Compassionate Capitalists-Aurora Social Enterprise Company

Four young people-Priya Chen, Jester Lee, Patrick Wang, and Pamela Lu-not only are hoping to fully realize their entrepreneurial dream and revitalize indigenous communities, they also carry the heavy burden of being the "demonstration project" for what constitutes a social enterprise in the Taiwanese context.

"You can't get around economics," says Priya Chen, general manager of the Aurora Social Enterprise Company. Chen began receiving commissions back in 1998 from the Environmental Protection Administration, the Council for Cultural Affairs, and other agencies to do studies on issues like promotion of environmental education in indigenous communities and integrated community development. Over the years, the most important conclusion she has reached is that indigenous communities have to have some foundation in productive activity, to attract young Aborigines back from the cities to work, to carry on cultural traditions, and to pursue sustainable development.

Economic difficulties are an inescapable part of indigenous people's village life in Taiwan. Establishing a network for selling organic produce and thus creating opportunities for Aborigines to find work in their own communities can help to spur economic development.

Hitching a ride

"It was our objective to establish a social enterprise as long as six or seven years ago," says Chen, adding that they wanted to prove that "as long as they have an opportunity, even disadvantaged persons receiving service from others have the ability to also serve others."

However, although the concept of a social enterprise was already fully formed in her mind, the idea had yet to meet with broader understanding in society. Three years ago, led by "Father James," the Indian founder of the Office for Indigenous Peoples at Fu Jen Catholic University, Chen and her university classmate Patrick Wang established the Manna Organic Life Association as a non-profit group, with branches in Hualien, Taitung, Hsinchu, Nantou, and Chiayi. They went deep into indigenous communities to gain an understanding of their needs, to search for economic activities suitable for their communities, and to actively promote organic farming.

Chen, who has personally visited virtually every indigenous people's town and village in Taiwan, was the winner of last year's Johnny Walker "Keep Walking" Award, which allowed her to get funding for trips to India and Britain to learn more about social enterprises. Later, with Flow Inc. having stirred up quite a bit of attention for the topic of social enterprise in Taiwan, Chen decided to "hitch a ride" on that train. She and her like-minded colleague Jester Lee submitted their proposal for the Aurora Project. It was selected from among the 212 submissions for the prize, giving her the feeling that she was one step closer to her dream.

Pure white diatomaceous earth causes insects to become dehydrated and die. In natural farming this earth is used in place of chemical pesticides.

A glow in the tribal community

The heart of the Aurora Project is to create a network of production value in indigenous communities through small farming, and in particular by introducing natural and ecological farming techniques, recycling kitchen waste to make compost, and cultivating organically grown vegetables. On one hand this will create local jobs in indigenous communities and on the other will provide consumers with a stable supply of reasonably priced, quality-guaranteed organic veggies.

"The Aurora Project offers both economic efficiency and environmental conservation," explains Father James, who hatched the plan. Agriculture and land are the lifelines of indigenous people, treasured by the local residents. This plan will allow indigenous people to be their own bosses on their own land, creating a beautiful dialogue between man and the earth.

Unfortunately, because of differences of opinion between Flow Inc. and Aurora, after more than nine months of postponements they finally found they were unable to cooperate. Yet despite the fact that the NT$5 million in investment promised by Flow came to naught, the Aurora team decided to carry on, seeing as "we already had our head half shampooed." In order to create the Aurora Social Enterprise Company, Patrick Wang, the only one of the four founders who owned his own house, mortgaged the property to get a loan.

Aurora now consists of its four founders, plus four hired staff. The firm has already signed contracts with 20 indigenous farmers among the Tsou People in Alishan Township and also the Bunun People in Hsinyi Township. Under the contracts the farmers will grow various fruits and vegetables as well as organic tea; total cultivated area is ten hectares in all.

The model used by Aurora is an extension of the one used by Manna, which had set deep roots in indigenous communities even before Aurora was founded. They provided capital, lending farmers money to rent land and buy fertilizer, and only collecting the debt after the harvest came in.

The only place with a somewhat different model is Hsinmei Village in Alishan Township. This is a very remote place with no local economic activity of its own. The five farmers who signed contracts with Aurora cannot afford to wait until the harvest to get their money, so they are getting a monthly salary, being "employed" to cultivate, to assure them a stable income.

"To tell you the truth, we still cannot completely abandon the responsibilities of a non-profit organization," admits Chen, whose whole appearance gives off the aura of "social activist" and who really lacks the killer instinct of the business person. She is fully aware that only by making a profit can Aurora keep operating in the long run, and have the extra resources to pursue education and economic development in indigenous communities. But she still insists, "Making money is not, after all, the main goal." Every time she recalls her initial motivation of helping the poor and weak, she can't help but "throw in the towel" instead of getting tough on holding down costs or demanding productivity.

Besides being unable to cast off the "burden of their beliefs," they also face the problem that agriculture is a high-risk enterprise by its very nature. "Our biggest worry is weather," says Patrick Wang, project manager. The three typhoons that hit Taiwan this summer caused serious damage to organic fruits and vegetables cultivated in Alishan's indigenous communities. As Chen recounts, "In July Typhoon Kalmaegi destroyed the tomatoes that were just about to be harvested, in August Sinlaku wrecked the green peppers, and in September Jangmi brought the corn to ruin." Yet she states that they will not turn to greenhouse cultivation.

"Building hothouses uses up resources and energy, production costs are high, and they are a blight on the landscape." Chen says that even if Aurora must face up to the risk of losing money, they want to leave the beautiful Alishan scenery intact for future generations. This willingness to take risks and to persist in their beliefs is yet another manifestation of Aurora's "NPO" style.

Nonetheless, a social enterprise is still an enterprise, and maintaining a surplus is an essential condition of survival. What is Aurora's market niche?

"Organic cultivation is the only way to save the planet and save human health, so the market will continually grow in the future. The indigenous peoples have the manpower and access to the land, while we will handle transportation and marketing and clear away obstacles, so there's no reason why we shouldn't make money!" says Aurora chairman Jester Lee. Aurora has a complete value chain, and also "reproducibility." That means that once the know-how and process are perfected, this kind of "fairtrade"-type organic agriculture can be endlessly recreated in indigenous communities. "We want to bring the indigenous people into the market, where we can earn money together," says Lee.

"We have capitalist brains with socialist convictions." The founders of Aurora consider themselves "compassionate capitalists." Jester Lee states that the main players in the Aurora drama are indigenous people, and that the founders are only temporarily helping to "get things on track" by working to inculcate concepts like quality control, cost control, and food traceability. They expect that after three years indigenous farmers will be able to form their own self-operating cooperative, and then be genuinely "masters of their own house." That is Aurora's ultimate goal.