Saving Together to Build Better Lives
The brown, dusty villages in the Dolores Hidalgo area of central Mexico are inhabited mostly by women and children. “We have no husbands or sons,” says one woman, an adult learner, in la Cantera, one of 21 communities served by Proyectos Laubach de la Alfabetización, América Central (PLAMAC), ProLiteracy’s partner in Guanajuato, Mexico. The woman is explaining the community’s loss of men and boys, most of whom travel north to the United States in search of jobs. Some men are able to find work and send money home to support their families in La Cantera; others are not so fortunate, leaving their families suffer without them. The economic hardship already felt by families in this area is intensified by this out-migration of men, forcing women to explore alternatives to support their families.
The women in la Cantera have found this unity and sustenance in the midst of crisis by forming a savings club.
The savings clubs, which are coordinated in conjunction with PLAMAC, are the first step in the gradual process of economic empowerment for these women. Savings create the foundation for future economic and community projects, including the development of small business. Savings club participants meet weekly to make deposits, discuss pressing community issues, and assist one another in literacy instruction. The money is kept in a lock-box. The box itself has come to symbolize the solidarity and strength of these women. “I am excited because we are learning from what we already know and we are learning to do new things too,” says Margarita, a savings club participant. For more than 25 years, PLAMAC has implemented effective grassroots literacy and community development projects in rural communities throughout the state of Guanajuato. Today, PLAMAC’s literacy program continues to empower women in six rural communities. Literacy has become a tool to facilitate the development of general competencies such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving and community participation; PLAMAC is helping women in Mexico learn how to make decisions, create strategies for economic self sufficiency, and gain the confidence to exercise their rights.
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Can anyone tell me to what extent does the Mexican government specifically contribute to this cause?
ReplyDeleteLori, I don't know for sure the answer to your question, but I suspect that the Mexican government does very little to aid these women; hence the women's efforts at self-help. It is great that the savings clubs include literacy instruction. Literacy will help these women to improve their quality of life even though the husbands and sons are absent. I wonder if a similar approach could work in poor, rural areas of the U.S.?
ReplyDelete@lori.michels: We know our partner program in Mexico does not get any funding from the Mexican government, though the Mexican government does provide funding for these types of programs.
ReplyDelete@ehodge: We at ProLiteracy believe the "global" and the "domestic" are interconnected and that issues and solutions are often the same, even if the economic and cultural contexts are different. Along these same lines, some global microfinance institutions like KIVA and Grameen are bringing their models to the U.S. Grameen America is an example of this...
Amy Schmitz, director of communications, ProLiteracy
This is an interesting discussion thread. First of all, I think it is horrible that the men and sons, leave, and abandoned their families and female children. Do the men even send money home? I know when I was vacationing in Mexico many of the men talked about coming to the States, earning money here, and then heading back home with the U.S. money because the dollar was worth more in Mexico then in the U.S. Knowing this history, as a woman, I would tell my husband he could not leave, or prior to his leaving I would make sure that my daughters and myself would be cared for. I do think that sometimes men think women are helpless, my comment is, never underestimate the power of a woman. When necessary, I think you would be surprised what they can do and accomplish in order to make sure they and their children survive.
ReplyDelete