My poor coworkers are getting their exercise today, visiting 3 village banks for loan repayment and business sessions. Unfortunately all banks are located in different extremes of the city, and even one of the banks is located outside of Cajamarca.
and attract more clients. The women had a lot of ideas and questions about how to improve their marketing. This was definitely a hit business topic.
finishes their blankets. There were some groans. They want to start on their baby dresses already next week. My rationing is that they get discounted material from DHF, we want to see them finish their projects and not have 1/2 done baby blankets sitting in corners of houses waiting to be finished. We want to see them all the way through their project, no matter how tough it may be, until they use start using their blanket or get ready to sell it. Tough Love.
We arrived at the finale of our sewing modulo. The one that started back in April. Remember those posts? Women that hadn't sewed in a long time, women that wanted to improve their sewing business, women that wanted to learn how to make their own clothes, etc...
The ceremony consisted of lots of speeches in recognition of all who made this course possible, especially our beloved teacher Sonia who taught with such passion and patience. Vilma, one of our star students, also spoke on behalf of her fellow students, giving thanks and reassuring the crowd that the group will take advantage of their new knowledge and use it in their daily lives and businesses, "because not everyone has this opportunity and we are very grateful." Prizes were given out to the students with best attendance and we enjoyed cake and tea afterwards. 
That's what Ingrid from the village bank Mujeres Luchadoras told me, "At first I was scared, I felt all alone. But then as I went walking more into the forest I realized I was surrounded by a lot of beautiful things. There was a river, birds, lots of flowers and trees. I realized I wasn't alone and I felt at peace." 
I can't even begin to tell you how excited and proud I am. Today was the start of the 2nd loan cycle for Strength and Blessings. They elected a new Directive to lead them in their 2nd loan cycle. So, new secretary, new treasurer and new president. The new Directive will be fabulous, I just know it, but I am especially excited about the new president. Her name is Esperanza (translated from Spanish is Hope) and she is dynamic. You can not miss her laugh and her energy when you are in the same room as her. She jokes and motivates. She pushes her fellow loan recipients, "Neighbor, you can work with more money. I know you. You are a hard worker. Take out s/600 in your loan, invest it and you will make more. s/400 is nothing for you."
Esperanza is special not only because of her incredible spark, but also because she has been a dedicated literacy student these past 3 months. Esperanza never finished elementary school so when her village bank formed and she had the opportunity to attend literacy classes in her community she signed up. She has learned how to write her name and basic numbers. This month she started her 2nd literacy cycle, together with her loan cycle.
on the combi to head to the countryside this morning I spotted Esperanza. We rode together to the village bank meeting. We stopped in the dirt road next to the river bridge to walk the rest of the way together. Esperanza had two big heavy (30 lbs.?) bins filled with "dirty water" (pig food, but often called agua sucia here in Peru, easier to say than restaurant leftovers) She travels into the city daily to gather 2-4 dirty water bins for her pregnant pigs. Together her two pigs consume at least 2 full bins of dirty water daily. They will give birth soon and soon she will need to increase their food availability so that the piglets grow big and strong and ready for market. Since her husband works and her kids are little, she doesn't have anyone to help her. She travels daily, sometimes waiting long hours for a combi that will take her and her bins close to home. Not all combi drivers want to take her bins on their short-of-space minivan. Sometimes they charge her 50 cents a bin, and that is after she pays s/3 a bin for the restaurant leftovers. Esperanza carrys these heavy bins on her back, daily. I couldn't even lift one. 
Elizabeth and Mari helping the village bank Directive of Violetas sort through their first loan paperwork. 
New loan recipient from Violetas showing off her first loan money.
During one of our dramas. Elizabeth, our bank promotora, is acting as the authority (president) and different bank women are acting along with her. 
We did group work within our village banks, reflecting on a leadership story and what it means to be a leader. 
So I came to my office this morning all alone. Only to hear the sound of my own thoughts. Blake has left town, Amy leaving today. They have been so generous with their thoughts and words and I just need to set the record straight - DHF owes them a great big THANK YOU. They came to this country with open minds and hearts to help DHF in any and all ways possible. They did just that. Blake created a computer curriculum from scratch and designed a new website for our local partner. Amy took over Hope House during my vacation and did all kinds of (sometimes unglorified) work tasks to make this place run. She worked tirelessly on evaluation and monitoring tools for literacy, monthly reporting and and big picture programming. 
Nora hams it up at a BBQ.
Nora explains to the women why it is important to come to class on time.
Blake, Nora and Amy on our last day.
Jewelry Buy Day: While it was exhausting to spend all day sorting through women's jewelry submissions, it was great to see that all their hard work would pay off for them, literally. 
Literacy testing: Last week we tested our literacy students on their progress. I was happy to see that the literacy exams I had been designing all summer actually worked.
And finally, my coworkers! Top, Oswaldo from Multicredit speaks to a village bank. Middle, me, Eli, Bertha and Blake celebrate my birthday. Bottom, Nora and Eli. But it also means you get to experience the side of international development that you cannot get working in an office in Washington DC. Lack of creature comforts aside, what is the value of getting to see the faces of the people you are serving every day? What is the value of learning that, thanks to the last jewelry export day you organized, an elderly woman can now afford her medicine? Or a young woman telling you that she used to be afraid to speak in public, but now that she is president of her village bank she is no longer afraid to make mistakes publicly? Or a woman who used to think that only men could be leaders, but now knows that she, a motivated businesswoman, mother, student, and friend is also a leader? These are anecdotes that we can read about on the U.S. side, reports that we can request from our workers on the ground, but it is never quite the same as getting to help someone personally.
I also learned more about realities of the poor in developing countries. Take, for example, one afternoon when I was scheduled to go interview a woman about her successful jewelry-making business. I arrived at her house around 4pm only to find everyone running around hysterically. It turns out that they received a phone call from scam artists in Lima claiming that they were policeman who had found their son, a university student, carrying drugs. They said they would turn him in to the regional headquarters unless the family sent them $200 as a bribe. The mother was hysterically crying, a sister ran off to the university to see if she could find her brother, and the father went to borrow money from friends so he could pay the bribe. They were too afraid to call the police because if the story was true, then corrupt policemen were already involved. Fortunately the sister found her brother before they paid the bribe.
Or the village bank members who live in an isolated neighborhood in the countryside that can no longer be reached by bus because the municipality decided to do construction on all the main roads at once.
Or the woman who has never touched a computer in her life, because they simply don’t exist in her neighborhood, but has dreams of being able to work as a secretary.
The reality of the lives of the poor is that they are unstable. Uncomfortable. Full of stress, and sometimes, tragedy. But also full of a hope to be able to “salir adelante,” an appreciation of the importance of friends and family, and a sense of being blessed for having the little you do have.
