Droppings from the Barnicles, February 2008

MY WIFE IS LORRAINE SO WHY AM I LIVING IN MARY’S HOME?

Lorraine and I didn’t grow up in Mary’s Home, Missouri but we were lucky enough to have found it. Mary’s Home is an unincorporated village on a bend in the Osage River 30 miles south of Jefferson City. No one can say how many live in Mary’s Home. The number is not important. It only measures the human capital. It is the social capital which is most important and best predictor of the quality of a neighborhood and its organizations.

To taste what it feels like to live in a wealthy neighborhood community come to the Corner Market for breakfast some morning between 6:30 and 8:00. If you aren’t invited into the conversation listen in. If you can get a word in edgewise ask a question. Any one of the breakfast club members or Sandra, the owner, or one of her staff will be more than happy to answer your questions but be warned, you may be invited to join in and stay longer than you planned. Whatever happens, you will feel welcome. After breakfast walk around the 100 year old store. Go upstairs onto the balcony. Be warned again you might be tempted to spend more money than you had planned to spend for breakfast.

Before you jump in your car take a quick walk through downtown Mary’s Home. Judy, the manager of our credit union, will be happy to tell you about its 40 year history serving the community. Are you impressed there is a $2M credit union in a tiny place like this? Wait till you see our full service bank at the end of the block. On the way, pay a visit to our 100 year old church. The door is open. Before you reach the Bank of Mary’s Home at the end of the block you pass by our K to 8 school and the old community hall with a gymnasium and bowling alley. The new community center just opened to take care of the expanding number of students.
Old Ten Mile Road starts and ends at the Corner Market. In those 10 miles you will pass more than 20 home based businesses. Some are visible like our farm and Benny Bax Auto Repair. Most hidden in and behind the homes along the road. All are the engines of our healthy economy. Barnicle Farms is a small part of the Mary’s Home neighborhood economy. We rent out our land to a neighbor’s cows. We export Barnicle Farms Pickled Black Walnuts (PBW) to customers in six states. Lorraine sells scarves and quilts at the Missouri Products stall in the Corner Market.

NEIGHBORHOOD INSTITUTIONS ARE THE MISSING LINK
If we understand and accept the premise there are three sectors in our economy, a public, a private and a social sector it becomes obvious neighborhood institutions are the missing link in the development puzzle. Economics is the science of making choices and the choices we make have to do with our values. A neighborhood’s economy can be measured in money but a more important measure is the relationships which build a neighborhood community. Social capital is the true measure of a neighborhood’s wealth. As the ad says; “for everything else there’s MasterCard.”

OIKOS, our other business on Old Ten Mile Road is dedicated to building a healthy national economy, one wealthy neighborhood at a time. In 1966 I discovered an explosive power hidden in the village of Kikai Kelaki, a community united around a common object of their love, their neighborhood. The success of the Kikai Kelaki Credit Union and the explosion of the credit union movement throughout Cameroon are well documented. You can read about it in my book, www.Barniclefarms.com > WHAT A LIFE… Joseph Nkey’s question; “Can I pay for my son’s school fees with fire wood?” (Page 58) started a conversation which grew over the next 42 years into a $600,000 (US) village credit union and spawned a $65M (US) credit union league which makes 80% of the micro loans in the Cameroon. (Google “Cameroon Credit Unions”)

The story of Muhammad Yunas and the Grameen Bank is a good story. Credit for Kikai Kelaki is just as good if not better. If you are looking for speaker with a good story send me an email or give me a call. I am a good story teller and I tell the story behind the story.