每日大赛 Enactus Team Helps Entrepreneur in Mexico Create Catering Business
With Women鈥檚 History Month ending on March 31, one particular woman is closer to making her own history as an independent entrepreneur, thanks to the work of a 每日大赛 Enactus team.
On March 8, International Women鈥檚 Day, the Enactus group drove south across the US-Mexico border to the tiny town of Puerto Nuevo to meet Rosario Lopez, a widowed mother of two, who was eager to build her own business, but needed some help.
Part of an international nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring students to change the world through entrepreneurial action, the university鈥檚 Enactus team has been honored regionally and nationally for the quality and results of its projects. According to Professor of Management Issam Ghazzawi, 鈥渢he students channel their energies to create opportunities for those in need. Every person and community we touch is empowered to live to their fullest potential.鈥�
Ghazzawi led the group of three undergraduates, Luis Vargas, Justin Yeh, and Tracy de los Santos, along with Nora Navarrette-Dominguez and her husband. Dominguez, who directs the university鈥檚 Kern County Regional Campus, is Mexican by birth and facilitated the outreach to Lopez.
鈥漇he is a single parent who had been struggling and suffering since her husband passed away,鈥� Dominguez said.
Her dream was to open her own catering business, serving the construction workers across the freeway from where she lives.
Lopez had no business experience and no money for catering supplies and other items, but the students stepped in, listening, advising, and shopping for the staples — coffee, sugar, paper cups, an ice chest — that she needed.
Following the day of shopping, the university team accompanied Lopez to the construction site to help facilitate her first day of business.
鈥淏eing able to develop a financial program for Rosario that could help change her life was amazing,鈥� said Yeh, a senior studying economics
Dominguez noted, 鈥淲e will make follow-up calls and pay another visit to ensure support for Rosario for the long term.鈥澛燘ut Ghazzawi is convinced that 鈥淩osario is going to be a very good businesswoman.鈥�
Enactus is committed to the idea of building independence rather than supplying charity, reflecting the adage that 鈥渢eaching them to fish鈥� is help that lasts a lifetime. The entire project to launch Lopez鈥� business was done on only a few hundred dollars, which included the travel and lodging for the team, as well as Lopez鈥� supplies. Enactus projects are funded in large part by corporate partnerships.
The university team鈥檚 departure was emotional and Lopez鈥檚 gratitude was evident in her tears.
鈥淚 was able to see that something which seems so small to us can mean the world to someone else,鈥� said de los Santos, a third year business administration major. 鈥淏eing able to ease Rosario鈥檚 life just a little bit meant the world to me.鈥�
