Export Prep

Another Buy Day has come and gone. I packaged up the $300 purchase in candlelight yesterday, as the electricity went out in our block in Cajamarca. Today I went to the Serpost office to "Export Facil" (Easily Export) all our goods. This time was more smooth. With Oswaldo we only spent 2.5 hours filling out the 1 sheet form on the internet, instead of 2 days last year. And, instead of 2. 5 hours at the Mail Serpost office, I only spent a grant total of 20 minutes. The true test is the arrival of goods in 7 days.

Paz ~ Nora

Sewing for the Long Term

Today we started a whole new chapter in DHF activities. We started a 3 month long sewing course in collaboration with Sonia, my new favorite teacher. She taught our women apron's class last month and now is teaching our women a complete sewing women's clothes course, complete with a certificate at the end of 3 months. A certificate from a technical institute here in Cajamarca is the equivalant to post-secondary learning in the U.S. DHF has helped women learn new things, try new things, explore new things. But, this course is an amazing opportunity for our women to really develop their sewing skills and professional/business skills too. Those women that want to root themselves in sewing and grow, this is their chance. I will keep you all posted about our sewing students and their projects as the course takes it's course.

Paz ~ Nora

Mud Recruitment

Hope House classes have started this month and I haven't seen some of our new loan recipients around or signing up for activities. So, yesterday I slipped out of knitting class early to visit a couple of loan recipients in their houses. Many of our new village banks are in the countryside, where there is dirt, rain and mud. I walked through the thick mud to get to the homes of some of our women. I found many village bank women and was able to give them the "official" invitation to come to class. In my experiences these past couple of years I have found that women need to make a personal connection with you before they will do anything else with you - or me.

For example, if I send the activity calendar of classes to women in a village bank, and there is a woman in that village bank who is interested in classes, she will be hesitate to sign up if I haven't laid the groundwork. She doesn't know my name. Doesn't know where the class is. And, she for sure isn't going to go to Cajamarca alone to class. Peruvians work in groups and the way to motivate one woman is to motivate many. I encourage the women to take advantage of these learning opportunities and come to classes with other bank members. Walking through the mud, dodging angry dogs and knocking on doors yesterday; the mud recruitment paid off. I got some new loan recipients to sign-up for sewing and chocolate making classes this month. And, yes, they are coming with their fellow bank members.

Paz ~ Nora

Ring, Ring, Ring

Amazing the strength of my telephone the past two days!

I had to travel to Lima these past couple of days to visit the Immigration Office and take care of business with my visa and permission to stay in the country. Lima and Immigration is a whole other world from the rest of Peru, and I could write a long blog entry about all the signatures, stamps and random requirements that they ask for, but I won't bore you.

Hope House classes start today and since I wasn't in the office the past two days my phone has been ringing off the hook. I was in the interational police department office (one of the requirements to get a temporary resident visa) and women were calling me about jewelry class. I was in the smelly, dirty public bus and women were calling me about jewelry class.
I was in the bus station checking in my backpack and women were calling me about jewelry class. I love that so many women are interested in class this afternoon, I just need a secretary!

As DiscoverHope Fund grows, a secretary may be part of that future. But, for now, the reality of a small international NGO is having few personal on the ground and doing whatever, whenever to make things work. This includes class sign-up on the nightbus from Lima to Cajamarca.

Paz ~ Nora

New Money!

As I may have alluded to in previous posts, this month has been busy, busy.

Since this week is Semana Santa, Holy Week, I didn't program activities at the Hope House. But, that doesn't mean it hasn't been busy. I went out to the countryside yesterday to visit loan recipients in their homes and businesses to invite them to our April activities. The women were really excited to see the new calendar and new classes that will be offered. Some of you may remember Precila from last year. She is part of the village bank Jehova es mi Pastor and was involved in literacy courses last year. She had shared with me in a previous visit that she was calling her literacy teacher from last year for help this year. She forgot how to multiply and wanted some quick tips on the phone so she could help her son with his homework. Starting in April she won't have to do that, since we will be offering literacy classes again. I visited her in her countryside store, which has grown since last year, and she looked over the class list and signed up for 3 classes right there on the spot. This is usually rare as the women I work with don't have extra change laying around. I meet all kinds of women on this microcredit journey, and I have learned that when you find women that have inspiration, drive and desire, You Invest in Them.


After walking along cow pastures all day, my day finished with yet another new village bank formation. A village bank called "Margaritas" formed outside of Banos de Inca. This group is talky, active and full of energy. After their loan dispersement I invited the women to participate in our April activities and nearly 1/2 of the village bank signed up for classes. Below is a new loan recipient receiving her new loan money! Gotta love it!

Paz ~ Nora

248 Entrepreneurial Trainings Sponsored!

We are so Grateful to all the folks who were able to make it out to Spring Into Hope on Wed March 24! The rain held just long enough for us to enjoy a balmy evening and one another in the spirit of supporting entrepreneurial trainings for women who receive our microcredit loans. As of today, we’ve raised $6200 to support 248 trainings in literacy, health, business, personal development, artisan and culinary education. Our goal is to support 300 trainings this year. A training for 15 women costs $25; if you want to sponsor a training or a series of trainings, everything makes a difference. Read about all the wonderful trainings happening with our women right here on this blog…giving personal power, courage, knowledge, behavior change, and sustainable practice to families is an amazing gift. Visit the DonateNow link if you are interested in supporting trainings to help us to our 300 class goal!

Thank you to Winery on the Gruene for sharing their wine, Cojo Catering for the beautiful presentation of delicious food, Sledd Photography for capturing the event with incredible shots we will soon share on Facebook (like the one here!), and the Latin sounds of The Brew

We are so Grateful to all of you,
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Machine Power

DHF has really increased it's machine power this year. We went from 2 old Singer sewing machines last year to 8 machines this year. Where our Hope House is housed, with a small group of nuns that believe in serving the poor, there is the capacity to hold sewing classes like we never have before. We held an Introduction to Sewing class yesterday, where women learned how to make a simple apron pattern. In the beginning of class all the women gathered in the sewing room around the long tables where they were instructed to cut their material. The 18 women in class divided into 2 smaller groups and it was really fun to watch them help each other and even teach each other. Our new sewing professor, Sonia, hails from a technical institute in Cajamarca and was so calm, patient and composed as she made the rounds of all 8 sewing machines to get them working. Once material was cut, some women made their way straight to the machine, while others handsewed their material pre-machine pass. I only got to witness a few finished aprons, as I had to run off to a new village bank inauguration, but from the sight of the work level, the women I am sure went home content with their newly made bright aprons.
As the sewing class was finishing their aprons, I ran to another new village bank inauguration, thankfully in the same building complex as our class. The village bank "Women Entrepenuers" formed last night with a 'semilla', or seed money of s/2,000.00 soles (roughly $704) . This bank is composed of many recovering mental health patients that the nuns here have served and rehabilitated. They are women with work skills, but up until this point haven't worked with business capital to use and grow those skills. The best part of the inauguration was the ending when one of the women said, "too bad we couldn't do a toast for this special occasion." At that moment I remembered the extra orange Fanta soda that I had leftover from our business charla. I ran downstairs to grab the sacred orange drink and served the new village bank members their plastic toast glasses. There were heart warming words and the actual toast, which made the meeting complete.

Paz ~ Nora