Monday, November 10, 2008
We had a presentation at Eighth Street Mennonite Church by Catherine Sobrevega and Mahbooba Waizi. Catherine is MEDA's country manager in Afghanistan and is responsible for the project, "Through the Garden Gate:  Strategies for Integrating Women into Sustainable Markets."  This project helps women improve the quality and yield of their home based gardens and build links to sustainable markets in order to increase family incomes. Currently, more than 1,500 women participate in the project.  Earlier this year, the project was a finalist at the 16th Annual Canadian Awards for International Cooperation in the Centre for Intercultural Learning Award for Gender Equity Achievement. Mahbooba Waizi is the CEO of the Afghan Women's Business Federation and is joining Catherine to speak about emerging women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan.

November 6-9
“Business as a Calling 2008: Dividends of Hope”
The 2008 bi-national convention took place at The Columbus, A Renaissance Hotel, in Columbus, Ohio.
 

Program Year Celebrated

The final meeting of Michiana MEDA’s program year was held at Belmont Mennonite Church on May 10. Following a Tanzanian meal President Rob Steiner led the annual meeting.

Recognition was given to four persons terminating their work on the Board. Susan Gingerich, John Nussbaum, and Rob Steiner have been Board members. Willard Roth served as ambassador. New Board members are Jessica Berkey, Conrad Brenneman, Renee Hostetler, and Lowell Nafziger.

Melissa Kinsey explained the partnership between ASSETS and Goshen College . Nineteen persons recently graduated from the program. A new mentoring program will begin this fall. A Michiana MEDA Investment Club report was read. Pastors are encouraged to apply for a grant to attend the MEDA Convention.

Wally Kroeker, the director of publications for MEDA and the editor of The Marketplace magazine, was the guest speaker. He showed a video of the Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) project in Tanzania and also spoke about Frozen Assets. He encouraged church leaders and pastors to focus their ministries toward reaching out to our places of work in order to tap into resources that are often “frozen.”