Week 1: Notes from the Field
ProLiteracy in El Salvador, June 2010
Dean Curtis, Founder of Interweave Solutions, did an in-depth training that he calls the 6Ps of Business (Plan, Product, Process, Promotion, Price, and Paperwork). The information targets ways participants canimprove their businesses, and they dove right into creating growth plans for their businesses, home life/family, and community. Most had run their own businesses, but they didn't exactly know where they stood with capital or how they would apply their FINCA loan to actually grow the business. Now they know!
Our visits to village banks gave us the chance to meet women who face poverty, gang violence, and lack of education every day. They shared their goals and what they want to learn together (sewing and baking cakes) and started making plans on how they could open a learning center for the community.
Another community, Distrito de Italia, faces similar problems with gang violence. Many people in the community live in fear. Crime in El Salvador has escalated as more and more young men join gangs because they see that “lifestyle” as desirable. The gang leaders have power, money, cars, and beautiful women. This community particularly is a “red zone” for violence and gangs.
The village bank we visited had nine members. The women immediately identified the crime as the biggest hindrance to their businesses. Everyone was especially eager to reach out to the single mothers in the community who had no way to start a business. Many of them stay at home with their children; it’s too dangerous to leave them alone to go work. During a group discussion, someone suggested starting a community day-care center where each mother would take turns watching the children so that the others could go out and work. Another suggestion: A community learning center where single mothers could learn a craft. Each member who had a business would take a turn teaching their skills to someone who wasn’t in the village bank. This exchange of ideas is what really moves the village bank system to start working together to solve problems that keep the members from moving out of poverty.
-Alesha Anderson, ProLiteracy International Programs Officer
Dean Curtis, Founder of Interweave Solutions, did an in-depth training that he calls the 6Ps of Business (Plan, Product, Process, Promotion, Price, and Paperwork). The information targets ways participants canimprove their businesses, and they dove right into creating growth plans for their businesses, home life/family, and community. Most had run their own businesses, but they didn't exactly know where they stood with capital or how they would apply their FINCA loan to actually grow the business. Now they know!
Our visits to village banks gave us the chance to meet women who face poverty, gang violence, and lack of education every day. They shared their goals and what they want to learn together (sewing and baking cakes) and started making plans on how they could open a learning center for the community.
Another community, Distrito de Italia, faces similar problems with gang violence. Many people in the community live in fear. Crime in El Salvador has escalated as more and more young men join gangs because they see that “lifestyle” as desirable. The gang leaders have power, money, cars, and beautiful women. This community particularly is a “red zone” for violence and gangs.
The village bank we visited had nine members. The women immediately identified the crime as the biggest hindrance to their businesses. Everyone was especially eager to reach out to the single mothers in the community who had no way to start a business. Many of them stay at home with their children; it’s too dangerous to leave them alone to go work. During a group discussion, someone suggested starting a community day-care center where each mother would take turns watching the children so that the others could go out and work. Another suggestion: A community learning center where single mothers could learn a craft. Each member who had a business would take a turn teaching their skills to someone who wasn’t in the village bank. This exchange of ideas is what really moves the village bank system to start working together to solve problems that keep the members from moving out of poverty.
-Alesha Anderson, ProLiteracy International Programs Officer
Dear Alesha,
ReplyDeleteDo these kinds of programs work as well in the USA?
@kristucker ProLiteracy’s micro finance programs are currently focused outside of the U.S. but there are other great micro finance institutions like Acción actively working domestically.
ReplyDeleteAccion’s website indicates that “since the inception of its pilot program in 1991, the U.S. ACCION Network has loaned nearly $277 million to over 24,000 clients and currently serves more than 5,100 active borrowers in 46 states.”
-Alesha Anderson, International Program Coordinator, ProLiteracy