business enterprises
A Zapotec Village Meets the Spirit of Gandhi
A nonprofit business flourishing in a village of Mexico’s Oaxaca state is inspired by traditional Zapotec values and the ideals of Mohandas Gandhi. A story in Yes! magazine last week describes the revival of the traditional spinning culture of the village, its adoption of effective business practices, and the influence of the Mahatma. The story […]
Saudi and Amish Business Selling Camel’s Milk
Some Amish farmers have been raising camels and selling their milk to a Saudi entrepreneur who then sells it to people who are allergic to cow’s milk. CNN published an article last week about the businessman, a Muslim raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and his Amish and Mennonite suppliers. Walid Abdul-Wahab had drunk camel’s milk […]
Will Success Disrupt Peacefulness?
A number of Hutterite colonies in Manitoba are hiring non-Hutterites as employees in their manufacturing businesses, which is beginning to change their economic and social relationships. The Winnipeg Free Press explained the development in a news story on May 5. The largest enterprise cited by the news service is a company called Springfield Woodworking, owned […]
Traditional Lepcha Fashions Reinvented
A young Lepcha woman who has professional university degrees and works as a librarian in Gangtok, northern India, is pioneering the revival of traditional women’s clothing. Tshering Lhamu Lepcha, who goes by the alias Tshela, experiments with fashion designing, particularly clothing that revives the styles worn traditionally by Lepcha women. The regional Indian publication The […]
Changes in Semai Society
While the Semai usually retreat from conflicts and violence, one man who has developed a successful business has also gained renown for his willingness to fight. The New Straits Times featured the story of John Bah Tuin last week, his popular inn, and his fight with a gang of robbers. Mr. Tuin developed and runs […]
Encouraging Amish to Move to West Virginia
The Amish are hassled by American communities about the manure their horses drop, the outhouses they erect, the building codes they sometimes ignore, and the slow moving vehicle warning triangles some of them refuse to use. One Amish store in Pennsylvania was condemned because it did not sell American flags, much like hundreds of other […]
Microfinance Tourism in Oaxaca
A non-profit organization in Oaxaca called Fundacion en Vía seeks to promote businesses run by women through microfinance loans and education programs. A story in the Huffington Post last week by Carly Schwartz described the program run by En Via that organizes visits by tourists, including the journalist, to tapestry studios and other businesses of […]
A Successful Amish Enterprise
Daniel Yoder, a 56-year old Amish man from Holmes County, Ohio, has built a thriving furniture business through his attention to quality manufacturing and good customer relationships.
Hutterite Innovations and Commitments
The Hutterites at the Viking Colony in rural Alberta, 75 miles southeast of Edmonton, constantly look for ways to use their business intuition to develop new enterprises. They are also seeking to preserve their unique values as they adapt to new challenges. Country Guide, a Canadian farming publication, focused an article last week on Paul […]
Pashmina Wool in Ladakh
Although Babar Afzal comes from the city of Jammu, he is devoting a lot of energy to saving and revitalizing pashmina goat wool production in Ladakh. He founded the Pashmina Goat Project in 2012 to address the concerns and promote the interests of the goat herders in the Changtang region of Ladakh, near the southeastern […]
