Adelante: Meeting the Borrowers

As I outlined in my last blog entry La Ceiba is home to The Adelante Foundation. An organization supported and funded MyFight that supports local women and grants them small loans to facilitate their entrepreneur endeavors. Visiting Adelanate has been on my bucket list since working with MyFight the summer of 2011. It was/is really important to me to see my work go full circle and to meet the actual people impacted and hear a bit of their stories- ultimately to see the life they live.

I jumped on the back of a motorcycle with a Honduran loan officer (don't worry Ma they gave me a stylish helmet) and took off to meet a few of the borrowers. We cruised out of the trafic of La Ceiba to the country side surrounding it with the outline of the beautiful and appropriately named Pico Bonito in the background. Irma, the loan officer I was with, organizes her groups for weekly or bi-weekly meetings to offer continuous support through lessons and keep tabs on their money outstanding. The groups I visited had just fishished their first 6 month loan cycle and were ready to take out the second round the next week. In their first cycle most of their lessons were about health: family planning, self-care, nutrition ect. As I came in they were just working on the business  side of things; how to separate personal and business expenses and how to determine profit once all overhead expenses are taken into account. All fairly basic knowledge tools but crucial for these women to maintain a family and healthy lifestyle along with getting a handle on their new or developing business. Beyond the value of the lessons I think they have greater value in the groups they participate with. The assemblies are all from the neighborhood and anyone wanting to join the assembly must be approved by every member- empowering to women and helping to maintain the trust needed for such endevors. On top of that the assembly is divided into borrowing groups. Each member takes out their own loan, but 3-5 of those people are responsible for each other paying back  the loan in full. It creates a great community and also keeps everyone more accountable with a better success rate. Everyone wins!


Meeting these women in the most simple of settings was truely inspiring. There was a variation of Honduras of all different shapes, sizes, and ages. They were all there together to support themselves, but also to create these same opportunies for other women just like them. At the end of each of the meetings I got to talk to them, both groups were extremely unique. The second group, La Union, was made up of a bunch of feisty independent women with a chip on their shoulders due to the lack of men in their lives. The second group, El Pino, was a bit more humble and more curious about my visit. I talked to a few women before this meeting in particular opened and then briefly introduced myself to the group before I became an observer of their lessons. When it opened up for questions the women immediately presented the question "Why the support?" This was an interesting and extremely hard question to formulate words for...especially in Spanish. I told them that it was important to me to see tangible evidence of the time I had spent working to support Adelante, and as said above I told them it is more important to know the faces that have the drive and tenacity to make the necessary changes for their own well being and that of their families (word choice was not this elegant in Spanish.) Before another women could ask what I did to help Adelante the owner of the meeting space piped up and explained to the assembly that she had talked to be before the meeting and that she was blown away by the few sentences we exchanged. I myself thought nothing of it, but this women was impressed that I (and MyFight) did/do something as simple as selling shirts so that women like herself would not get left behind or stuck with out opportunity. She was thankful that people so far away work to keep this possible for them. Following this the women, these women who had already inspired me, gave me a round of applause. Something that Jesse (the founder) and all the other people who have continued to support MyFight through their growth deserve just as much- or more so than me. But I took it to heart-I am just as thankful for all these opportunities too and to be able to share them.  
After, another woman proudly rose to her feet and said that she wasn't ashamed to say how little her average sized business needed to get started. God, Adelante, and the people from afar had opened a door for her and the women surrounding her. She said she was willing to fight for her family  and fight for her business to see what other doors could be opened. Truly heart warming- this stuff happens on a daily basis people. These people fight and break through barriers every day and I got to meet them. I got to see how far our dollars have stretched to continue impacting. Furthermore, what was most empowering was their understanding that paying off their loans was not only helping themselves, but going to be available later for opportunities of others in their country. They took that civil responsibility upon themselves and are making changes through making tortillas and bread, opening Pulperias, or selling men's and women's under garments that will help more than themselves. 

If you are just recently tuning into my blog and haven't checked it out go to www.myflight.org and see how buying a t-shirt can impact lives in Honduras and Ethiopia. For me it is the best way to support, sitting in an office working for Adelante may not be my calling, but buying and selling t-shirts sure worked out well for me! Plus Christmas is just around the corner...

Crossing Fronteras

Since my last blog entry my journey has been easily the most authentic and appropriate for for me since I landed in the continental Central America...

Leaving La Esperanza was a bit harder than I anticipated. My last day was full of hugs and cute letters and drawings from all the kids I tutored or took to the dentist and/or optician. Those kids see a lot of volunteers coming through, but they still know how to show you they appreciate your help.

Nonetheless, I packed up and left Granada after a week full of cooking and feasting on all sorts of world cuisine. With my bag loaded I headed with another volunteer to experience the northern mountains of Nicaragua. Christina and I took a pit stop in Leon and didn't understand the hype about the city seeing how similar it was to Granada, but we did have an amazing conversation with a street vendor about the history and education in Leon over a cup of fresh shrimp ceviche. Later that afternoon we continued chicken busing for what seemed like forever to Esteli to make reservations for the Forest Reserve of Miraflor. Miraflor is a co-op of Nicaraguan family farms. It is all owned by the Nicaraguan people living there and is located on a very lush and productive mountain side, did I mention beautiful?

Christina and I woke up before the crack of dawn to make our way to the community La Lebranza half way up the mountain. From there we treked in through a number of farms and cow pastures to our family's home. This was more difficult than I initially thought due to all of my gear loaded in my packs and my toes slipping and sliding though mud and cow poop- It just isn't an adventure without a little sweat and mud in your toes. 

Once that battle was won we were greeted at our 24 hour family's house with a fresh cup of coffee and a delicious breakfast. We later found out all we consumed was made purely from things from their farm- even the coffee. Talk about eating local! After breakfast we took off with the farmers son to a mirador and to some waterfalls. We wandered in and around other farms, over and under barbed wire fences, and saw a mix of 300 year old trees, rivers, and cloudy mountain tops. It was a great way to pass the morning after a long day of buses. We went home for lunch and some hammock time before bogging through some freshly made rain mud to see their coffee plaintaition. It was fascinating to learn about the process of growing coffee: the different types, the flavored assumed with nearby trees, and well as the only thing needed to really maintain a family farm is a simple machete. The family grew coffee for their own consumption and we were lucky enough to get a taste of it at every meal. I know it is implied, but the 12 acre farm really impressed me! It turns out Loranzo bought part of his farm after a big chunk of farmers went bankrupt after a private bank went public and jacked up interest rates to be impossible to pay back. This pointed out to me in big bright lights the need and relevance of micro-financing in developing nations (tangential?-more on that later.) Our walk with Loranzo was eye opening. He was an open book of the politics and educational downfalls of Nicaragua- but it was exeptionalky relevant, with his farm and hosting us he has giving his family the best shot at a brighter future. His kids were finishing high school, but already taking college courses specifically designed for families supporting a farm. Really impressive after the quality of education I saw in Granada.

He later brought us home to a family dinner and sang and played some local songs for us before bed time. In the morning we rised early to learn how to make tortillas and enjoy some fresh coffee and milk straight from the utters we milked ourselves. It was a perfect cumulation of a day in the life of a Nicaraguan and easily the BEST coffee I have had in the past five months.

From the bus down from Miraflor Chrisina and I parted ways. She headed back to Granada and I went to Somoto Canyon. Here the local experience continued. While looking for a cheap place to stay in Somoto (there are none) I was greeted by an lovely lady with rooms she rents out normally monthly, but she could help me out for a few nights. She has had three peace corps American girls already stay with her so she was so excited to welcome in another gringita. It was a perfect place to stay. She kept me full of Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) and entertained with conversation over peeling oranges or frying eggs depending what time of day we found ourselves. Despite the fact that sleeping under her roof with cats walking on top gave me a number of mild heart attacks (turns out is sounds exactly like a person walking on the roof) -I felt immediately a part of the family with her and her nephew to keep me company. Beyond my accomidation I ended up on a private tour (again low season can be brutal for tour companies) through the Somoto Valley. We strapped on life vests and a waterproof bag and walked and swam through the canyon an the rivers creating it. The tour itself was beautiful and reminded me a lot of the rocks around the Madison at home, despite the fact the water was a chocolate milk brown from the rainfall overnight. After a fairly mellow dramatic start I got my adrenaline rush floating through rapids and hugging walls to avoid the strong current- we even had a few jumps off of some of the surrounding rocks to avoid going over some rougher rocks or twists and turns. The most dangerous part didn't even happen in the water. Upon walking back to the highway to catch a bus, while wearing my red lifevest, a farmer lost control of a bull and he came bolting down the road aimed right at us before they pulled a rope to bring him down. Of course none of this really registered as it was happening- but I later realized I had my own version of running of the bulls.

The next morning I said goodbye to my new Nica family the next morning to chicken bus to Hondruas. Final destination-after four buses and 14 hours spent siting on them La Ceiba. La Ceiba, Honduras is the home of The Adenlante Foundation which works with MyFight to finance Honduran women to fund their entreprenual endeavors. My contact in the office was nice enough to offer me a free bed to stay along with some great tips for my longer than anticipated stay. Gina directed me to a local Girufina beach with not another gringo in sight. I spent the day reading by the beach, warding off the all too comon marriage proposal, watching the local kids pull together a pick up soccer game, and of course eating. This beach is now home of the best food I have had so far in my travels. Brought to my table was coconut shrimp served with coconut rice and beans and some fresh greens. To die for and so simple! Gina also made it her prerogative that I got a good taste of all the local Hordurian favorites by visiting little comedors and street vendors I quickly became and all knowing Honduran traveler. It was great to get a real feel of La Ceiba before meeting the women who drew me out here. For that this blog is to be continued...