Thursday felt like we took one step backward and two steps forward, which put's us ahead in my book. In the morning we opened the official bank account into which the women will deposit their weekly repayment checks! We also had a meeting with "JC", an architect from the schools who is well connected with the local community. He was wary about our plans, which helped to bring us back to reality in a way. Although it definitely isn't bad to have a more realistic opinion, especially when we are planning on having loans out within a month of meeting our clients (eek!), it's never easy to hear. I can't tell you how many times we have heard that for those seeking formal employment, the mere mention of a La Limonada residence on an application is an immediate cause for disqualification. That your address can rule your ambitions is more than a tragedy, it's an injustice.
The best part of our meeting with "JC" was him putting us in contact with Otto, an official from Fundacion Micros, the local Guatemalan Microfinance Initiative we are paying to train our own loan officer. Otto was more than willing to share his experiences and advice, and by that I mean three hours of trying to comprehend straight conversational Spanish (i'll admit my mind veered off course once or twice...). Overall, we came away with a manual of Fundacion Micros' inner workings and a heightened sense of the risk we are taking on. Unlike us, Fundacion Micros does not cater to "red zones", never takes on clients who haven't had established businesses for at least a year, often have clients put up their houses as collateral, and are moving away from the group lending model.
On the way to our meeting with Otto we drove through one of Guatemala's red light districts, defined by rows and rows of single rooms with scantily clad women gazing out of cracked doors. Although this really has nothing to do with our project/excursions I thought I'd mention it because it was unbelievably sad. Needless to say, I counted my blessings that night to have grown up as a young woman in the American suburbs.
Two words. LAKE ATITLAN. more to come of my "dream vacation" weekend soon!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, Sarika. I continue to be encouraged by the work you and your group are doing and by the relationships you are building with the people of La Limonada. You are treading into new territory and it's great to know that, even though there are some backward steps, things are moving forward!
ReplyDeleteI would just like to comment on your experience during the red light district, its good that you count your blessings BUT living in a 3rd world country dosent necessarily mean that you will grow up to become a sad prostitute, there are many sad and ,I would say dirtier, prostitutes here in america and most have come from nice american suburbs. it all depends on how you want to live, yes they are poor but they have the choice of becoming poor and a prostitutes or not, just like the women in america make the choice of becoming prostitutes even thought they are living well.
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