The members of the BYU–Hawaii Enactus team became back-to-back national champions at the Enactus United States National Exposition in Kansas City in May, presenting the RiceUp project. RiceUp CEO Elvin Laceda said exponential growth, breaking social boundaries, and genuine love helped propel the team to victory.
Laceda, a junior from the Philippines majoring in political science, said, “The most important thing about an Enactus project is empowering people. I hope every student, especially international and IWORK students, will understand this is the enabling mechanism for us to fulfill the mission of David O. McKay to establish peace internationally.
“People think we represent the entrepreneurship department. We don’t represent the Willes Center or the entrepreneurship department. We represent the university when we compete. People think we are very separate from the university. We are not.”
The competition
Laceda said, “If you are a winner, you don’t allow the thought of being defeated, but it’s hard to win [the national championship] again. It’s very hard. Lots of universities have tried, if they are former champions, to win again, but they did not succeed.”
Eli Clark, a freshman from Idaho majoring in supply chain management, explained, “In order for us to win two years in a row, we would have to be better.” He said he was not sure if the team was going to win but was surprised to learn they won.
When they won, Anna Fogavai, a sophomore from American Samoa majoring in accounting, shared, “We were so humbled by the experience. Inside, I wanted to jump up and down and scream, but I was just so humbled by the experience at that moment. At that very moment, I was just praying because I was so grateful to Heavenly Father throughout the whole competition.”
One advantage they had in their presentation, according to Clark, was, “There were a lot of emotions involved in the presentation. I think those came out when we were presenting because all five presenters are involved in [RiceUp]. That passion was in there.”
As a first-time presenter, Clark said one of the things he noticed was, “We have a reputation of doing things professionally and being humble at the same time. It was a really cool experience because we came back as the champions defending the title. We were standing out because we were from Hawaii, but also because we were national champions.”
Hannah Jansson, a freshman from Sweden majoring in business management, said, “It was so much fun. You're nervous and scared, but the vibe there is awesome. There are so many different schools coming from all over the country, and they all have different projects. People are so supportive.
“It is a competition, but at the end of the day we all have projects where we try to help other people. Even when we would go to the next round, and people we knew from other schools didn’t, they were so supportive and cheering us on.”
How they won
Laceda described one reason they stood out to the judges was the peace initiative they implemented. The section, called Peace: From Arms to Farms, deals with a part of the southern Philippines, which is known for being dangerous for foreigners and government officials. “It’s a former communist area,” he explained. “There were lots of government rebels. It’s hard to do development projects. The poverty level is almost 90 percent.”
When the Davao city government reached out to RiceUp to help with a peace initiative in the area, Laceda said, “We created seven farm schools in the area, which was unheard of. No one can enter there, even the government. RiceUp is the first social enterprise that entered the area. [In April], we visited the area with my teammates... In 40 years, no foreign people could enter without being killed. Now, the area is peaceful.”
Other than the peace initiative, Laceda said RiceUp introduced a micro-loan system where farmers could borrow money at 2 percent interest, instead of the 15 to 20 percent they used to pay. They have also experienced exponential growth in the last year and are continuing to grow throughout the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia.
“This year, we’ve experienced phenomenal increase, from 50 farmers to 3300. From 12 jobs, we created 260 jobs. From two farm schools, we have 33 farm schools... The income of famers went from $71 a month to $520 a month.
What makes it worth it
Long hours and months of practice became worth it, Clark explained, because of the farmers. “With RiceUp, we have a really awesome, personal relationship with all of our farmers. They text us, and they call us, and they tell us what is going on... It’s very personal. It’s like a big family. One of our farmers said RiceUp is a community and a family. That’s what it is.”
Fogavai described how the experience of the competition is what made it worth it for her. “I think what makes it all worth it, is that I've been there and I've experienced it. With getting back the victory, that what makes it worth it... It was hard for most of us. There are little things that make it a lot more worthwhile. For me personally, when we practice, we know it will turn out successful.”
Jansson said it became a reality to her when she visited the farmers in the Philippines. “It’s so hard to imagine their living conditions when you just hear about it. You hear about the low income. You hear about the high interest rates, but it’s hard to see how those numbers are actually affecting their lives.
“It is the people and the change we are making. I’ve heard so much about all these different farmers. When we were [in the Philippines], we got to go around and interview some of the farmers. I got to go to this farmer named David.
“It was so special talking to him. He told me about the health insurance he has now. He has asthma, and he has an inhaler now... He’s been struggling breathing, and now he has an inhaler. It changes everything for him. It’s small things like that and how it made his life so much easier. It’s really for the individual. If all that work helped one person, it would be worth it.”
The Enactus team will go on to compete in the Enactus World Cup in San Jose, California, in September.
Writer: Haeley van der Werf