Water Work: Bridgeway Humanitarian Projects in El Salvador

Interested in a financial firm based on generosity, servant leadership and living inspiring values in place of greed, fame and accruing power? Meet Bridgeway Capital Management, who has been one of AMCA’s Legacy Clients since 2010. Bridgeway was founded by John Montgomery in 1993, and is based in Houston, Texas. The firm applies a highly disciplined, purely quantitative approach to money management across a wide range of domestic equity categories. Bridgeway is distinguished by its culture, which features a non-hierarchical organization that stresses process and results over titles and status; adherence to the principles of stewardship as demonstrated by their avoidance of soft dollar arrangements; and a commitment to service reflected in the donation of 50% of investment advisory fee profits to charitable and non-profit organizations. Their commitment to service and a bold dream to end genocide on the planet is the inspiration for this blog about their recent service trip to El Salvador.

 WHY Bridgeway Capital Management Encourages and Supports Partners Making Service Trips to El Salvador to Dig Water Wells

By Michele Camp, Partner
Investment Operations Team, Bridgeway Capital Management

 Question: What do you get when you send 7 financially minded gringos to El Salvador?  Answer:  A water well!  One early Sunday morning 7 Bridgeway Partners left vanity at the door and travelled to El Salvador with Living Water International (LWI) to dig a water well for a community called El Mango.  Yes, that’s right.  A service trip with my fellow Partners.  I’ll be the first to admit that it sounds a little strange travelling and spending 24/7 in a foreign country with the people you work with.  But let me tell you, it was an awesome, humbling, challenging, eye opening, and a life changing experience.  I learned about myself, my Partners, and I learned what it’s like to love and serve complete strangers. For 5 days we were covered in mud, sweat and more mud as we took turns operating the drill, taking dirt samples, assembling PVC pipes, mixing and pouring concrete, and all other various tasks involved in completing a well.  It was hard work, especially in a tropical climate where it feels like it’s 120 degrees with 500% humidity.

 Our day started with a devotion and a time of worship followed by a hearty breakfast prepared by one of the ladies with LWI.  We then gathered our tools and loaded the truck, working up a nice sweat before climbing into a mosquito infested van.  We quickly opened every window to avoid the ill fate of Malaria (there was maybe one of us who thought it would be a good idea to take Malaria pills before the trip, the rest of us decided to test our luck) and before we knew it, we were on our way.  As we arrived, we drove past the school which was right next to the church where we were drilling.  The kids were usually outside playing and they would stop what they were doing, run to the fence, watch and wave as we drove by.  When we arrived at the church, we were promptly greeted by some of the ladies of El Mango, giving us the biggest hugs I’ve ever received.  They greeted us in Spanish saying how glad they were to have us.  Una problema.  Yo no comprendo Espanol.  I entertained myself by thinking they were complimenting me and my super fashionable drilling outfit consisting of fishing pants that were four sizes too big, a Fruit of the Loom v-neck undershirt from a little boutique called Target, topped off by my super clunky work boots/rain boots (it’s debatable whether they were actually work boots or rain boots.  They felt like unwanted leg weights to me.).  I knew they were saying nice things, but somehow I doubt it was to the extent I was flattering myself.  I was assuming goodwill, right?

 Throughout the day, a crowd would gather to watch us work tirelessly as we fumbled with our tools, got into water fights, and took breaks because, did I mention the heat and humidity of a tropical climate and the fact that we’re use to desk work, not manual labor?  While we worked, a few of the ladies in the community spent the morning preparing a feast that put my grandmother’s Thanksgiving lunch to shame.  And this wasn’t just one day, but every day.   They graciously served us all they had to offer, having spent days before our arrival preparing chicken and harvesting fruits and vegetables to serve meals that were considered a rare and special delicacy to them.

 When we weren’t helping with the well, a few of us would play with the kids; the boys loved futbol while the girls enjoyed jumping rope.  It was funny watching us try to communicate with them using our incorrectly conjugated verbs, dramatic sign language that rivaled the acting of daytime soap operas, or my habit of increasing my volume thinking that if I speak louder and repeat the same thing over and over again, my words will magically get translated.  No such luck. Despite our language barrier and making fools of ourselves in our best effort to communicate, I was shocked by how welcoming and accepting the people of El Mango were to us.  As the days went on, we went from strange gringos to fast friends.  Before I knew it, the kids who were shy and timid when they first greeted us, were wanting me to play futbol with them and laughing and joking with me as I joined them jumping and splashing in the puddles after a rainstorm.

 The days flew by and I was astounded by how much we were able to accomplish in such a short amount of time, although my muscles would tell you otherwise.  The well was about 90 ft deep and we amazingly struck water on the first day!  In fact, we were so far ahead of schedule that we spent a day helping on a different well that was 220 ft deep.  Our final day was spent putting the finishing touches on the well and participating in a dedication ceremony with the community; giving thanks for access to the water God provided for them.  It was such a joyous day of celebration and excitement – I was overwhelmed with happiness seeing them pump fresh, clean water for the first time.  They were so grateful and so thankful. When the festivities were over, we loaded up the truck, took a few last pictures, piled in the van and waved goodbye to our new amigos one last time.

 Reflecting on the trip, I’m amazed by how my heart changed.  I originally went because I enjoy manual labor, being outside, and I wanted to support James, one of the Partners who organized the trip, and his passion for clean water.  James has organized several of these trips and I’ve always been tempted to go, but conveniently had lame excuses as to why serving others wouldn’t fit in with my very free, very flexible schedule.  This year the only excuse I could come up with was that my DVR was almost full so I needed to dedicate time to clearing it out.  Somehow I didn’t think he’d understand…so of course I waited until the last minute just to make sure nothing else came my way, and before I knew it, I received a confirmation email for a plane ticket to El Salvador.  I was excited about going and excited about drilling a water well, but I didn’t really have an interest in getting to know the people – I just wanted to go, do our job, and leave.  The moment I was embraced by one of the ladies in the community as I climbed out of the van for the first time, and as I saw the sweetest little kids walking single file from the school yard to the church to greet us, my heart melted and I was overwhelmed with compassion for these complete strangers.   I learned so much from them as I watched them love with abundance and give so generously.  They don’t have much, but what they do have, they hold onto loosely, giving freely because they trust in God’s provision.  I was reminded of how tightly I hold onto what I have and how I often get wrapped up in my own affairs, giving so little of myself and my materials to others.  I experienced a great sense of freedom and peace when I quit worrying about me and focused on helping and serving the community.  What ended up happening was completely unexpected: I left feeling like I was the one served.  It was a humbling feeling.  They kept thanking us over and over again for drilling a well and what a huge blessing we were, but all I kept thinking was, no, YOU are the blessing, YOU are the gift.

So why did we go?  Why would a firm of only 30 people send 7 away for a week to drill a water well?  Part of Bridgeway’s vision statement states, “Partners effecting extraordinary community and world change.”  It’s who we are and what we’re about– it’s engrained in our culture.  For a week in May, a group of 7 literally lived into our vision statement and effected extraordinary community and world change for El Mango.  But it took more than the 7 of us.  We left behind our families and our fellow Partners who gladly and graciously gave of themselves so that we could be gone for a week.  And when I say gone, I mean incommunicado.  No cell phone, no email, no internet.  Nada.  Even though they weren’t there physically, their love and support were equally as important and such a necessary and vital component to our trip.  It was unifying, not just for the people who went to El Salvador, but for everyone involved.  As James beautifully stated, “stepping out of yourself brings out a whole new energy.”.  It does and it did, for everyone at Bridgeway.  We came back with a renewed passion for our vision statement realizing that the higher we performed at our job, the better our company would be which would hopefully lead to more profits and more importantly, greater giving.  The small community of El Mango is a perfect example of the BIG difference 30 people can make.