It’s funny how connections get made in today’s global society.

In July, SEED Directors David and Rose Brewer met JR and Becky Crouse, Free Methodist missionaries in Tarma, Peru.  The Crouses focus much of their missionary work on helping develop microenterprises for the people in this fairly remote Andean city.  Becky works closely with Mujeres Jireh, one of the SEED livelihood group product producers.

In August JR attended his high school reunion and began talking with old friend Tim Sweet, now a social entrepreneurship and e-commerce professor at Grove City College in western Pennsylvania.  The two men started talking about how there might be a way for Dr. Sweet’s students to help the Crouses.  Then JR suggested that SEED might be a good candidate as well.

Director David Brewer spoke with Dr Sweet and laid out a couple of possible ways students could partner.  Then David Skyped in to an evening e-commerce class and shared the vision of SEED Livelihood Network and our current build work for an online store.

The students grew excited about working on an e-commerce site for such a worthy cause and two groups signed up.  One group is assisting with product photos and descriptions, the real nuts-and-bolts work of an online store, as well as market research.  The other group will be helping with search-engine optimization (SEO), finding the best ways for SEED to position its web site and online store to attract people who would be most interested in our focus on sustainable livelihoods — and might even make a purchase or sign up to partner in other ways while they’re reading about livelihood groups!

We are enjoying all the different ways people are finding SEED, and at the consistent enthusiasm people have for the work we do.  It’s a good place to be.