Married and Back in Cajamarca!

So the past month or so has been anything but work or microcredit. On January 2 I married my Peruvian soulmate and left for a backpacking honeymoon trip throughout southern Peru and Bolivia. It was a whirlwind of family, joy, excitement for traveling new mountain roads and experiencing a whole new part of South America. We are safely home, bringing a backpack of dirty clothes and wonderful memories. As I return home to DiscoverHope and microcredit and village banking, I invite you all to join me on the journey in this new year of creating positive change in the lives of Peruvian women.

Posted here is a glimpse of our Peruvian wedding celebration, a bit different than the normal U.S. wedding, but then again everything in Peru is a little different than back home.

Paz ~ Nora

Join us for a Microcredit Panel Discussion in Austin

Dear DHF Family,
Never fear...Nora Bedard will be returning in two weeks to Cajamarca to resume her full time duty as Program Manager for the DiscoverHope Fund (congratulations to her for her marriage on Jan 4!). We have a lot of exciting program movement upcoming this year so stay tuned for more colorful stories from the field. In the meantime, join us in Austin if you can...

Central Texans striving to lift the Base of the Pyramid!

Join Net Impact Austin for a speaker panel discussing a convergence of microfinance, creative philanthropy and business opportunities that are lifting people in developing countries out of poverty. There are over 4 billion people around the world who live on less than $2.00 a day. They are what’s known as the Base of the Pyramid (or BoP). Come and learn how people based right here in Central Texas are working to create funding mechanisms and education programs to help these our global neighbors to build communities that thrive with meaningful, sustainable work, higher household incomes and improved social and environmental conditions.
Please click to RSVP

The panelists include:
Maggie Miller is Founder and Executive Director of DiscoverHope Fund (DHF), an international development nonprofit promoting abundance for women and their families living in economic poverty through microcredit and sustainable support systems. Maggie spent nearly two years living in mountains of Cajamarca Peru developing and implementing the microcredit pilot project that evolved into DHF, a nonprofit that Maggie registered in 2006 with the state of TX and with the IRS to create a 501c3 public charity. In 2006, she was chosen as a research fellow for FINCA and FriendshipBridge to conduct grassroots research on poverty and the power of microcredit in Panajachel, Guatemala. Maggie directs the day-to-day management and growth of DHF from headquarters in Austin TX and travels back to Peru annually to work with DHF’s field-based Peru Program Manager. Prior to her international work, Maggie enjoyed six years in nonprofit management in San Diego as a Program Director, focusing on program design and evaluation for youth development programs for peace after completing her MA in Communication. Maggie received her Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations in 2009

Norma Van Horn is the Program Director of A Glimmer of Hope. She works closely with the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia country office to manage and coordinate A Glimmer of Hope’s roughly 750 construction projects and $2 million microfinance portfolio. I have been at A Glimmer of Hope – my dream job – since mid-2008. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by Africa. The sunsets, the animals, the music, the culture and the primal roots of humanity captured me from a very early age. In 2004, my husband and I celebrated our second anniversary with a two week safari in Africa which was everything I had hoped it would be and more. What I wasn’t prepared for was the poverty. My career as a technology product manager and graduate student had taken me all over the world – Asia, Russia, Eastern and Western Europe – but nothing prepares you for Africa. We returned compelled to do something about the extreme poverty we had seen and started a small business for the sole purpose of raising money for microfinance organizations. Shortly after that we started a family and I chose to be a stay-at-home mom for one precious, irreplaceable year. Giving that up to join A Glimmer of Hope was a tough decision but it is incredibly meaningful to know that my efforts are helping to make a constructive difference in the lives of remote, rural Ethiopians every day and I count my lucky stars that I am able to do this work.

Steve Wanta is passionate about microfinance and other business solutions that are improving the lives of the poor. He was hired by Whole Planet Foundation in March 2006 as the Field Program Manager to support the creation of new MFIs in Guatemala and Costa Rica in partnership with Grameen Trust. Only months prior to beginning with the Foundation, Steve had completed his two years of service in the Peace Corps working with rural Guatemalan farmers implementing business solutions in an effort to improve their livelihoods. His development experience complimented by his previous work in business development at Dell Computer Corporation have allowed Steve to bridge between people living in poverty and leaders looking to understand the challenges of the poor. Now as the Executive Program Director, Steve is responsible for overseeing and expanding Whole Planet Foundation’s portfolio of microfinance projects around the world. Steve is proud to be an owner of the Green Bay Packers, avid rugby player, and fluent Spanish speaker.

Moderated by Scott Collier. Scott has worked in venture capital and private equity since 1991 and has been a student of microfinance in the developing world for most of that time. He is currently a Managing Director of Austin-based Triton Ventures and also advises private and publicly-traded companies on matters of capital formation, corporate development and strategy. Prior to Triton he served as Vice President of Capital Southwest Corporation, a publicly-traded venture capital firm with assets under management of over $500M.. Scott has had board responsibility for numerous venture backed companies and currently serves on the board of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas and the Austin Technology Council and on the advisory board of PeopleFund. He is currenly part of a leadership team forming Slow Money Alliance Austin, serves on the advisory board for Austin-area Community Development Financial Institution PeopleFund, and chairs the steering committee for the 2010 Dell Social Innovation Competition. He also created Rockroom Wine Cooperative, a producer of premium wines that invests all profits from wine sales in microloans in the developing world through microfinance partner Kiva.org.
Please click to RSVP

http://www.netimpactaustin.org/event/microfinance-texas-raising-bop

Moving

Yes folks, the move went smoothly. (I may have scared you in the last post?) My moving truck was a little rusty and lopsided, but nothing got lost in the shuffle. Hope House is packed up in a safe location until Feb. classes start next year.

Why is Hope House moving?

1. We found a more central location
2. With lower rent costs!
3. The new Hope House will have a full kitchen stove - so no more appetizer mishaps, like this year
4. Computers for computer classes are part of the new Hope House
5. And, a room full of sewing machines will also be part of the Hope House!!!!

We have lots of things to look forward to in 2010 with DiscoverHope Fund's work supporting women in poverty. While the year comes to end, it provides DHF a good chance to celebrate, rest, and recharge for another year of important work in the year to come.

Paz as you also celebrate, rest and recharge ~ Nora

Packing up Hope House

Folks, this is an exciting, busy, and emotional time. The Hope House is turning into boxes. Since Hope House will be changing locations next year, it is my task to make sure with the move all of DHF materials make it from point A to point B. The moving task is a bit stressful, as it involves going to the designated location in Cajamarca where you negotiate with guys that have big trucks. Once you strike a deal, the moving begins. Moving has to be done with two people - why? - because you leave the stuff out in the truck on the street by itself and it may not be there when you return with the next load.

The exciting part of this time of the year (besides on the verge of getting married!), is reflecting back on the year and punching the numbers of goodness that DHF has created. I am so proud. We've done good this year. Women have generated more than $3,500 of additional income as a result of our classes. We've held more than 240 activities to support women in their personal and business growth. And, we've reached more than 800 total participants in all our activities this year. Amazing!

Thanks to all the supporters out there that make the DHF machine run smoothly and impact women in Cajamarca beyond what we can measure.

Paz ~ Nora

The Big Chocolatada

Hot Chocolate and Paneton and craziness. The basics for a Christmas celebration in Peru. In other words: The Big Chocolatada

DHF and Afider held our last big event together for the year this afternoon, the 2009 Chocolatada. We invited more than 200 women to join us in celebrating the holiday season. Thankful only half of them came because otherwise there just wouldn't have been room in the office. We were scheduled to start at 3:30, which means 4:30 Peruvian time. At 3:30 we had only just begun to cut the Paneton (sweet fruit bread). We filled 3 big boxes with cut Paneton and served pipping hot cinnamon hot chocolate all afternoon. There was Christmas music, speeches reflecting on the year, little gifts for the kiddos and Santa hats.


For me it was surprisingly an enjoyable afternoon. I usually get stressed out during these big events: starting late, making women wait, is there enough crackers? But not this afternoon. I enjoyed the presence of the women present that have shaped my life these past two years. Women that have inspired and challenged me. And I gave them thanks and upon popular demand even sang Jingle Bells in English to show my gratitude. And, let me tell you even though I didn't remember the 2nd verse of Jingle Bells the women still gave me a standing ovation. Only in Peru.


Happy hot chocolate drinking and sweet bread eatin',

Paz ~ Nora

DHF Winter News

Dear DHF Family,
Happy Holidays to all of you! Please enjoy our Winter Newsletter for all the year-end news about DiscoverHope and a glance at our new logo!

Sending Light,
Maggie

Maggie Miller
Founder/Executive Director

Coding

Some of our loan recipients had a new experience yesterday coding their jewelry. Why were they coding? A fellow in the chamber of commerce that had heard about our Export Facil endeavor was curious to help us out. As an export 'expert' and professor he offered one of his business students, who was looking for an artisan group, the chance to work together with our women on a jewelry catalog. A win-win. Ever, our lucky business student gets to do his homework for international business class and the women get the chance to put their products into a catalog. Ever was asking the women sizes, prices, material costs - very detailed questions that our women hardly ever answer. It is good food for thought for them to put more detail into their jewelry. If they are thinking export in the future, they need to be able to answer those questions and much more. The coding represents the different models that the women make. Even if we don't go international with our sales - if the women can streamline and develop many replicas of the same model they can start to expand their businesses and enter into new, bigger markets. Don't worry Austin - we have you in mind, depending on how the catalog turns out, we would love to send it to Texas and place orders!

Paz ~ Nora