“The glonbal economy works for about 20% of the world, for about 80% it doesn’t” – Kevin Danaher

Althea’s birthday cake!

Hello there everyone ! Today was all about Global Business and how to be a responsible consumer. We had breakfast at our favorite establishment and today’s breakfast was another exquisite traditional dish; a Naca Tamal ( Nicaraguan Tamale) which the students all loved. Afterwards, we had our Global Business seminar where the students were able to learn about fair trade and a government’s role in the affairs of businesses. Empowered with this new knowledge the students were eager to meet local business owners. We were able to visit two bakeries and see how  they are ran. One Panaderia we visited was on a busy street and served the local community. Customers were coming in and out while we were there. We all had an opportunity to take in the scenery and clientele while enjoying a delicious baked goodies. Afterwards, we walked to the center of town to a new bakery named Pan de Vida. This was a new bakery which a Canadian couple opened. They use natural ingredients and traditional baking styles to bring a healthier option to the city. We had an opportunity to speak to the owners and hear their philosophy and goals for the bakery.The students asked some great questions to the owners, such as ” Are members of the community able to eat here regularly?” and ” How does your business reach out to the local community” . I was really proud of the questions asked. Afterwards, we returned to the hostel for some much needed water and to discuss how the two different panaderias we visited were similar and different. Some issues that were brought up were : the price difference, the clientele, the locations and the effect on the surrounding community.  After seeing both businesses we were left the thought of , how can a foreign owned business make a positive impact on the city, and we were about to all find out how. I feel as though this blog cannot effectively convey how much love we all had for our next location, Cafe de las Sonrisas . The cafe is owned by Tio Antonio, a Spanish Chef who came to Granada to open a business. However, upon arrival he met a deaf and mute boy in need and to take him under his wing. Tio Pedro hired a professor to teach the boy to sign. With this new connection, Tio Pedro ended up meting  many more boys and girls with the same disabilities. He  decided he needed to figure out a way to help them so he wrote letters to the local businesses to hire these deaf kids. However when his plan did not work because he got no response Tio Pedro decided to make work for them and he opened up a hammock making shop and cafe. He taught these kids how to make hammocks and interact with customers, he created this community business from scratch. All of the students were deeply touched and inspired by such a giving man and were amazed at how he recognized the boys and girls true ability when no one else in the community did. Today definitely touched every kids hearts, to see how gracious one person can be and how this is spread within the shop. All of the workers are inspiring people who show that even with a disability they too can work like everyone else. We were lucky enough to be taught and inspired as theyshowed  us the process of making hammocks. We even got to get a glimpse of their life as they gave us earplugs and we wore them for 5 minutes while we ate dessert. It was a great to see how the students interacted with the workers from the hammock and coffee shop, even though they did not speak the same language, they both found ways to communicate with each other. We were lucky to have TWO glimpsers who know sign language, Nitasha and Althea. Over all this experience is one the students will never forget. After returning from the Cafe de las Sonrisas, the students had a seminar to prepare them for English tutoring which we will be starting in a couple of days. They went over tips and received resources to help them build the curriculum they will be teaching. Once this seminar was done we walked over to the comedor for dinner, it was a great day as the students could not stop talking about the all the thing the Cafe de las Sonrisas brings to their community.

  Valeska and Karen excited to eat at El Cafe de las Sonrisas

Cheyenne learning the hammock making process