Attending to Endings – Put in the Effort & Let go of the Result

Every change is about a gain and a loss, a new beginning, but an ending too. For one door to open, another must close.  It’s important to face the truth of that and get closure on the past so you can move with focus and conviction to the future.

For me, in Peace Corps Mexico, it was about concluding my Viva Viveros project with the Mexican EPA and the women of Zamachihue, and tying up loose ends on my many relationships, secondary projects, and my Mexican life.

But what did closure really mean?  I had the vision of my new DC life all mapped-out; and images of this interim place I would go to decompress were revealing themselves in my journals:

I cracked open my Lonely Planet for the first time in a year and realized ALL of Mexico I’ve missed out on. But really, I did not come here to travel: I came here to work, to learn, to make a life. Now the time is coming for me to explore.  And I’m starting to feel excited about being a traveler in Mexico – with command of the language and comfort with the bus system and all the difficulties lifted off me, lessons I’ve learned the hard way.  I feel ready to takeoff with confidence and wanderlust.

And Oaxaca does seem to be calling. Reading in Kingsolver’s novel about Frida, the Little Oaxacan Queen, has made that place so real, so enticing. I want to touch the textiles and taste the mole and sip the mezcal - enjoy all the things I don’t have here in this hardscrabble, landlocked rincon of Mexico. Yes, I owe it to myself to find it out – to see another Mexico before I go – to know Professor Edgardo’s ‘Many Mexicos.’  And in this exotic place, take the time to write-out this book before I cross the border and get sucked into life in the fast lane, USA. 

I envision a beautiful quiet posada by the sea. I’ve saved up some money. I'll treat myself. After my three buses from Rioverde to DF, I'll catch the puddle-jumper to Puerto Escondido rather than the 12-hour throw-up bus over the Sierra Madres. Hidden Port will be a great place to hide-out.

The map of my ‘heart’s desire’ is unfolding. 

My yearning for this place was strong; but I was not there yet. I had lengthy and multidimensional to-do lists. My calendar printout was packed with trips to the campo, report deadlines, meetings in the capital, and final sessions of my university classes and English salons. It was almost illegible for the schedule change cross-outs, scribbles and arrows. 

It’s one thing to go with the cultural flow when you have two years;  but with two months left, I had no more time for Mexican Time.

We still had 20,000 trees to sell! They were mature and popping out of their bags. If we didn’t close a deal before I left, I was sure the seedlings would wither in the greenhouse, and the Zama Mamas would never realize their return on investment. But our leads were taking us down rat holes - enthusiastic prospects stopped returning phone calls. And after six months jumping through bureaucratic hoops with La Hacienda (the Mexican IRS), we still had not gotten closure on the official tax ID that would make or break the deal with our prime prospect, CONANP, the agency for parks and protected areas.

I found myself drifting to Puerto Escondido, fantasizing about running along the beach, watching the sunset over the Pacific, swimming in the sea and eating fish tacos!

But I had to reign in the fantasy and come back to the reality of here and now. 

Here and now, how the hell would I get it all done? What if I couldn’t?  I definitely wouldn't!  It was time to face the truth.  Coach Leslie helped me with this, first by helping me see all that I HAD done.  I brainstormed a list packed with over 20 big items like:

• Secured/completed USAID SPA grant funding for Viva Viveros.
• Created Pyramid Model of Sustainability. Applied/documented along the way.
• Presented Sustainability workshops for municipal government of Rioverde, citizen’s groups, universities, conferences – to get the word out at broader/system level. 
• Wrote posts about my experience for Anneseye Blog and published articles for The Piñata.
• Profesora invitada at at UPSLP school of industrial engineering.
• Led local community classes and events:  yoga, abs class, English Salon, CODI orphanage soccer balls program, EcoFeria Puente!  
  
• Built meaningful friendships with Rita and Sergio, Christina and Flor and Roberto in SLP, Chuya and her daughter Lupita, Ricardo and the folks at Echo-logical, Mike, Drew, Sarah and other PCVs...

Wow, that was a lot. My Peace Crops service had not been a cuerpo de passeo, a stroll in the park, as it was jokingly referred to at PCMX headquarters office, a Mexican play on words.

Leslie helped me thank myself for all that. No matter what happened over the next two months, I would leave my mark on Mexico and the Mexicans on me. And in that small space of acknowledgement and acceptance, I was able to let go of some of the striving. I took a list over 100 to-dos and narrowed it down to 3 big ticket items, following my three-tiered Pyramid of Sustainability Model as a guide:  

• At the personal level, I was: Being intentional about closing my service and my relationships (both personal and professional) with Appreciation, Grace, Sustainability, and Possibility; acknowledging the sadness, but appreciating everything that I have given and received.

• At the group/community level I was: Realizing the schedule, remaining focused, not adding any new projects or tasks, recruiting help, preparing and conducting the final three community training sessions in Zamachihue to xfer knowledge on finances, bylaws, sustainable practices, meetings/roles, sales.  And Celebrating!

• And at the system-level I was: Conducting closing meetings with my Peace Corps bosses and my SEMARNAT counterparts to present the truth of my challenges, accomplishments and recommendations powerfully so this information might serve other/future PCVs and projects.

Yes, there was still a LOT to do.  And I didn’t have full control over making it all come to closure.  But I could really see what was important – and it was not ALL about selling the trees.  It was about the human element.  

It was also about:   Putting it the effort and letting go of the result.

The mantra which helped me through two years of ups and downs in my Peace Corps service would carry me through to the end.

Closure, I learned on this journey, is about accepting things as they are – appreciating all that you did accomplish -  and honoring and celebrating with those who supported and humored you along the way. Then, and only then, are you ready to open up to what’s next.

Viva Viveros! Cultivating Native Plants & Sustainable Lives

The dictionary definition of sustainability is the capacity to endure – in the face of challenges and threats. Anne Pellicciotto, Peace Corps Volunteer Mexico (2010-2012), learned the true meaning of this word though Viva Viveros!

Assigned to SEMARNAT, the Mexican federal agency for environmental protection, Anne quickly realized that the government’s investments were not paying off. Their 3-month PET (programa empleo temporal) projects paid the people of rural ejido communities a temporary subsistence wage for ecosystem services – enough to fund construction of native plant greenhouses and initial production – but not enough to endure. 

Building upon Semarnat’s ‘seed’ investments,  Anne’s goal was to grow these projects into small yet sustainable native plant business and target their products to the extensive government reforestation market. Applying her entrepreneurial and organization development experience, plus the support of USAID through a small-project assistance (SPA) grant, Anne created a collaborative program to engage the communities of the process of their own change.

 

Envisioning Sustainability – People, Planet and Profits

Focused on two remote communities, Zamachihue and Paso de Botello, both situated in the arid Zona Media of the state of San Luis Potosi, Anne’s first step with Viva Viveros was to co-create a sustainable vision – one that inspired the all-women participants to believe in themselves and the power of their collective efforts.  Drawing pictures of the past, present and future of their vivero, they began to see the virtuous cycle of benefits to them, their families and the planet.

Looking at it through the lens of the United Nations and the three pillars of sustainability, Viva Viveros had true, holistic potential:

• People – cultivate new skills, mindset, self-confidence and pride, unity of community
• Planet – cultivate native plants and trees that generate oxygen and benefit the environment
• Profits – generate profits through sale of the trees to   government and industry projects of reforestation.

Building Internal Capacity – Por, para y con la gente 

To realize the vision, the women needed training, organization and business planning and development. Thus, Anne developed a capacity-development program that included a series of eight interactive sessions over eight months of visits: 

• Session 1 - Vision of Your Sustainable Business
• Session 2 – Internal Organization and Profit-Sharing Agreement 
• Session 3 – Defining Your Bylaws 
• Session 4 – Hacienda Process for Business Registration/RFC 
• Session 5 – Bano Seco Installation & Sustainable Living Practices
• Session 6 – Marketing & Sales – Keys to Survival
• Session 7 – Status Reporting, Financial Management
• Session 8 – Reflection, Celebration, Transition to the Future

Note:  Some sessions were more scintillating than others.



Creating Identity and Professionalism

If you build it they will NOT come – especially to the remote communities where these viveros are situated. Thus, critical to the viability of these small businesses was creating an identity, and then connecting with potential clients in the reforestation sector.  The USAID funding allowed Anne and the communities work with professionals to create logos, brochures, posters and even a website – www.vivaviveros.com still under construction but soon accessible – to potential buyers and funders, with products, pricing, location and contact information.  

Another critical element in the business of sustainability was registering the business with the municipal government and, ultimately, obtaining Federal ID numbers and electronic signatures through La Hacienda (Mexico's equivalent of the IRS) - not a simple process. But without official designations, the vivero would not be permitted to sell their products to the government.    After six months of hard work internally, three visits to the capital for appointments with the SAT, plenty of patience and persistence and fees, the Zamachihue group secured with RFC and electronic signature, and JUST in time to close the deal with CONANP.

Closing the Deal
A sustainable micro-empresa, no matter how big or small, can only endure if there is income – real earned income, not handouts. Thus, after all the capacity building, planning and marketing, and cultivation, the ultimate push was for sales. The mesquite seedlings were busting out of their bags, and the rainy reforestation season was coming to a rapid close. After months of calls, meetings, presentations, emails, follow-up, follow-up and more follow-up, an environmental engineer from CONANP (the agency for the preservation of national parks and protected areas), called back, ready to sign a contract for 20,000 trees for a reforestation project in Parque Potosi. That was our whole crop! The baby trees would finally have a home – and the Mama’s of Zamachihue would finally have their windfall. 

But the deal wasn’t done until the trees were delivered and the payment was received and distributed among the women partners. Another learning opportunity, because transporting 14 tons of trees from the vivero to the community of Canada Grande on the others side of the Zona Media was no small task – it took 8 hours and 40 hands to load the first truck!  

Sustainability Starts with ME 

Though the one-year process, Anne and the women learned that sustainability starts with ME – with each individual on the team – with an attitude of patience that allows one to remain positive despite all the obstacles – combined with persistence that prompts one to push when there’s no more time for waiting. (You can spend a lifetime waiting in Mexico. In the end, the women got their check for $80,000 pesos, to be divided up among the 20 women socias, with 15 percent re-invested into the business in accordance with the internal agreement, so that Vivero Esperanza de Zamachihue will endure.

Then there was a fiesta!

Sustainability would not have been possible for these communities without the generosity of the American people through USAID.
 

The Zama Mamas ~ Before and After