Krannert School of Management - Learning by Serving

Learning by Serving
Krannert junior Vince PeGan is a native of Lafayette, Indiana, but his journey to Purdue first led him to computers a continent away in Cameroon, West Africa, for a life-changing experience that helped make management his chosen field of study.

Amid a renewed environment of service learning in higher education, Purdue and the Krannert School have the advantage of attracting students who already possess the spirit to give back. For many, community-based projects like those required in undergraduate courses build upon their high school service accomplishments. A growing number of other students — among them Krannert’s Vince PeGan — bring a global perspective to the college experience that continues to broaden after their arrival.

By the age of 15, PeGan had already taught himself how to take apart and rebuild a PC, and a college major in a field related to technology seemed logical. “I’ve always had a passion for computers,” he says. PeGan’s cousin and University of Notre Dame graduate Mike Jaeger tapped into that passion when he recruited his young relative as a volunteer for the Cultural, Technological, Environmental Exchange (CTEE).

Jaeger, who served in Cameroon as a member of the Peace Corps from 1989 to 1992, formed the organization in 1998 as a biology teacher at West Ottawa High School in Holland, Michigan. CTEE members and student volunteers accept donations of previous-generation computers, refurbish them, and then ship the networks to West Africa and install them in colleges, secondary schools, and other institutions. Other students work in the field with the Peace Corps to sustain environmentally and economically sound agricultural practices.

While still at Lafayette Jefferson High School, PeGan built a relationship with Purdue Surplus and Salvage to acquire computers and hardware that were being replaced with newer networks. He also helped in the refurbishment process, and in the summer of 2005 made his first trip to Cameroon with other CTEE volunteers to install more than 100 computers at Longla Comprehensive College (LCC) in the city of Bamenda.

The experience helped galvanize PeGan’s choice of Purdue and the Krannert School. “I was trying to decide between going to college for computer science or business,” he says. “Ultimately I realized that while I enjoyed technology and computers, I enjoyed the management side of the field even more. And since Krannert is a top business school and one-of-a-kind, it didn’t make sense financially or educationally to go anywhere beyond my backyard.”

PeGan, who is pursuing a minor in marketing and Purdue’s Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, joined the CTEE again when the group traveled to Cameroon for the sixth time in 2007.

Over the course of two weeks, a team of 13 volunteers unpacked, sorted, tested, installed, or distributed 260 complete computer stations. In addition to replacement and reconfiguration of the lab at LCC — which is now the largest network in the country — the group provided new equipment to six other institutions, including an orphanage, four secondary schools, and a university center. The effort provided computer access to more than 10,000 students last year alone.

PeGan has been a valuable contributor on site in Cameroon, says cousin Mike Jaeger. “He is a key member of the team that is primarily responsible for the CTEE shipment once it arrives in West Africa,” he says. “With as many as 200 stations to allocate, distribute, and install in less than 10 days, it is essential that capable and motivated volunteers travel with us. Vince fills that role nicely.”

Drawing upon his Krannert education, PeGan is now providing even more skills to CTEE, particularly on the acquisition end. “My best niche for helping the program has been building relationships and marketing the organization to prospective donors,” he says.

“Vince’s primary role in this regard has been assembling proposals for corporate and institutional support,” says Jaeger. “His relationship with purveyors of used computer equipment has facilitated acquisition when donations were running short of demand in the past, and we hope to expand that support to our future efforts.”

In addition to strengthening the CTEE’s relationship with Purdue Surplus and Salvage, PeGan hopes to use his role in a number of student organizations to build a network of corporate donors among Krannert alumni and partners. He’s a member of the School of Management Council (SMC), School of Management Employers Forum (SMEF), a host for the Krannert Executive Forum, and has been involved in Purdue’s Old Masters program (see page 24) as both a host and organizer.

PeGan and the CTEE are also seeking corporate support on supply-chain obstacles the organization encounters when shipping donations to Cameroon. “You can’t just donate something and have it show up on someone’s doorstep,” says PeGan. “There is an entire line of command in between and everyone has to be on board.”

In 2005, the CTEE shipped one container of about 150 workstations and another container of about 200. “The first container was already at the school when we arrived and we expected the other to deliver while we were there, but there was a delay in getting it out of port and we weren’t able to set up the computers,” says PeGan. “It was frustrating, but that’s something you have to deal with when you’re working internationally.”

In what he describes as a “small-world moment,” PeGan discovered a possible solution to the problem when he traveled to Brussels, Belgium, in December 2007 for a business ethics conference hosted by the International Association of Human Values.

“One the big topics was social entrepreneurship, which I think is tied to a lot of the things we do through CTEE,” says PeGan. “I learned that UPS has a computer donation program very similar to ours and spoke to the company’s head of European operations about it after his presentation.”

As it turns out, PeGan had met UPS chairman and CEO Mike Eskew, a Purdue alumnus, when he returned to campus for the Old Masters program in 2006. “I was halfway around the world and realized I’d already made a Purdue relationship that could help strengthen CTEE,” PeGan says. “I’m hoping to use UPS as a model to help our organization avoid the obstacles we face getting containers to port and delivered.”

PeGan also hopes to use his Krannert education to help the CTEE receive not-for-profit status, which would provide tax benefits to companies that donate computers and allow the organization to expand.

“By learning about not-for-profit organizations in my business law class and hearing Krannert Executive Forum speakers talk about their not-for-profit experiences, I’ve been able to get different perspectives on the subject,” PeGan says. “You grab things here and there but don’t realize how much you know until you get a chance to apply what you’ve learned.”

While PeGan is proud of the CTEE’s impact in Cameroon, his personal experiences in the country have been equally profound. “It’s a country where people make $7 or $8 a day and are living in houses without electricity or running water, but almost everyone uses pre-paid cell phones,” he says. “It’s reassuring to know that even at the lowest socioeconomic level, people still have a thirst and need for communication and technology.”

Another eye-opener for PeGan was a visit to an orphanage in Buea that is sponsored by NFL player and CTEE supporter Roman Oben, an offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers and native of Cameroon. “We try to use all the available space in the shipping containers for everything we can fit, so we brought beanie babies, Frisbees, T-shirts, and hats for the children,” he says. “I’ve never seen people so excited to receive such simple gifts.”

A delivery of medical equipment prompted an even greater reaction. “The village celebrated our arrival, and all we had done was bring an operating table that had been donated by a dental office,” PeGan says. “It shows how something many of us take for granted can make such a huge difference in the lives of others.”

The dedication of the Cameroonian people who work with the CTEE on site is also a lasting memory. “The person who stands out most is Lydia Wonget, the teacher who supervises the lab at LCC,” PeGan says. “There were 100 computers when we left in 2005, and when we came back in 2007 there were still 100 computers.

“I was impressed with how she maintained the facilities, the trust we could have in her, and the rigor of the education she provided to students,” he says. “She sets the bar high, and all of the students who graduate from the program have an advantage in getting jobs. They have skills and training that most people in the country don’t possess.”

The cultural and environmental elements of the CTTE’s recent mission to Cameroon had an impact on the volunteers as well. Included was a visit to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, which is now home to a primate recovery and rehabilitation program. Among other activities, the group also made a trip to the lava flows near Idenau and enjoyed dinner of fresh fish on the beach at Limbe.

PeGan’s entrepreneurial spirit and desire to give back are a family trait. His parents own Mainstreet Mercantile in downtown Lafayette, where PeGan plies his marketing and computer skills selling the store’s merchandise on eBay.

Most of his immediate family members have attended or graduated from Purdue, and his mother and father are active in the community. “Growing up, my parents instilled the attitude of putting others first and always being willing to help,” he says.

In addition to his work with the CTEE, PeGan has continued that tradition at Purdue — and managed to learn and have fun in the process. At the end of spring semester in 2007, he and other members of Sigma Chi fraternity nationwide traveled to New Orleans for a week to work at a Habitat for Humanity “Musician’s Village” site sponsored by Krannert alumnus and star NFL quarterback Drew Brees.

“Drew said all we had to do was get there and he’d take care of the rest. He had worked with a few of the hotels down there and some of his favorite restaurants to accommodate us,” PeGan says. “He remembered what it was like to be a college student, so he wanted us to help but also to enjoy ourselves. We worked every day from 8:00 to 3:00 and at night were able to go out and see what made the city famous.”

One of the trip’s biggest highlights was the day when Brees and several other members of the New Orleans Saints joined the students at the job site, putting their considerable strength and fame to work rebuilding a city that remains ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. “Drew is very important to Purdue,” PeGan says. “I’m proud that he likes to give back and was part of both Krannert and my fraternity.”

Likewise, PeGan is trying to make a trip to Cameroon with the CTEE possible for interested Krannert classmates and fraternity members. “It’s not a simple or inexpensive process,” he says. “It starts with an $1,800 plane ticket, which is a lot of money for a college student. You also have to get five or six immunizations, which can also be costly. But once you get there, you’re glad you made the sacrifice.”

In the meantime, PeGan is looking forward to his first internship this summer with Scott Jones Enterprises in Carmel, Indiana. The founder of numerous startup companies, Jones is considered one of the inventors of modern voice mail. “It’s an entrepreneurship-like program where we’ll be analyzing and writing business plans for ideas he’d like to pursue commercially,” PeGan says.

That fits perfectly into his post-Krannert plans. “I’d like to use my skills in technology and marketing for a corporate position immediately after college, but my 10-year goal is to start my own business,” he says. And whether that business is an ocean away in a country like Cameroon or in his hometown, PeGan will continue to grow personally and professionally through a dedication to service.

“If you have the opportunity to reach people on a one-on-one, face-to-face basis, it makes you realize how important it is to help others — and how enjoyable and easy it is,” he says. “You’ll meet people who are living in less-than-ideal circumstances and quickly learn that happiness is about attitude.”

Cameroon and CTEE share growing pains

In contrast to most other countries on the continent, Cameroon is a relative paradise. Referred to by some as the “hinge of Africa,” it offers more than 400 kilometers of coastline and has thermal springs throughout the country. For the adventurous, there is Mount Cameroon, the highest mountain in sub-Saharan West Africa and an active volcano.

With a literacy rate of nearly 70 percent, the former French and British colony boasts one of Africa’s best educational systems. Primary school is obligatory and free; there are numerous universities and colleges, as well as institutions for both technical and teacher training. But the smartest students often study and remain living abroad, leaving behind an unemployment rate estimated at 30 percent and a poverty rate of nearly 50 percent.

Despite modest oil resources and some industry, government resistance and corruption makes the business environment unfavorable; the few jobs that exist are mostly in agriculture. The country’s per capita GDP is only $2,300, and more than a half million Cameroonians are living with AIDS — almost six percent of the population.

It is against that backdrop where the efforts of groups like the CTEE take place. “The demand for the tools and skills of modernization in the developing world deserves to be addressed,” says CTEE founder Mike Jaeger. “It’s as much a global security issue today as an issue of economics, social development and advancement, or survival.”

While much focus is placed on situations of despair in Africa, the CTEE sees modernized education and economic development as a method to avoid the horrifying conditions in Somalia, Sudan, the Congo, and other African countries. “Undoubtedly, this process promises to promote African solutions to African problems,” says Jaeger.

“It begins with access to technology, but there needs to be a transition from the obsolete machines of past computer installations to a provision of more current technology,” he says. “While a P-IV-based processor may find utility in little more than cluster research today, it has huge educational potential in Cameroon. It could provide a platform for functional Internet in schools that would promote global discourse.”

Based largely upon the contributions of the CTEE — which has grown over the last decade from a small organization into a large-scale humanitarian group — the Ministry of Education in Cameroon has adopted a new technology education program.

“Unfortunately, the international community has not stepped up to help support that initiative,” says Jaeger. “The CTEE has donated more equipment to Cameroon than any other single international effort, including the governments of China, Japan, Korea, France, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.”

Today, the CTEE is struggling to find access to the improved technology that would advance its causes. Contributions of hardware, software, Internet-related services, and financial support are of greater importance than ever before.

“The well, it seems, has run dry,” says Jaeger. “We have yet to identify a source for affordable Internet service or the donations necessary to facilitate access in Cameroonian secondary schools. We see increasing numbers of workers in Africa capable of maintenance and oversight, but they lack the resources and support for our efforts.”

For more information on the Cultural, Technological, Environmental Exchange (CTEE) and how you or your company can support its efforts, visit its Web site at www.ctee.org or contact Mike Jaeger at jaegerm@westottawa.net or Vince PeGan at vpegan@purdue.edu.