Orientation to Serve

Adapted from the BECA June 2012 Newsletter

Now that BECA Nicaragua has a team in place, one of the challenges I'm finding is instilling an orientation to serve. To ask our team that they reallly open their eyes and look hard for opportunities to serve our clients (i.e., the students we supervise).

In Nicaragua, the orientation to serve a customer is . . . hmmmm . . . well, I don't mind saying that it doesn't come even remotely close to fussy North American standards.

[Aside: Yeah, I know there are exceptions, so hang on to your hat. I'm speaking in general terms and about its implications for our organization.] Anyway, why is it this way?

Here's my simplistic take.

The great majority of Nicas are just trying to get by. That means if they are going to be interested in serving anyone, it would be themselves.

And why shouldn't they be?

It makes sense. Difficult to be critical of that.

It is my belief that this mentality trickles down to people working in the service industry. A good example is going to a Nicaraguan pharmacy. It's every person for himself! He who maketh the most noise, shall be served first. Survival of the fittest, capitalist style. (Substitute pharmacy for pizza kiosk, meat counter, etc.)

All of this has implications for BECA. Our current service model demands an high degree of  attention to detail. It could be an unrealistic expectation. Or a mission that isn't optimal for this environment.

I'll think about this some more but it may mean scaling down our ambitious mission of transforming lives to something more achievable. Hey, if people are good at serving and helping themselves doesn't it make more sense to concentrate on facilitating that?

Food for thought.

Hello, May I Speak to Jesus?

It cracks me up every time.

It's just because where I come from there are no guys named Jesus. At least I never met one.

But they have them here in Nicaragua.

Now, it isn't what I would call a common Nicaraguan man's name, but they're lurking around. [Parenthesis: You pronounce it "hey-seuss."]

Recently, I made contact with one of them. A bus driver. I asked for his phone number to make future reservations on his bus.

When it came time to give him a ring . . . I just couldn't do it with a straight face.

"Hello, may I speak to Jesús?"

Another beautiful oddity.

Who is that Young Woman on the BECA Home Page?

I am sometimes asked how and why I chose the feature image of the BECA home page.

My answer has always been a rather sheepish and sluggish "I don't know."

The "poster girl" is Maryury Ruíz of Masaya. She is a graduate of the BECA program and is now working for BECA as a Coordinator.

Maryury Ruíz (2010)

A few months ago, BECA Executive Director Antonio Rodriguez decided to ask if any member of our team was interested in living in the city of Estelí to support our students studying there.

I am told Maryury volunteered for the opportunity. Enthusiastically. Wow! [Parenthesis. This was no pithy request. Estelí is far away from Masaya and moving away would be quite a dramatic change for any young nica from the campo. Think backwater Saskatchewan to downtown Toronto.]

Sadly, the marketing for more students in Estelí didn't go that well, through no fault of her own. And I believe that Maryury may be asked to move back to Masaya. Or maybe she already has.

Please don't despair Maryury! All of us admire your courageous and adventurous spirit.

And I can hardly wait for the next person to ask me why I chose your picture for the website.

Now I am ready to answer.

Much Ado About Nada

BECA students are required to write a blog every week.  I don't think we ask for much -- at least ten lines.

If I could hazard a guess, I would say a quarter of the students do an excellent job. A second quarter do what we call at BECA a "regular" job. The remaining 50% do the absolute bare minimum.

I don't consider the blog to be an onerous task, but you would never know it talking to some of them (especially "los minimalistas"). 

"I have nothing to write about."

Huh? Zip? Zero? Zilch?

Goose Egg? Bagel? Zippo?

Geez, we have a lot of words in the English language to express nothingness, don't we?

My personal favorite is zip, followed closely by zilch.

Also interesting to me is that we hear native English speakers using "nada." For the record, I have never ever heard a Spanish speaker say "nothing."

Hmmm. All of this might be useful information for the seven BECA students we have in our pilot Call Center training project.

But anyway, I dedicate this blog entry to those becados who complain about having nothing to write about.

You see, a person can even write a blog about nothing!

To Supervise or not to Supervise?

(From the BECA May Newsletter)

Supervision. And how much of it is really necessary?

The BECA team wrestles with this issue quite a bit.

Some members of the team think that the answer is "lots." 

The argument is that the students are still very young -- usually late teens to early twenties -- and therefore require it. Moreover, they are often the first in their family to study a career on a formal basis. (Imagine that!)

BECA Director Antonio Rodriguez with a scholarship candidate (April/12)

The other camp are of the opinion that our students have already proven their maturity and seriousness by qualifying for the scholarship. They are, after all, young adults and "chasing after them" at school and at home is largely unnecessary.

Currently our policy is that BECA Coordinators visit each student at school every month. In addition, during the July break, they pay their family a visit at home.

BECA program graduates are visited every other month. 

Originally, I was firmly entrenched in the "more supervision" group.

But I must admit that I find myself slowly changing my tune. Or mellowing out, if you like. 

Why? These young people are very resourceful. And many are seeking an educational opportunity, not someone to hold their hand.

Checking in on our students and graduates will always be a part of BECA.

The question is, how often?