Pairing Financial Services with Social Services

Earlier this month I wrote about the importance and hardships of pursuing a hygienic living environment for rural Honduran families in Choluteca and how Adelante addresses these needs with health education topics. The importance of maintaining basic hygiene and having access to sanitary shelter for a more dignified life cannot be stressed often enough. Today I would like to address the broader role that both financial and non-financial services play in achieving our mission: to improve the standard of living of the poorest of the poor Honduran women and their families primarily through microfinance and education. – See more at: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/en/blog#sthash.812YAryy.dpuf

Al principio de este mes, escribí acerca de la importancia y las dificultades de buscar un ambiente higiénico para vivir para las familias de áreas rurales en Choluteca, Honduras y también acerca de la estrategia que Adelante ha adoptado para tratar estas necesidades con charlas de salud. Ahora, debemos enfatizar la importancia de mantener una higiene básica y tener acceso a un hogar sanitario para una vida más digna. Hoy, me gustaría abordar el tema del importante papel que juegan los servicios financieros y no-financieros para lograr nuestra misión: mejorar la calidad de vida de las mujeres de escasos recursos y  sus familias a través de las microfinanzas y la educación. – Lea más: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/es/blog-es#sthash.PknwHaYp.dpuf

 

Hygiene Education in Choluteca: Education Tailored to Our Clients’ Needs

My most recent field visit brought me to Choluteca in the south of Honduras. Prior to my journey I was told that it was extremely warm there, so I knew I was in for a real treat. The first two days it was surprisingly cool because it is the rainy season or ‘winter’. But when the clouds disappeared from the sky for just a while, the sun became burning hot. This combination of pouring rain and strong sunshine provides for the green mountains that characterize Choluteca. – See more at: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/en/read-our-blog/42-from-the-field/176-hygiene-education-in-choluteca-education-tailored-to-our-clients-needs#sthash.pIPB2NsC.dpuf

Mi viaje más reciente me trajo al departamento de Choluteca en el sur de Honduras. Antes de comenzar mi trayecto, me dijeron que haría mucho calor y desde entonces supe que sería un buen viaje. El clima durante los primeros dos días fue sorprendentemente fresco porque era la temporada de lluvia o el “invierno”. Pero cuando las nubes desaparecieron del cielo por un corto rato, el sol ardió. Esta combinación de lluvias torrenciales y el calor del sol ardiente establece las montañas verdes que caracterizan a Choluteca. – See more at: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/es/lea-nuesto-blog/42-from-the-field/176-hygiene-education-in-choluteca-education-tailored-to-our-clients-needs#sthash.mDwTqqU8.dpuf

 

Microfinance: Going the Extra Mile

It’s no secret that the world’s poor lack many things. Access to suitable housing, sufficient and nutritious food, clean water, education and security are amongst the most basic of human rights to which much of the world does not have adequate supply. At the heart of this unfortunate picture is an inherent lack of resources and opportunities. Moreover, scholars, economists, governments, and NGOs have earnestly debated over the most effective models of development in order to serve these disadvantaged populations in the most sustainable manner that encourages self-sufficiency rather than institutional dependency. In the 1970s, Microfinance emerged amongst these models and has since seen great success in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors as it’s given millions of people access to much needed capital.  – See more at: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/en/read-our-blog/42-from-the-field/175-microfinance-going-the-extra-mile#sthash.YW83MiSE.dpuf

No es ningún secreto que a los pobres del mundo les faltan muchas cosas. Las viviendas adecuadas, comida nutritiva suficiente, agua potable, la educación y la seguridad se encuentran entre los más básicos de los derechos humanos en los que gran parte del mundo no tiene acceso adecuado. Lo grave de este lamentable panorama es una falta inherente de los recursos y de las oportunidades. Además, los especialistas, los economistas, los gobiernos y las organizaciones no gubernamentales han debatido seriamente los medios más eficaces de desarrollo, con el fin de servir a estos los sectores más desfavorecidos de la población en la forma más sostenible que promueve la autosuficiencia en lugar de la dependencia institucional. Durante la década de 1970, las microfinanzas han surgido entre estos medios y desde entonces han experimentado un gran éxito tanto en el sector comercial como en el sector sin fines de lucro, ya que ha dado a millones de personas el acceso al capital muy necesario. – See more at: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/es/lea-nuesto-blog/42-from-the-field/175-microfinance-going-the-extra-mile#sthash.dogU221T.dpuf

Assembly Meetings Offer More Than Education

Our new blog has English and Spanish! ¡Nuestro nuevo blog tiene versiones en ingles y español! 

As one of two new Development Interns in Adelante’s La Ceiba Headquarters, I recently ventured out to La Masica, Atlántida for my first field visit. As I observed the educational lessons during the assemblies I was reminded of my favorite childhood book, “It Takes a Village” by Jane Cowen-Fletcher. The story follows a young girl as she nervously looks for her brother in their village, and constantly finds him safe and sound in the care of different village members. During the assembly I watched children go from one woman to the next, vying for their attention as they climbed on their laps or stood patiently alongside their chairs, waiting to be given some type of sweet. To read more about Hannah’s time in the field and about our programs, check out our new blog here: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/en/read-our-blog/42-from-the-field/174-assembly-meetings-offer-more-than-education

Como una de las dos pasantes del Departamento de  Desarrollo en La Sede  de Adelante en La Ceiba, recientemente viajé a La Masica, Atlántica para mi primera visita al campo . Mientras escuché las charlas  educativas durante las reuniones de asamblea, me acordé de mi libro de infancia preferido: Se necesita todo un pueblo  por Jane Cowen-Fletcher. La historia sigue la vida de una joven mientras nerviosamente busca a su hermano en un pueblo y constantemente lo encuentra sano y salvo bajo el cuidado de diferentes miembros de la aldea. Durante las reuniones de asamblea, observé a niños vacilar de una mujer a la otra, compitiendo por su atención mientras se montaban encima de sus piernas o se paraban junto a sus sillas con la esperanza de conseguir un dulce. Para leer más de la visita de Hannah y de nuestro programa, haz clic aquí: http://www.adelantefoundation.org/es/lea-nuesto-blog/42-from-the-field/174-assembly-meetings-offer-more-than-education

Microfinance Along Honduras’ Northern Coast

Adelante’s blog has moved! We have brought our blog over to our website to keep all of our content in the same place. We will continue to post short summaries here with link a link to both our English AND Spanish versions so that you can continue to follow our blog from wordpress.

This most recent post is written by a new intern with us, Roos Saalbrink. Here, she writes about her impressions from the field since starting with us earlier this month. Her travels include three different zones of our La Ceiba Branch Office, from the rural outskirts of San Juan Pueblo to the west, to communities past Jutiapa in the east, as well as the Olanchito zone from our Tocoa Branch Office. To read her blog post in English, follow this link: http://adelantefoundation.org/en/read-our-blog/42-from-the-field/173-microfinance-along-honduras-northern-coast

Adelante ha pasado el blog a nuestro sitio web para mantener todo nuestro contenido ahí, y también para poder tener una versión en español. Aquí seguiremos con resúmenes breves con el enlace a nuestro nuevo blog para continuar compartiendo el blog de wordpress. Nuestro nuevo artículo es escrito por una nueva voluntaria, Roos Saalbrink. Ella escribe de sus observaciones en el campo desde empezar con nosotros al principio del mes. Ella ha viajado a tres de nuestras zonas de la Agencia de La Ceiba, en las afueras de San Juan Pueblo por el oeste hasta las comunidades rurales afuera de Jutiapa en el este. También ha visitado la zona de Olanchito servido por nuestra Agencia de Tocoa. Para leerlo en español, haz clic en el siguiente enlace: http://adelantefoundation.org/es/lea-nuesto-blog/42-from-the-field/173-microfinance-along-honduras-northern-coast

April is…the Month of Microfinance!

Happy Month of Microfinance! The month of April is being dedicated to client-centered microfinance models. This movement seeks a dialog across various actors so that microfinance institutions like Adelante can provide more effective microfinance services that are focused on the client rather than profit.

We are happy to be featured on Month of Microfinance’s website with an Autobiography of Microfinance written by our very own Orville José Sanchez. Orville currently  serves the Roatán zone of the La Ceiba Branch Office and is also featured in our most recent blog post, A Tragic Fire in Roatán with his client Adeline. Click the link here to read Orville’s autobiography: http://monthofmicrofinance.org/2013/04/15/viewing-microfinance-through-a-social-lens/

From all of us at Adelante, Happy Month of Microfinance!

Passing Success from Mother to Daughter

Lidia with her daughter Lia and her two granddaughters. The daughter of another client stands in front.

Lidia Maura has been an Adelante client for five loan cycles now, or about 3 years. Her most recent loan was for L4,600 ($234). Although she has spent her life selling vegetables in rural communities outside of Tocoa in the department of Colon, she previously spent her days traveling all day to make her sales. Now, thanks to the help of Adelante, Lidia has her own stall in a popular local market, working from 6:00 in the morning until 4:00 in the afternoon.

Her five children, between the ages of 28 and 43, are now independent so she lives alone with her husband. During my visit she told me that she does not have the same concerns as the other women have who are still raising children, grandchildren or nieces and nephews. She tells me, “I’m old now and my only hope is just to finish the last years that God has given me comfortably.” Lidia’s satisfaction with Adelante is what drove her to invite her daughter, Lia Isabel into her assembly.

The assembly meeting that I visited was Lia’s very first with Adelante and she spoke with hope for a better future for her own two daughters. Although her husband works hard every day at his own job, Lia’s family has struggled a lot just to get by. When I asked her if there’s anything she would like others to know about her, she told me this, “We suffer a lot, we don’t have a house, we don’t have anything to call our own but we continue fighting.” Lia is optimistic about her new opportunity with Adelante. With her first loan, she plans to start up her own business selling clothing. We hope to see her progress as she works to provide greater opportunities for her two daughters who are two and four years old.

Lidia and Lia’s story is seen replicated throughout many assemblies, with mothers, daughters, aunts, nieces and cousins sharing with each other the opportunity to improve the standard of living of themselves and their entire family. One such client who has shared with her daughter the benefits of her loans with Adelante is Reyna, who lives in a rural community outside of La Ceiba. Reyna has had six loans with us, starting at L3,000 ($152). She has slowly grown her business selling clothing so that she can now take out loans for L5,250 ($266). Although this amount may still seem small to some, it makes a big difference for Reyna, who never had a full time job before. She says that she would occasionally wash clothing for local families for a small fee and do other small chores but that she could not provide a steady income to supplement her husband’s work as a day laborer.

Reyna with her daughter in their community.

Reyna’s youngest daughter is not a client of Adelante. However, her mother’s work is what inspired her to choose to study Business Administration as her career track at the local high school. She hopes to help her mother out and eventually have her own business someday.For now, Reyna just wants her daughter to stay in school and continue studying hard.

Reyna’s story demonstrates exactly how Adelante loans have a ripple effect, positively impacting those who live with and around the clients. While her daughter can learn the theories behind business administration in school, she can see firsthand the realities of running your own small business from her mother. The business education that Reyna, Lidia, Lia and the rest of our clients receive twice a month does not stop with them: The knowledge they acquire is passed to their friends and family, even if they are not Adelante clients.

Meet an AA Client from Choluteca

Scroll down to the third paragraph if continued from our August 2012 E-Newsletter

Home Improvement Loan at work

Lucila is a hard-working elderly woman who has been a client with Adelante for a year and a half.  Lucila lives alone in a humble home built nearly twenty years ago in a rural village outside of Orocuina, which is located in the southern department of Choluteca.  Several months ago, the wall of Lucila’s bedroom collapsed after a very severe rainy season that wreaked havoc in Choluteca last year.  Akin to the reality faced by much of the rural poor, Lucila did not have the income or the savings to repair the damage immediately.  Thankfully, Lucila quickly became an AA client with Adelante, which made her eligible for a Home Improvement Loan.  AA clients must have at least three loan cycles, make their loan payments on time, and attend assembly meetings consistently.  In March, Lucila was awarded a loan of L. 5,000 or $263 to build a new wall for her bedroom.  Since the rural poor often struggle to enhance their housing over several years, this new loan product is in high demand by our clients.

Not only is Lucila grateful for Adelante’s Loan Program, but she is also an enthusiastic supporter of the Business Education Program.  At assembly meetings held every two weeks, clients receive educational presentations from their Credit Officers.  Even though Lucila has worked as a micro-entrepreneur for nearly her entire life, she still appreciates the business development themes, she explains:

Lucila, Adelante client

¨The educational lessons help us with our businesses, for example they explain how to manage and promote our businesses better so that we can earn more profits.¨

Before withdrawing her first microloan from Adelante for just L. 1,500 or $79, Lucila always worked as a small business entrepreneur, investing in different income-generating activities.  Currently, Lucila produces and sells snack foods and fresh fruit juices out of her home and door-to-door in her community.  In the past, Lucila worked with other lending institutions to support her small business endeavors.  Now Lucila no longer obtains loans from other sources, and she proudly confirms that she is a client exclusively with Adelante.  Lucila affirms, ¨With Adelante, there are not a lot of requirements to take out a loan, and it’s very easy, not complicated like with some of the other institutions I have worked with in the past.¨ In the future, Lucila plans to maintain her AA status in hopes of obtaining another Home Improvement Loan so she can keep upgrading her modest home.

Lucila’s Rural Community

Since each of her seven children are grown and live apart, Lucila is not responsible economically for anyone else but herself, though she does take pleasure in spending time with her family.  One of Lucila’s daughters lives in the same community, so she often keeps her mother company at the house.  Lucila’s children who live further away often go to her house to spend the night, and she enjoys visits with her grandchildren, nine in total.  Lucila is very fortunate to have a tight-knit family, but her children also suffer from poverty so having a micro business enables her to be independent in her old age.  Recently, Lucila received her fourth group loan from Adelante for 4,000 or $211, which she used to invest in producing more delicious homemade food and drink.  Lucila expects to keep boosting her profits over future loan cycles in order to continue improving her standard of living.

Adelante Arrives in Danli, El Paraiso

Osiris, Adelante client

In the mountainous department of El Paraíso in eastern Honduras, Osiris operates a small used clothing store at the front of her house.  Only 18 years old, Osiris is grateful that her older brother gave her the initial capital to start a small business.  Recently, Osiris was able to secure a loan from Adelante for L. 4,000 or $211 in order to boost the inventory of her store.  She explains, ¨At first I had just a little bit of inventory, but now with the loan I received I have a lot more.¨  Over the course of future loan cycles with Adelante, Osiris hopes to establish another location at her uncle’s home, a half an hour walk away.  There are few local employment opportunities for young women like Osiris, so having a small business is an important income generating activity.

In 2012, Adelante expanded geographically to offer its microfinance program in the municipality of Danlí, which is in the department of El Paraíso.   The area is famous for its cigar production and also its corn cultivation.  In the rural villages that dot the landscape around Danlí, it is common for families to dedicate some of their land, no matter how small, to corn crops.  So important is the cultivation of corn that every year in the month of August, Danlí celebrates el Festival de Maíz or the Corn Festival.  During this festival, the town celebrates its corn harvest by enjoying live music, dance groups, rodeos, and delicious corn based food and drink.

Rural setting in Danli, El Paraiso

One of the longest standing members of the Adelante team, Jairo Irías, is currently developing operations in Danlí.  Jairo has been with Adelante for six years and left his post as the Agency Supervisor at the Tocoa branch office in order to initiate operations.  At the outset of 2012, Adelante destined L. 500,000 or $25,000 for loan pool in Danlí.  In May, Jairo disbursed his first loans to two solidarity groups totaling eight women.  At the end of June, loan pool reached L. 135,544 or $7,134 disbursed among 44 clients organized in 11 solidarity groups.

Even though Jairo has successfully established operations in the area, this feat is not without its challenges.  On a recent trip to Danlí, I joined Jairo in the field to learn about the process of developing a new zone of operations.  In a community located 30 minutes outside the center of town, I met three women from a solidarity group who received their first loan only a few weeks ago.  Adelante’s lending methodology dictates that prospective clients form solidarity groups and then come together to form an assembly, which consists of two to eight solidarity groups.  In this particular case, the assembly is made up of just one solidarity group since Jairo is building Adelante’s reputation.  The hope is that once villagers see how these women are benefiting from their microloans, more women will be inspired to take the risk and invest in a small business venture.

Women learn how to keep track of their payments

At the beginning and end of every assembly meeting,  women chant Adelante’s slogan: ¨Unity, discipline, hard work and courage. This is our way of life¨.  Since this was the group’s second assembly meeting, the women did not know the words very well, so I helped Jairo teach them the slogan again.  During the meeting, the women received an educational lesson about Adelante’s loan program.  Jairo patiently explained to the group how to use their libreta de control de pagos, which is a system that allows the women to keep track of their loan payments.  Near the end of the meeting, Jairo asked if the women had succeeded in finding others who would be interested in joining their assembly.  The women commented that some people are fearful of taking on debt, in part because of the country’s economic crisis and also because villagers have had negative experiences with other lending institutions in the past.   Jairo is confident that the success of this solidarity group will attract other women to Adelante, and he expects to add two more solidarity groups to the assembly by the end of the first loan cycle.

In the coming months, Jairo will continue to work diligently to grow loan pool in Danlí in order to meet the 2012 disbursement goal of $25,000.  In 2013 and 2014, Adelante plans to contract additional Credit Officers to expand operations in the region and eventually establish a sixth branch office.  There is an immense need to address the extreme poverty being experienced in by so many people in Honduras.  Adelante’s recent geographic expansion will help more rural families achieve an improved standard of living.  .

Agriculture Workshops in Intibuca

Agriculture workshop, Intibuca

Parts of this story appear in our July 2012 E-Newsletter

In the Western region of Honduras known as the Lenca Corridor, extreme poverty is widespread.  As part of Adelante’s Education Program, women from this area are being offered the opportunity to participate in Product Innovation Workshops  thanks to funding from Women’s Empowerment International. The goal is to provide women with practical knowledge that enables them to develop new sources of income and/or make their small businesses more competitive.  Topics range from crafts to food preparation, but one of the most critical themes among the women of Western Honduras is agricultural production.

The cool climate in the Western highlands allows for the cultivation of a great variety of crops, such as berries, fruit trees, grains, and vegetables.   Even still, producers often lack knowledge on how to maximize the productivity of their land.  Part of the problem is the lack of training opportunities for local producers in the area.  By offering workshops on agriculture, Adelante is trying to bridge this gap and help clients who are already involved in agriculture to improve their production.

So far in 2012, Adelante has hosted two agriculture workshops.  The first workshop was held in April and focused on soil conversation.  Women learned about the importance of using organic methods to preserve soil fertility for future generations. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the second workshop which dealt with cultivation methods for local crops.  The women spent the first day in the classroom where they were taught about how to cultivate different plant species and control pests and disease.  The following day, the women visited a farming cooperative where they could learn from producers and analyze their methods.  This learning methodology is called ¨campesino a campesino¨ or farmer to farmer.  Danilo Mejía, the agricultural engineer responsible for leading the workshop, asked the women to discuss the positive and negative aspects of the cooperative’s farming activities. The most significant criticism to emerge from the ¨campesino a campesino¨ exercise was the overuse of chemicals in the cooperative’s fields.  Danilo affirmed that organic substitutes could provide the same benefits to production that chemicals do, while preserving the soil’s fertility for future generations.

Treatment for diseased plants

The final and most popular part of the workshop was practicing how to make organic products so as to diminish the use of chemicals and improve production.  Women learned how to make three different organic products: fertilizer, a treatment for diseased plants and another for fungus growth.

Treatment for fungus

The women found this knowledge extremely practical since the products were very simple and inexpensive, also making them a viable option for a business venture.  For example, the organic fertilizer was composed of cow manure, unpurified water, fresh milk, molasses, and hydrogen peroxide, and the cost of producing 15 liters of fertilizer was only L. 70 or $3.50.

Organic fertilizer

Feedback from clients indicates that the knowledge acquired was very useful and the women intend to put their new skills into practice. Victoria is a long-standing client who normally uses her microloans to invest in her of business preparing and selling food from her home.  However, she and her family also cultivate coffee, and are interested in growing vegetables too. Victoria especially enjoyed learning about the different natural products she could use to boost her coffee crop, she confirms, ¨We have 250 coffee trees we are ready to plant, and we are going to make this fertilizer instead of buying chemical-based products as we normally would.¨

The idea of substituting chemical products with organic ones resonated with another client, Paula, she comments, ¨We use far too many chemicals on the land, we don’t take care of it very well.¨  Paula is currently paying off her second Individual Loan for L. 16,000 or $842.  Over her many loan cycles with Adelante, Paula has developed a small convenience store and has used the profits to invest in growing more crops.  Today, Paula and her family cultivate potatoes, vegetables, corn and beans, and she plans to use the new farming methods she has learned to further improve her land’s productivity.

Paula recieves diploma from Adelante Education staff member

Having attended this most recent workshop, I know that the topic of agriculture is needed and wanted by Adelante’s clientele in the Lenca Corridor.   Not only will these women enjoy an improved quality of life due to better farming practices, but they also will contribute to the environmental sustainability of their local communities. We would like to thank Women’s Empowerment International for its continued support of Adelante’s operations in Intibucá.  At Adelante we can always use donations from our generous supporters to bolster the activities of our Education Department.  Please consider making a donation and help thousands of women become successful micro entrepreneurs!