Co-operative News - Honduras

It’s Time for Nuts! Part IV

Rodney North — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:01:43 +0000

The Lempa River, Armed Conflict, Refugees and Repatriations

In November 1989, the FMLN launched a major offensive in the hopes of sparking an insurrection across El Salvador which would once and for ever end the devastating civil war. The Salvadoran military retaliated viciously. One of the most famous incidents, which drew international attention, shock, and outrage, was the brutal and audaciously cold-blooded massacre of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter. The Jesuit priests had long been outspoken advocates of a peaceful settlement to the war and the need for social justice in the country. Pulled out of their beds from their rooms at the University of Central America where they lay sleeping, and shot repeatedly in the head at close range, the soldiers wanted to make their point that they were killing those they accused of being the “intellectual authors” of the Salvadoran Left.

I was living in Somerville, MA at the time of the massacre, where 6,000 of the 20,000 Salvadoran refugees in the Boston area were living, trying to rebuild their lives. The Salvadorans had formed a local committee to provide assistance to the refugees, educate North Americans about the realities of the conflict and the struggle for justice in the country, and ultimately put pressure on the U.S. government to stop funding the war. There I was one day, volunteering in the office of this group, when they asked me if I could pick someone up at the airport. It turned out to be a prominent Catholic Salvadoran priest, Miguel Ventura. Miguel asked if I would mind setting up a projector, as he had just been given some slides he wanted to view. It turned out to be a box of the uncensored, close up slides of the massacre at the UCA, where some of his closest friends had just been assassinated.

A few weeks later, another Salvadoran visitor arrived. He informed us that 8,400 refugees, 85% of whom were women and children, who had been living for nine years in the refugee camp of Colomoncagua, Honduras, had made the bold decision to return home to El Salvador. All over Central America, Salvadorans fleeing the armed conflict had been living for close to a decade in exile. And now, the first organized returns were about to occur.

The Military Strategy in the Rural Areas

It was not an accident that millions of Salvadoran campesinos had fled the country. In the early days of the armed conflict, the Salvadoran military enacted a strategy they had learned from the North Americans, which had been tried and tested in Vietnam. They understood that many campesinos, living in poverty and repression, might support the FMLN as their last and only hope to change their conditions after all other peaceful and democratic means had failed. And so, in the early 1980s, in a strategy called, “draining the ocean to kill the fish,” the Salvadoran military began indiscriminately bombing swatches of the countryside where the insurgents were particularly active. Bombing; burning houses, fields, and everything in sight; and gruesome massacres succeeded in causing many campesinos to leave their homes, farms, and families and literally flee the country with just the clothes on their backs.

Sadly, the military had another tactic up their sleeves. This one, also learned by their North American advisors and employed in Vietnam, was called the “hammer and anvil” strategy. The Lempa (and Sumpul) Rivers separate El Salvador from Honduras in the northern parts of the country where poverty and oppression, and consequently insurgent activity was most high. In coordination with their Honduran counterparts, the military would undergo bombing raids to drive the campesinos from their homes. With nowhere else to run, the campesinos would dive into the rivers to swim over the border, presumably into safety in Honduras. But as they crossed the rivers, instead of the refuge they sought, many were instead met by Honduran soldiers lined up on the bank, where they would shoot and kill the Salvadorans as they arrived to shore. Those Salvadorans who managed to survive all of this accumulated suffering, were eventually given refuge by sympathetic Honduran families. Eventually, the United Nations stepped in and set up refugee camps along the Honduran borders.

The Repatriations

In mid-November 1989, following the brutal assassination of the six Jesuits and the two women, the refugees living in Honduras said, “basta.” Nine years of exile was enough and it was time to return home, lend support to their countrymen, end the civil war, and rebuild their country. The Salvadoran government opposed their return and told them “the time wasn’t right;” they would be entering a highly conflictive zone and their safety could not be guaranteed. But the refugees were determined, responding that they were Salvadorans and no one had a right to keep them out of their country any longer.

The U.N. refused to help the refugees without the government’s permission and so they decided to make the repatriations on their own. The first two groups of 500 people packed up their things, removed every nail, every piece of wood, every last item of use they could carry, and made the nine-mile walk across the border on foot. When the U.N. realized that the Salvadorans would do the whole repatriation themselves, they scrambled to save face and offer logistical support to the remaining thousands.

It was at this point that a representative arrived in Somerville. He let us know about the situation (which had received no press in the U.S. media) and asked if anyone would be willing to fly to Honduras and accompany the next groups of refugees across the border into Morazan. The war was going strong and the refugees were unwelcome by their government. International accompaniment would offer a measure of protection and, in those days before cell phones and internet, some international visibility. A friend and I raised our hands, “we’ll go.”

It would be a whole other story to write about the courage, determination, and high level of organization I witnessed in Colomoncagua; the trips across the border into the mountains of Morazan, where not a structure remained standing when the refugees made their returns; and the hard work of the Salvadorans to begin rebuilding a community from nothing. Their mottos, which hung from banners on the U.N. trucks that took each group of 500 Salvadorans across the border, proclaimed, “We left as individual farmers; we’re returning to live united in community”, and, “We are the hope for the future of El Salvador.” As they crossed the border into their own country, friends and family members who had remained behind throughout the war, lined the streets waving flags of welcome, laughing and crying. There were no dry eyes on those trips.

Segundo Montes City: “The Hope for the Future of El Salvador”

The former refugees renamed their community, “Segundo Montes City” after one of the six martyred Jesuits who, inspired by their level of organization, preparation and commitment while living in Colomoncagua, had written extensively about them, calling them “the hope for the future of El Salvador.” And they were. The refugees themselves said that their time in the camps was like a school for them. Determined to make use of their exile, they refused to accept traditional “help” from the international agencies working there. Instead of accepting clothing, they asked for sewing workshops where they could learn to make clothes. Shoemaking, bricklaying, carpentry, metal working workshops were all set up and each Salvadoran chose a job to do. They insisted that the international agencies providing health care in the camps taught them to become health promoters and administer basic health care. Communal kitchens and day care centers were opened to free the women to learn new skills. When they arrived at the camps, the literacy rate was 15%. Classrooms were established, and children taught the adults. No matter the level of education, the adults would teach those who knew less. In 1990, when they returned home they had succeeded in reversing their literacy rate to 85%.

The Colomoncaguan refugees said they would not return to subsistence farming. Instead, they would buy their food from their neighbors and concentrate their efforts on building a new city where they would put all the skills they had learned in exile into use. Segundo Montes City would become a hub of community and co-operative development. They would provide health clinics and schools for the neighboring communities; they would open carpentry, sewing, and bakery co-operative; and run shoe making, clothing, wood working, and metal working factories providing goods, services, and employment to the area.

The Bajo Lempa Repatriations

The return of the Colomoncagua refugees was huge. All over El Salvador and elsewhere, those involved in the popular movement were feeling signs of hope and inspiration. It was as if the only antidote to the horrific and tragic loss of the Jesuits and all they had contributed to advance peace and justice in Salvador, was going to be what would live on and flourish through the return of the repatriated communities and what they could succeed in building in a new, post-war country.

When the news about the repatriations from Honduras reached the refugees who had been living for close to a decade in Nicaragua and in Panama, they decided it was time to return home as well. Although there wasn’t quite as much fanfare, these repatriations were also incredibly moving and extremely important. It was decided that each of these two groups of returned refugees would settle in Usulutan province, in two communities near each other in the Bajo Lempa. Like their friends and family members in Morazan, they returned home to empty land and had to rebuild everything out of nothing, as the army had also destroyed this area during the war.

The refugees who had been living in Nicaragua had all the benefits of living under the Sandinista regime. They learned to work in agriculture co-operatives; they received training in acupuncture, massage, and holistic health care; teachers were trained in new methodologies; day care centers, nurseries, and schools all used progressive pedagogy. Women held positions of leadership in the community and participation and democratic governance were ideals they aimed to put into practice. They named their new community, Nueva Esperanza (New Hope).

Across the road from Nueva Esperanza, the refugees returning from Panama settled into a community they named, Ciudad Romero, after Archbishop Romero. The experience of the refugees who had lived in Panama was vastly different from their friends and families in Segundo Montes and Nueva Esperanza. They hadn’t had the benefits of living under the Sandinistas, or the assistance of the international agencies working in a camp, but rather had been given land in the jungle of Panama by then President Trujillo. They returned pretty much as they had left, small subsistence farmers living and working fairly independently.

Still the plan was for these communities, and others like them scattered through the country, to begin trading with each other, creating new economies and social structures, all based on democracy, participation, equality between the sexes, and new ideas. It was certainly a time of excitement, hope, and idealism.

Read Part V tomorrow.

Fair Trade USA Announces New Winners of Cooperative Small Grants Program

Fair Trade USA — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:39:05 +0000

OAKLAND, Calif. (December 5, 2012) – Fair Trade USA, the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States, today announced the winner of its Cooperative Small Grants Program’s second round, which offers Fair Trade Certified™ cooperatives access to funding for specific capacity-building projects. The winner, COMSA from Honduras, plans to use the grant money to improve their environmental sustainability efforts and their organics program.

The goals of the Program are (1) to invest in small farmers as they build skills for cooperative management, and (2) to support the building of durable supply chains between cooperatives and their North American business partners. The grant is also part of Fair Trade USA’s larger Co-op Link initiative, which connects and supports organizations throughout the supply chain to maximize the benefits of Fair Trade, and is available to any Fair Trade Certified coffee cooperative not currently involved in a Co-op Link capacity-building program.

The Cooperative Small Grants Program is designed to create real impact in farming communities and can be used on projects in the following categories:

Quality and Productivity
Cooperative Business Management
Access to Finance
Creation of Social Programs (microfinance, etc.)
Environmental Projects
Food Security
Commercialization (introducing products to the market)

“We are deeply proud to announce COMSA as a winner of our Grants Program,” said Jennifer Gallegos, Director of Coffee for Fair Trade USA. “Honduras is one of the fastest growing Fair Trade coffee origins; it holds tremendous potential to become a leader in sustainable coffee. We are honored to support COMSA on their Fair Trade journey, and believe that access to short term investments in quality and productivity will help them unlock this potential.”

About the Grant Winner

The winner, Café Orgánico Marcala S.A. de C.V. (COMSA), is a Honduran coffee cooperative founded in 2001 with support from the Rural Business Development Foundation (FUNDER). It began with a group of 69 small Honduran producers interested in selling their high quality coffee to markets for a fair price. Today, COMSA’s over 600 members are pioneers in Honduran organic coffee cultivation.

COMSA was awarded $ 19,989.93 for its winning project titled “Generando vida a los suelos, producimos con responsabilidad," or “Generating life to our soils, we produce with responsibility.” As the name suggests, this project aims to regenerate and reduce contamination in producers’ land, minimize production costs and increase the quality of their specialty coffee. Specific projects include (1) offering extensive training for cooperative members on sustainable practices, (2) improving on old and implementing new organic biotechnologies in their production, (3) implementing a system to better collect and manage fresh water supplies, (4) hiring a technician to implement and maintain the water project, and (5) reusing coffee byproducts for natural low-cost soil nutrition.

“We are very happy to hear this news. We’ve faced many challenges this harvest including plant disease and difficulties finding financing opportunities, which have incremented our costs of production,” said Sonia Vasquez, Organic Production and Certification Coordinator of COMSA. “This project will directly help more of our cooperative members produce in a more low cost and environmentally sustainable way. We are very enthused to receive these funds and we will work diligently in the implementation of this project.”

Fair Trade coffee cooperatives from Africa, Asia and Latin America submitted 30 applications for this grant. Fair Trade USA carefully selected 6 finalists, which were then reviewed by a Grant Selection Committee made up of four external industry experts, including:

Susan Aleman--Sustainable Harvest (Peru)
Grace Mena--International Women’s Coffee Aliance (IWCA) (Costa Rica)
Nestor Rodriguez--Asociación Pueblos en Acción Comunitaria (APAC) (Nicaragua)
Guido Fernandez--Mitsubishi International Corporation (New York City)

Fair Trade USA has implemented two rounds of the grant program in 2012, the first of which was in August. The two winners of the first round, APROCASSI from Peru, and ASOPROKAN from Colombia, invested in crop productivity and quality management. Over the course of 2012, Fair Trade USA dispersed over $60,000 through its grant program.

The Cooperative Small Grants Program, along with other ongoing Co-op Link projects, is part of Fair Trade USA’s Fair Trade for All initiative, designed to strengthen farming communities and include more farmers and workers, ultimately doubling impact by 2015.

# # #

Fair Trade USA, a nonprofit organization, is the leading third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in the United States. Fair Trade USA audits and certifies transactions between U.S. companies and their international suppliers to guarantee that the farmers and workers producing Fair Trade Certified goods were paid fair prices and wages, work in safe conditions, protect the environment, and receive community development funds to empower and improve their communities. Fair Trade USA also educates consumers, brings new manufacturers and retailers into the Fair Trade system, and provides farming communities with tools, training and resources to thrive as international businesspeople. Visit www.fairtradeusa.org for more information.

Editor’s Notes:

Fair Trade USA is a nonprofit organization. We are supported through service fees paid by businesses using the Fair Trade Certified label, as well as through the generous donations of major foundations, development organizations, and independent philanthropists.

These Grants are made possible by donations and service fees paid to Fair Trade USA by more than 800 business partners.

ICMIF Latin American Reinsurance Group’s Annual Seminar attracts record delegate numbers

AlisonGrant — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 08:34:57 +0000

The ICMIF LARG (Latin American Reinsurance Group) Annual Seminar will take place next week in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, from August, 28 to August 31. This year’s meeting is being hosted by ICMIF member Equidad Compañía de Seguros S.A and the opening ceremony will be attended by the Honduras Superintendant of Insurance.

The event this year will bring together a record number of 73 delegates from 14 countries and 17 ICMIF member organisations (including some of the ICMIF Supporting Members). The LARG Seminar brings together this unique group of ICMIF members to discuss issues such as underwriting, claims, microinsurance, actuarial models, strategic planning, catastrophe reinsurance as well as providing the opportunity to discuss reinsurance treaty renewals for 2013 with their reinsurers and reinsurance broker, Willis Re.

Mariela Silva de Reyes, General Manager of Equidad Compañía de Seguros, S.A. is looking forward to welcoming delegates to the Annual Meeting of the Latin American Reinsurance Group – LARG 2012 in Tegucigalpa. She says, “we are delighted to have the opportunity to meet everyone at this magnificent event to strengthen our ties with fellow cooperatives and for delegates to experience our culture, our historic quarters, our abundant parks but most of all the wonderful people of our vibrant country”.

As in previous meetings, a full agenda has been developed which will include topics related to insurance and reinsurance plans and will include presentations by top level speakers; most of whom will be representatives from the group’s reinsurers. During the meeting delegates will also be working on strategic planning to define the group’s direction for the next three years and to define the actions for the 2013 work plan. Most importantly of all, LARG members will have the chance to strengthen their relationships with each other through the exchange of experiences.

The Latin American Reinsurance Group (LARG) is a group of ICMIF members which purchases their reinsurance collectively. The concept was developed over several years and in April 2004 the group was formed by five ICMIF members:

During subsequent years additional members have been integrated into the group bringing the total number of member organisations to 14.

The Future Cooperative Leaders Program: preparing the next generation

Lyne Gagnon — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 11:21:00 +0000

Tomorrow's leaders will be doing more than just attending the Summit: they'll be getting a unique experience that will help prepare them for the day they take over the reins. The Future Cooperative Leaders Program, intended for young cooperators between the ages of 20 and 35, will give them the opportunity to meet with senior executives, experts and major players from the international cooperative community, and attend exciting and exclusive events that will provide high added value. The theme of the program is “Future leaders in the cooperative world – their participation, actions and involvement.” A special forum will be held, where young cooperative leaders with extensive experience in their activity sector will speak. “The 2012 Summit's Future Cooperative Leaders Program will be an opportunity for tomorrow's cooperative leaders to connect with other young cooperators from around the world and build a network that will serve them all their lives,” promises Stéphanie Guico, Program Manager (in photo). A “cooperative state of mind” And that's no empty promise. Stéphanie Guico knows what she's talking about when it comes to building strong connections. It's no coincidence that she was put in charge of this program. Stéphanie's desire to change the world led her to study International Development, Middle Eastern Languages and Political Science at Montreal's McGill University. Convinced that building a stronger civil society “is a crucial driver for socio-economic development,” she then went on to work for a federation of farming cooperatives in Honduras… after teaching English in Japan! It was while Stéphanie was living in Honduras that cooperative values really began to make sense to her. “Only cooperatives allow communities to reap the full benefits of their efforts,” she says. Coming out of this experience in a “cooperative state of mind,” Stéphanie then became involved with Coop la Maison verte1 and recently became their marketing manager. At the same time, she also enrolled in the Co-operative Management Masters program at Halifax's St. Mary's University, one of the three hosts of the 2012 Summit. It was there that she met Tom Webb, the Masters Program Manager and coordinator of the pre-Summit event, Imagine 2012. Tom introduced Stéphanie to Joanne Lechasseur, who is responsible for developing the programming for the Summit and future cooperative leaders. “The idea of getting tomorrow's leaders involved stemmed from the issues of cooperative sustainability and continuity,” she explains. “We didn't want to just invite them to attend, we also wanted to help prepare them, so one day they'll be ready to take over the reins.” A global and long-term vision This is why Stéphanie Guico is convinced the participants in the Future Cooperative Leaders Program will leave the Summit “with a greater awareness of the company they work for and the cooperative movement as a whole.” She sees the Future Cooperative Leaders Program “as a chance to take a step back and see beyond the computer screen, and to take part in an exchange and cross-pollination of stimulating ideas.” The program's 250 participants will help draft the Summit's final declaration. “This is a unique opportunity for young employees, managers and elected officers from around the world to connect with their peers and solidify their interest in the cooperative movement and its development,” concludes Stéphanie Guico. Future leaders: how to participate in the Summit All cooperatives and the associations that represent them may participate in the Future Cooperative Leaders Program by nominating up to two candidates per organization. Nominations must be submitted by April 30, 2012. Selected delegates will receive confirmation of their participation by May 15, 2012. To find out more about the selection process. 1. Coop la Maison verte is a community-based cooperative in Montreal that offers ecological solutions for the home

El Triunfo: Soil Management and Conservation – Part IV

Rodney North — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:38:22 +0000

By Todd Caspersen, Director of Purchasing
Photos by Joe Driscoll, Equipment Guru

The Sierra Madre of Chiapas, Mexico, stretches South all the way to Honduras. Equal Exchange buys coffee from several co-operatives along this vast and dramatic mountain range. One super dynamic place is the area commonly known as “Jaltenango,” but officially known as Albino Corzo. The mountain ranges of this area are part of El Triunfo. The entire length of the Sierra Madre also includes the redoubts and byways for the massive illicit traffic that traverses them; this traffic affects every facet of life in this region. Most importantly, the folks of the Sierra Madre also produce some of the great traditional washed, mild coffees of Mexico and Central America–the area biologically known as Mesoamerica.

In 2007, Equal Exchange connected with a group of co-operatives based in Jaltenango, whose members are spread over a wide geographic area. The members are primarily members of Ejidos, a form of legal communal land ownership common throughout Mexico. Our partnership has focused on quality improvement and in-depth analysis of the agricultural practices of the co-op members. The co-operatives operate in areas that are legally designated as a biosphere; the biosphere has two types of designated areas: the nucleus and the buffer zone.

Human activity in the nucleus areas is restricted to scientific studies and extremely limited tourism controlled by the state. The buffer zone includes and promotes the sustainable development of the human communities that existed in the area prior to the establishment of the Park by the State and Federal Governments. The buffer Zone in El Triunfo is five times the land area of the nucleus. Globally the vanguard of the conservation movement focuses on the development of sustainable human economies for the protection of true wilderness. In the Sierra Madre, sustainable coffee production is the cornerstone of the local economy and the key to the continued protection of the remaining forests and its inhabitants; read: biological diversity and watershed productivity.The intention of the co-operatives is to practice sustainable coffee production and direct export. The co-operative members live in communities that control large areas of communal lands that are contiguous with nucleus areas, including existing forest, much of which is in an eco system service payment program through the federal government. The communities’ forests are located in watersheds that produce tremendous amounts of water. The Sierra Madre is like a huge sponge jutting out of the Pacific Coast some 2,500 meters above sea level; 1500 msnm is the transition to cloud forest which pulls water from the winds off the Pacific Ocean. This water falls and is absorbed into the watersheds of the Sierra Madre which divides the water–much as the continental divide does–between the plains of the pacific coast and inland Chiapas with outflows to the Gulf of Mexico. The federal payments are minimal, but are part of what is growing the global market for eco system services including water production and carbon sequestration. The road to commoditization of eco system services is fraught with peril but yet untold. The water from El Triunfo is part of the fundamental civil and ecological infrastructure of all of Southern Mexico including: coffee farming, cattle farming on the coast, human consumption, forest production, industry and electricity production, to name a few. It is imperative that we maintain the forests of El Triunfo for the ecological and economic survival of Southern Mexico and the broader Mesoamerican corridor. Further ecological deterioration along the Sierra Madre will exacerbate the existing profound social conflict and poverty present in the region.

Despite the enormous complexity and difficulty involved with developing value chains in this environment, we have prioritized it. The first priority being to focus on maintaining and improving productivity at the farm level, the theory is increased productivity increases farm income and increased farm income decreases pressure to exploit the natural resources available in the biosphere. Despite the other many factors that influence farm income, not the least of which being relative currency value fluctuations, I believe that farm productivity is fundamental to the success of individual farms but also the agribusinesses associated with those farms: co-operatives, exporters, importers, brokers, roasters.

After an initial review of on-farm practices it was clear that the majority of the co-operative members were not consistently practicing critical farm management techniques such as pruning, adequate fertilization, and old tree replacement; further, no one had ever done soil tests to determine what was needed. Many of the farmers were practicing traditional coffee production which can be certified organic but typically results in low yields unless the farm is on new or virgin soil – something to be avoided in the biosphere.

Based on those results Equal Exchange funded a two-part project. The first phase included community meetings and trainings on soil analysis by watershed and the acquisition and interpretation of 152 soils samples in the watersheds of Sierra and Cuxtepeques. Based on the results of the soil analysis it was clear that one of the best options was to build a regional composting facility to produce the great quantities of compost necessary to cover the needs of all the members of the co-operatives. Each tree of coffee requires at least two pounds of compost per year; each farmer has between 2,000-10,000 trees – you do the math.

Additionally, it’s difficult to acquire all the necessary ingredients to create a compost that contains the necessary nutrients to create a high yielding farm. In the second phase we bought a Jeep so the co-operative’s agronomists could visit the far-flung membership to provide technical assistance and training on farm management techniques like pruning, tree replacement and shade tree management, among others. During this phase they had 25 community meetings and visited over 500 farms, and they continue to provide assistance and follow up to 365 farmers. Perhaps most importantly the technical staff developed a solid proposal for the construction of a regional composting facility for which they have received funding in 2012. Days before my last visit a Colombian consultant had just finished up the technical details of the facility and the co-operative hopes to begin construction and operation in the next six months. The facility will be built on land the co-operative acquired to build a dry mill two years ago.

It is exciting to see the pieces of the productivity puzzle slowly come together and I look forward to seeing the results of our early work in the watersheds of Sierra and Cuxtepeques. This morning I watched the rain pour over New England and thought about the plan for future work we are going to do with the farmers of the Sierra Madre. Look for Organic Mind Body and Soul, make a French press, and dream about the goings on in the cloudy Sierra, and send the families who work there all the productivity energy you can muster.

Co-op adds QR codes to fresh produce packs - Marketing Week (UK)

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:17:58 +0000

The Co-operative Group is adding QR codes to fresh produce packaging in a move to help consumers access information about the origins of the food it sells.

The codes will direct consumers straight to The Co-op’s mobile site and information about its food, suppliers, nutritional information and recipes by scanning the codes with a mobile device in stores.

The trial also includes an SMS text service that directs people to the retailer’s Good with Food mobile website, so that shoppers without smartphones can use it.

Honduras: Then and Now

Rodney North — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:41:19 +0000

By Virginia Berman, Fundraising Program Director

Prudential BSN Takaful, Malaysia, receives Rising Star Takaful Award

AlisonGrant — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:36:23 +0000

Prudential BSN Takaful (PruBSN) has been awarded the Rising Star Takaful Institution 2011 award from the ‘The Asset,’ a Hong Kong based publishing and research group. The award was received by Mr Azim Mithani, Chief Executive Officer of PruBSN, at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur in early September.

The Asset Triple A Awards: Islamic Finance, are international awards which honour shariah-compliant finance companies worldwide in various categories. The awards have been running for over 20 years.

Río Uruguay Seguros receive a prize for quality management excellence

AlisonGrant — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:02:39 +0000

It was recently reported in the ICMIF news that ICMIF member, Equidad Compañía de Seguros SA, Honduras, had won the “Inspirational Company” award at the “BIZZ 2011 – Business Excellence Awards”. We are delighted to announce the success of another of ICMIF’s South American members, Río Uruguay Seguros, Argentina, at the same ceremony that took place in Orlando, USA in June of this year.

Job Opening: Nabolom Bakery in Berkeley

Joe Marraffino — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 14:20:05 +0000

Nabolom is a worker-owned collective bakery and café, operating in Berkeley since 1976. We are currently looking for 2-3 new full-time and/or part-time workers. Ideally, each worker would eventually expand into all aspects of the bakery including full collective ownership. This position requires scheduling flexibility and is not an after-school or seasonal job.