April 15, 2008 by adelantefoundation
Two weeks ago I went on a trip to visit the Tocoa office of Adelante; located in the department east of Atlántida, the town of Tocoa is about 200 km from La Ceiba. I spent the day clinging to the back of one of the credit officer’s motorbikes, visiting Asambleas. I got a chance to meet some Adelante women, and a few of them gave me tours of their homes, yards and businesses.
As we were leaving the first Asamblea, the credit officer pointed out the house where one of the women I had just met lives. It was a small house, perched on the steep embankment that overlooked the road. It was made of dried mud pressed between wooden sticks, and a roof of thatched palm leaves.
I first noticed Maria as soon as she arrived at the Asamblea. As she was greeting everyone, she pulled out some beautiful hand-made handkerchiefs and place-settings that another credit officer had ordered from her. I admired how beautifully and delicate they were, and her enterprising spirit in promoting and selling her products to Adelante credit officers and the other women in her Asamblea. Throughout the meeting, a crochet needle and black wool ducked and weaved through and around her fingers, as a delicate table runner lengthened in her lap.
The only time the dancing crochet needle in Maria’s hands stopped was when it was time for the educational charla; at this point Maria stood up and facilitated the charla. Last October, Maria was chosen by her Asamblea as their Community Educator; this means that she attends training sessions in Tocoa, and facilitates the educational charlas at Asamblea meetings. That day, the charla was about Planning, and Maria discussed advantages and strategies of planning, while flipping through the laminated and colourful lesson on large flip-chart paper.
While talking to Maria later, she told me about some of the other training she has received and her volunteer work. In 1986 she was trained by Medico del Mundo (a Spanish health organization) to be a mid-wife, and she volunteers with a malaria prevention program. Currently Maria is working as a mid-wife with two patients; she helps them through the various stages of pregnancy and delivery and the women pay her a small fee.
Maria is now in her second year with Adelante. She invested her first loan in her pulperia, a small
store that sells basic supplies. She doesn’t focus as much these days on her pulperia; instead she has turned her attention to activities that she finds more enjoyable: using her knitting, needlepoint and sewing skills. She told me that she doesn’t remember learning these skills; she learned them as a child, and has been selling products for the past 13 years. With her most recent loan from Adelante, for 5000 Lempiras (265US$), she bought the materials she needs—wool, fabric and embroidery—to make handkerchiefs, pillow cases, bed-spreads, and table cloths. She sells her products to the women in her neighbourhood, her friends, and in the surrounding communities.
Maria told me that she lives with her husband and youngest child, who is 13 years old and currently at school. It is hard for her husband to find work, but a couple times a week he works in the banana plantations. Maria and her husband also have three older children, who are 26, 32, and 36 years old, and continue to support their parents. At their house, Maria and her husband also raise chickens, and use the eggs to sell or eat. She is hoping to increase their chicken farming activities, and has used some of her Adelante funds to build fences for her animals.
After we left the Asamblea, and the credit officer pointed Maria’s house out to me, I was reminded of the last thing Maria said to me. She told me that she and her husband have started working on their home, and hope to build themselves a home of cement blocks and floors; she said her work with Adelante is helping.
