Free Enterprise

We have a tiny little woman who is a member of our little local LDS group.  Ines lives in a tiny mud and stick house.  Her husband ran off with her sister a few years ago, leaving her to fend for herself and three small children.  She actually reminds me of my mother a little--the same small stature, great faith,  a will of iron and surprising physical strength (as a 14 year-old, I once wittnessed my mother win an arm-wrestling competition over a significant number of other competitors). 

Economics are very tough for Ines and we are hesitant to eat anything at her house (always prepared and offerred) for fear of eating the children's last meal.  She missed church for a couple weeks and we heard from the young missionaries that she had taken a job in the jungle cutting wood.  We had this mind picture of Ines with a machete hacking away and small trees and branches and then carrying them on her back to the road where she would sell her wares in a little shaded "banca" made of sticks and thatch.  This is a pretty common model -- so this assumption was not unreasonable.

Ines returned this week and requested some time with me to discuss concerns.  I met with her and quizzed her a bit on her woodcutting exercise--expecting her concerns to be economic and our discussion a prelude to a request for financial support (which by the way, neither we nor the church do).  But this is what 95 lb. Ines actually did.

Ines, who did not have $10 to her name, went to the Mozambican loan sharks, as that is the only source of capital--there are no other borrowing options for small business or start-ups.  I guess in the US we simply call them venture-capital people, those willing to take higher risks on proposed business ventures.  She borrowed a couple of thousand dollars--which is a huge amount.  She traveled by open truck bed to the "jungle" where she hired a few workers with chain saws to cut down trees (we are talking big ones).  She then rented a logging truck and other equipment for loading, loaded the logs on the truck and brought it to Quelimane, where she negotiated a sale of the load to Chinese brokers.  She made about $750 (which is I suspect well over a year's wage for many here) and paid off her loan and interest (the annual rate of which was well over 100%). I have to admit that I was dazzled by her enterprise and gumption, as well as her organizational and logistical skills--and ability to pull the whole venture off.  (by the way, Ines is the only Mozambican I know of that pays a full LDS tithing--before and after this enterprise).  The businessman in me wants to start putting capital into this little operation and build it into something bigger for her (however, the missionary in me will prevail and stay out of business).  I could go from here into a larger discussion of deforestation and the "tragedy of the commons" but will forebear.  This really is a fascinating place.