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

A Tragic Fire in Roatán

The closest I got to the beach that weekend was on the back of the motorcycle traveling between clients’ homes.

Roatán receives thousands of tourists each year but the island’s largest peak season is now, with Semana Santa (Holy Week) having just passed. From Spring Breakers to retirees, foreign tourists flock to this island off the coast of La Ceiba in larger numbers to enjoy the beautiful beaches that the island has to offer. However, my trip two weeks ago as the peak season got underway served a different purpose.

While most tourists are not able to venture off the beaten path, neighborhoods such as these are where you will find Adelante clients.

The Roatán zone from our La Ceiba Branch Office currently serves over 300 clients, many of whom invest in businesses to serve the tourism industry, while many more run businesses serving the local communities. Despite the luxurious resorts offered to incoming guests, many locals continue to suffer in poverty. One such woman is Adeline.

Adeline is a proud and bold woman who raised eight children on her own and has had two grandsons, 12 and 13 years old, in her care since they were very young. The difficult economic situations she has faced prevented her from being able to learn to read and write and laments that there simply was not enough money to send her children to secondary school.

Adeline is a native of Roatán–a Caribbean island known for beautiful beaches and expensive resorts. The poverty that her and many other natives of the island suffer from is often left unseen.

As a native to the island, Adeline is a native English speaker but also speaks Spanish. With greater migration into the island from mainland Honduras, Spanish is becoming more widely spoken there and many natives feel an amount of resentment toward this phenomenon. Because of this, Adeline and the other members of the group were thrilled to get a chance to have me there to chat in English.

I met Adeline while the Roatán Zone Credit Officer was working hard to get credit evaluations and other work done before the Semana Santa work holidays. These evaluations take place prior to each loan cycle to review the needs of each individual and their current economic situation.

While helping Orville with his credit evaluations, I arrived to the following standard question with Adeline, “Do you own your own home?” The answer I received was not what I had expected: “Well I did but three weeks ago it burned down.” Luckily no one had been at home when the fire started but she still has not been able to figure out the source of the fire. Where she lived, she did not have electricity, ruling out an electrical fire and did not have gas for her stove.

A dish rack and scraps of wood and metal sheeting was all that was left of her home when we returned to the scene three weeks later.

Until she is able to rebuild, Adeline has moved into the home of one of her six sons, about 15-20 minutes away along the unpaved road. She will continue working hard each day at her butcher shop in the market so that she can once again offer a home to her two grandsons, abandoned by their father.

Although pleased to have their grandmother around, Adeline’s grandchildren share in the pain she has suffered from in this recent tragedy.

Despite the various challenges faced by Adeline she continues to grow her business. With each loan cycle, she continues to take on larger amounts and pays back diligently, proving the success she has had within Adelante’s microlending model. Although she has a long way to go to make progress toward a new home, her loan history makes her eligible for our individual loan products. Once she begins rebuilding, Orville hopes to offer her with the support she needs to finish up the construction via a Home Improvement Loan.

Orville looks on with sadness at all that is left of what was once Adeline’s home.

I was personally amazed by how immediately Orville had responded to her tragedy in order to offer her hope for the future. Bringing our clients’ needs to the forefront and addressing how we can solve them is what we see as vital to successfully operating as a microfinance institution while fulfilling our social mission, and this is exactly what April being the Month of Microfinance is all about.

Her fellow Adelante borrowers also brought forth moral support, immediately displaying concern for what had happened. Adeline is very head strong and independent, which had originally made her reluctant to discuss the fire with her friends. However, the support from each of the women and from Adelante staff like Orville gave her enough confidence to open up and reminded her of just what it means to be part of a solidarity group.

Julieta Castellanos Receives Women of Courage Award

Photo courtesy of La Prensa

Last Friday, Adelante celebrated International Women’s Day with our female main office staff and a group of ceibeña women looking to become more active in promoting economic empowerment among all Honduran women. While we enjoyed our own productive gathering, Julieta Castellanos was visiting the US to receive a Women of Courage Award from US Secretary of State John Kerry and First Lady Michelle Obama. She was among nine recipients from around the world to receive this award, and the only Latin American. The other courageous women hail from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Russia, Somalia, China, Syria, Vietnam and India (1).

Castellanos is the Rector of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (National Autonomous University of Honduras) and suffered the loss of her 22 year old son at the hands of Honduras’ national police in October 2011. Her son was kidnapped and then murdered in Honduras’ capital city of Tegucigalpa (2). Rather than allowing the tragic death of her son to defeat her, she has risen up further to promote human rights across the country. She continues to speak out against corruption, drug trafficking and Honduras’ high murder rates (1). Last year, Julieta Castellanos was also the recipient of the annual Martin Luther King Jr Award presented by US Ambassador Lisa Kubiske during an event sponsored by the Martin Luther King Jr Foundation and the Instituto Hondureño de Cultura Interamericana. The award recognized her for her work fighting for the “social and democratic rights of the Honduran people” (3).

During the ceremony, John Kerry made an argument that Adelante continues to promote everyday, “Women’s issues, as we know, are more than just women’s issues. They are families’ issues, they are economic issues, they are security issues, they are justice issues” (1). The impact that loans and education have on our clients reach beyond the women themselves, to their families and communities.

Adelante’s work to empower women has a ripple effect: economic opportunities for women offer their families a source of income within their own rural communities to deter migration into urban areas or the US. Often when I speak with the women who have been clients with Adelante for several loan cycles, they are proud of the confidence and self-esteem gained from their improved living conditions and the education received. The improved self-esteem is also often passed on to their daughters and granddaughters, impacting generations to come.

As Adelante continues to work in terms of economic empowerment, we value the importance of Julieta Castellano’s contributions to promote basic human rights throughout the country. To watch the full award ceremony and learn about the work of other Women of Courage, click here: http://www.c-span.org/Events/State-Department-Hosts-Women-of-Courage-Awards/10737438660/.

(1) <http://www.c-span.org/Events/State-Department-Hosts-Women-of-Courage-Awards/10737438660/&gt; March 8, 2013.

(2) Michael Solis. “Castellanos Speaks of Youth’s Dismal Reality”. <http://hondurasweekly.com/201206255480/International/5480-castellanos-speaks-of-youths-dismal-reality.html&gt; June 25, 2012

(3) <http://honduras.usembassy.gov/pr-042012-eng.html&gt; April 20, 2012.

Innovative Solutions out of Poverty

Our Board members and a few staff with Carmen outside her home which she has been able to invest in with a Home Improvement Loan

Last month, Adelante’s Board got a chance to visit a few clients of ours outside of La Ceiba. Not only did they get a glimpse into the lives of our clients, they also got a chance to make a few purchases for themselves! The trip started with a visit to Carmen’s home, where she produces delicious sweet breads and pastries that her husband later carries out to the market. Having already tried her pan de piña on a previous visit, I warned a few members ahead of time that it would be hard to buy just one. Carmen’s home improvement project continues to be a work in progress, and our Board marveled at how well she is able to manage her business from such a small working space.

Filena makes these decorative flowers out of recycled aluminum cans to then sell for a profit.

After leaving with plenty of fresh breads, several members joked about what other products they would get to buy at the next client’s home. Fortunately for them, Filena is one of our most creative clients. Filena engages in several business activities which she carries out from her home in a rural area outside of the city. She makes and sells flowers made from recycled aluminum cans, jewelry and crocheted clothing and decorations for the home.

Filena invests her loans in purchasing her materials and is always hard at work to create beautiful pieces. Her determination is paying off for her, as she is making progress in improving her family’s standard of living. She is now a recipient of Adelante’s Home Improvement Loan product for about $1,490. Her creative style made for great souvenirs for our Board Members, giving her a boost in her day’s profits. With such numerous skills, I was shockedd to learn that Filena’s talents are all self-taught, developed on her own through perseverance and commitment to improving her family’s standard of living. Thanks to the business loans that Filena has taken out with Adelante over the years along with assemblies every two weeks, she has been able to expand upon her business ideas to handle a much larger loan than an average Adelante loan.

Blanca shows off earrings and other jewelry that she makes from home.

Our last client visit of the day followed the trend of empowered women producing goods from their homes. Blanca makes and sells jewelry, crochet and flower arrangements at home outside of Jutiapa, presenting our Board members with another souveneir opportunity. Each of these three women have worked hard to identify and develop their own skills to get their families ahead.

This Friday is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate all that women are, the advances we have made and what we need to continue moving forward. On March 8, Adelante will be celebrating Carmen, Filena, Blanca and the thousands of other women who have taken on the challenge of leaving poverty behind by investing in their own businesses. Their innovative solutions in the face of poverty are an inspiration to everyone at Adelante.

Are you interested in supporting this content, as well as taking on grant research and writing responsibilities and campaign development as our Development Intern? Check out our posting here and apply!

Happy Three Years to One of Our Best!

Gabriel does well because he loves his job at Adelante. When asked what motivates him to do his best, he explains that he feels proud to be an instrument in Adelante’s mission to the rural poor.

This month we would like to introduce you to Gabriel Gomez, our 2012 recipient of the “Best Credit Officer” award. This week marks Gabriel’s third year working with Adelante as a Credit Officer from our La Ceiba Branch Office! He began work on February 14, 2010 and has since impressed all his co-workers here. Oscar Mejía, Manager of Operations, has worked with Adelante for eight years and recently commented on Gabriel, “He’s organized, dedicated and honest. He pushes himself and has a great handle on his job. And there’s a reason for all this, there’s a reason why he does his job so well–he receives great satisfaction from the work that he does and having the chance to work with the women he works with here.”

Gabriel begins most work days arriving a little early to his first assembly to spend some time chatting with his clients. To him, the relationships he has been able to develop with the women borrowers has been vital to his success.  Gabriel explains, “I always work to be more than simply a credit officer to the women; I try to be a friend. These women are my sisters and my mothers.” The respect that he has earned from his clients has served him well as the relationships he has created give the women he works with extra motivation to manage their loans and businesses well.

Here, Gabriel delivers a lesson on how to implement a new business idea into pre-existing businesses for an assembly outside of La Ceiba.

The first trip I made out to the field was to two assemblies managed by Gabriel. We arrived early, giving me a chance to gain some of the women’s confidence by chatting with them alongside Gabriel. Each assembly of women meets every two weeks to receive educational lessons from their credit officer and report on their loan payments. Beyond the formal purposes of these assemblies however, the greatest benefit for many women is having the chance to gather with others from their community who share similar goals of improving their family’s lives and create or strengthen bonds with others. For women who must often simultaneously take care of their children and the household while running their own business, the assemblies offer them a formalized social gathering to get some time outside of the house. The kids that tag along get the extra perk of playing with the other children who have come with their mothers.

Before working with Adelante, Gabriel had previously worked for a local bank. He says what he likes about Adelante that sets this job apart is that clients are not required to provide collateral to take out loans. What he sees as most meaningful is Adelante’s “trust in the word that they have given” and the fact that “they know that Adelante believes in them”. Because Adelante’s stated mission is to support the poorest of the poor women in rural Honduras to work their way out of poverty, Gabriel’s work often brings him face to face with difficult situations. When I asked him how he handles this he explains that his first step when a borrower has found herself with personal or economic struggles, he guides the women around her to support her in any way that they can, explaining “The pain of one has to be the pain of everyone else too. We can always offer moral support even when we don’t have the resources for financial support.”

The dedication that Gabriel commits to the women he works with has been paid back to him with the advice and support that they provide to him in his own life. This however, does not get in the way of doing his job. If anything, the strong bonds that he has created have allowed him to do his job best—last June, Gabriel received an award at our Annual Staff Retreat for having the best results at the close of each month. Nicolas Flores has been Gabriel’s direct supervisor since Gabriel was first hired three years ago. However, Nicolas finds that oftentimes, he has already knows what is expected of him and gets started before even being asked, “He is always one step ahead”.

Product Innovation with a Local Business

Maria runs her business with Lourdes and Jennifer off a main street in the city of El Progreso

Cositas is a small store in El Progreso, Yoro that sells materials and accessories for jewelry making. Just a few blocks from our El Progreso Branch Office and the central plaza, Maria, Lourdes and Jennifer work together to offer products and classes related to the making of jewelry. The three women’s expertise in training and design made them an ideal partner for our Product Innovation Workshops supported by Women’s Empowerment. Their knowledge and ability to work effectively with our clients resulted in a demand to bring them back for a second workshop in October after offering the first one in September.

I was thrilled to have been greeted by Lourdes and Jennifer immediately after arriving to their city!

In December during a visit with clients in the El Progreso and Choloma zones, I had been hoping to catch up with the women as well. As my luck would have it, the hotel I would be staying at is located right across the street from their business! Before I had even finished checking in, Lourdes had already spotted me and stopped over to greet me. While chatting with her and Jennifer I learned that upon the request of several of our clients, they had made the trip down to Intibucá to offer more of their jewelry making materials.

Trusting their expertise from my experience with them at the previous workshop, my visit to them had a second motive: getting a gift for someone I know who is interested in making jewelry. While Lourdes attended to other customers, Jennifer helped me out in bringing out the colors and styles that would best suit my friend and even sending me off with a couple different earring designs based on the beads I had bought as inspiration.

Many clients already had several pieces of jewelry ready to sell before the two day workshop had ended!

Just like with my friend, the making of jewelry gives our clients an additional source of income. Most clients who I spoke with seemed to plan on utilizing their new skill as a supplement to the businesses in which they have always invested loans. From women selling vegetables in the market to others selling cosmetics, these women already were identifying how they would get started making sales. And thanks to a new innovation developed out of the workshops by our Manager of Operations, they were able to get started right away.

One client’s young daughter proudly shows off her mother’s new products!

The first workshop had inspired Oscar to create a new product: the Always Enterprising Loan! Many clients had been eager to get to work with their new skills but hadn’t been prepared to make material purchases at the workshop. For the second workshop in October, we tested this new product with great success. Clients were thrilled to be able to get started right away and several even spent their downtime between the workshop days working with the material purchased with the loan to produce the jewelry.

While the loans gave our clients a small investment to start up their businesses, many had already run out of the necessary materials less than two months after the workshop had been held! On their return trip down to Intibucá, the women made sales to 10-12 of our clients—more than one third of those in attendance! The funding provided by Women’s Empowerment and the relationship created between Adelante and Cositas creates a dynamic network in which three organizations organized around women can support each other’s mission. Maria, Jennifer and Lourdes’ friendly and instructive manner with our clients, combined with their excitement for our own program makes future work with them something to look forward to.

On her visit to Intibucá for the workshop, a few hours from home, Jennifer got a chance to do a little sightseeing of her own!