowledge and interaction with real people as they live.
Granted, the families able to put us up were better off than many others. They were the Nicaraguan Middle class. But visiting their homes showed how much more resources it takes to keep the average American “happy” compared to the average Nicaraguan, or the average person on most of the Earth. They simply do more with less. And as every recent study on the issue of happiness has shown, Americans are not more happy.
It was a good lesson in the fundamental premise of sustainability that we sometimes overlook when we’re busy developing social business models, championing environmental causes, or even just worrying about carbon footprint. The lesson is: Just use less.
I got home and felt the weight of all the mostly unused or rarely-used stuff crowding my one-bedroom apartment hanging from my shoulders like a 3-ton suitcase. It invigorated in me a desire to get rid of almost all of it, to simplify and retain only what I use most often or really care about. Honestly, if I’m able to hold onto this feeling I can probably avoid most impulse buys, avoid getting sucked into most trends (even the ones that interest me like, you know, every new gadget every made), and in general just save more resources.
Not the planet’s resources, my own resources. It’s so simple, but assuming we have the money, how often do we think about all of this at the point of purchase? “Don’t buy that even though you can easily afford it and it looks awesome. Just use less.”
This isn’t about the environment. This is sustainability on a personal, mental, emotional, and bank account level. How much less burden would you feel if you just had less stuff to look after/worry about/find in the store/need to buy/laying around your apartment? Don’t want more, want less.
It’s ridiculous that it takes a voluntourism trip to remember things like this. It’s not like I, or all of us, haven’t had these thoughts before. This just shows once more how easy it is to get caught up in all the cultural contexts, behaviors, and processes we encounter almost every moment of our waking lives. We take those cultural elements as truths about what our life is and how things in our life work. But how many of us actually take a few minutes each day to just stop acting? And just sit there and think about how these assumptions about the way the world works aren’t actual truths, many of them are stories or expectations or cultural agreements.
Despite what almost everyone will tell you, there is no fixed way anything absolutely has to work. This is extremely relevant for those of us about to re-enter the workforce.
I know. Where the hell am I going with this? I’m just describing the process of taking the time to challenge our own perspective, through travel, through moving against the grain, or through finding the underlying assumptions of our lives and questioning them.
We learned much more than this simple lesson, of course. But if for nothing else, a trip like this that puts us outside our comfort zone is great for shaking up our world view. Which is perfectly appropriate for business and especially appropriate for Social Enterprise.
To truly make pervasive, innovative, and sustainable changes in how we do business, in how business works and contributes to society, it’s going to take nothing less than a major shift in world view. Imagine telling a publicly-traded financial company, don’t want more, want less, because your contribution to society shouldn’t be your quarterly profit. A simplistic statement, I know. But hopefully the examples of companies already profiting through Social Enterprise will serve as reminders for businesses to examine their own perspectives and challenge them, just as this trip has remind me in my life.
Read the full article: Service Projects, Homestays, and a Volcano? Sign me up.