Cornell students did not stay in a hotel, but out of the grid, in huts with half-murs, deforested meadows whispering just outside. They were at the heart of the San Martin region in Peru, which lost 14,000 square kilometers of forest, largely against logging, mining, livestock farming and illicit crops like Coca.
Alexander de Leon ’26 and his team of 10 members of colleagues came to Siendo Naturalza, a Peruvian learning center dedicated to the restoration of the Amazon forest, with a specific idea of the way of helping. Deforestation in the region has had a deep effect on the quality and biodiversity of the soil, with an increase in poverty, malnutrition and poor water quality.
The idea of students: develop plans so that the community pushes and markets products based on turmeric, the root of an indigenous Asian plant which, when it is ground and dried, creates a deep and orange orange spice increasingly appreciated for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Turmeric does not only offer opportunities for businesses or sources of income, but it regenerates the soil.
“We consider this as something to evolve, in order to develop a lot of turmeric,” said Leon. “But a central theme of the week was that sometimes things are not only benefits. This is how you work with the community and how you restore. We had to slow down and ask them questions about the rhythm of life, about their traditional foods, on the way they see medicine.”
The trip was part of the Great challenge programwhich includes a program of studies and projects focused on pressing societal problems, at Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.
De Leon spoke of “creating seeds of regeneration over time”, a nuanced way of thinking about the insoluble global problems that are at the center of the Dyson’s major challenges. Offered during spring holidays, the trip “Social Impact Consulting in the Amazon Rainforest” has enabled students to apply commercial skills to real world solutions for critical environmental and social problems, said Trent PreszlerProfessor of practice and director of the Dyson leadership program.
“Our goal is to allow students to think deep about their roles as citizens of the world and future leaders, helping them to achieve the tangible impact they can have on the construction of sustainable communities and resilient economic development in regions that have been negatively affected by extractive industries such as wood, gold and oil,” he said.
Preszler said that students thought deeply, even if they faced mosquito bites and wet socks.
“We had three criteria for a turmeric project,” said Jasmine Ren ’26, who studies the economy and management applied and the information sciences. “He had to be able to be marketed locally. It had to be a product that did not require too much, technologically – it could not be crazy. And he had to involve the community. “
Ren said that the project was not intended to help the community sell turmeric on a large scale, but to help them integrate the harvest in order to reconstruct degraded soils.
They thought about three products of products: a wooden stain based on turmeric to fight against the wet effects of the tropical forest, a soap made from turmeric and a tea made from plants infused with turmeric.
Tea has become the most promising choice, a decision that helped The team wins The first prize of annual dyson Great challenges Impact Competition April 17. The team announced its intention to donate its $ 10,000 at a price to Siendo Naturalza to develop turmeric tea and sell it in Peru.
“We have visited many residents, especially by going to a community field where they play volleyball and football. We also visited a Hearts of Palm Co-OP and a bird conservation center, where we saw the tropical forest that had not been ahead, “said Angela Chen ’25, who studies the economic management applied to Dyson. She said that a large part of their learning experience was to listen to the community they came to help.
“From this trip, we all understood that by thinking of a turmeric product, it will of course generate income for the community, but this is not the objective of Siendo Naturaleza to maximize profits,” she said. “Turmeric has so many advantages in the ground.
These immersive experiences cultivate a deeper understanding of the interconnectivity of business and society, said Sarah WolfoldsAssistant professor of strategy and commercial economics at SC Johnson College of Business and AcademicC Director of the Grand Challenges Program.
“This is a way our study program embodies Dyson’s motto:” Our business is a better world, “she said. “More broadly, this awareness embodies Cornell’s mission to” do the greatest good “by allowing students to create an impact which is founded locally and informed worldwide.”