In Guatemala women are finding their own solutions to poverty. Friendship Bridge, a non-profit and non-governmental organization (NGO), is providing rural women with micro-credit, small loans lent directly to individuals, and educational programs. Since 1998 Friendship Bridge (FB) has provided more than 9,000 women with loans through this program.
The spirit of FB is entrepreneurial and the focus is on individual empowerment. According to Stuart Pons, Communications Director at FB, “The loans are meant to help women to act individually and creatively to overcome their poverty. The women come with a business plan of their own. The ideas and implementation of each woman’s business is entirely hers.”
The women are from various rural indigenous communities and their activities and work reflect their location and culture. If she has a skill, such as baking, she can start a small business because the loan will allow her to buy ingredients and produce enough quantity to sell. “Friendship Bridge is not involved in business generation or development.” Women come to them because they can use the loans to improve upon what they are already hard at work doing in most cases.
But, why only women? According to microcreditsummit.org, women have a higher repayment rate and turn their success back to improving the lives of their children. Sue Dorsey, Executive Director of FB echoes this belief, “There is one thing that is universal in this world: a mother’s love for her children. There is no greater injustice than when a mother is denied access to opportunities to provide for her family. I work for Friendship Bridge to bring opportunities to women so that they can fulfill their dreams of a brighter (better) future for their children.”
This is more than a feel-good sentiment. Friendship Bridge has designed their program to evolve by listening to the women they are helping. Ms. Pons says that when asked what else Friendship Bridge could do to help, the women said “help with educational expenses.” “We began offering scholarships for clients’ children, as many as they wished to enroll, as long as they were current with their payments.”
The value placed on education might be thought of as the bridge linking everyone involved at FB. Education is at the core of Friendship Bridge’s mission. “With the micro-loan comes more than the dollars, what FB refers to as micro-credit plus,” explains Ms. Pons. It includes education and a social structure of support. “A group of women join four or five other women in a small group of co-guarantors who will become responsible for one another’s loans.” Together the women go through training to learn about the program. “From the pre-credit meetings on, they receive lessons in a group of peers every two weeks on simple business, health, family planning, self-esteem, and so on.”
The educational component continues throughout their participation in the loan program. “The loan program brings women in and helps women financially, but the education enhances the experience so that more is achieved long term.” This is how Friendship Bridge balances the goals of assistance with the organization’s commitment to education. And it is the part of the program, according to Pons, that the women say is most valuable to them.
Along with their belief in the power of the individual, is the sensitivity that FB has for the local environment. As much as possible the program works from within, not without. For the most part, Guatemalan nationals on the ground do the work of the loan program; most are women. “Cultural sensitivity is extremely important to Friendship Bridge. The loan officers are the point of contact with clients. Not only are they Guatemalan, but they usually come from the region in which they work.”
Marco Mollinedo, the In-Country Director, has a vision to make the clients even more involved in how Friendship Bridge is run. Marco plans to take this “client-driven” approach even further by having women, clients, doing the teaching as well.” He is training the loan officers/facilitators to begin engaging the women to think about what they could teach their groups, and also who they know in their communities who might come and teach something the women are interested in learning.
“It isn’t always easy,” Stuart says. Each year trips bring donors to Guatemala to experience the program firsthand and to meet loan recipients. Stuart shares a story in which one donor wanted to give a woman some money. “That’s what we can’t do and it doesn’t help in the long run,” although she admits it’s difficult. In another instance, a donor asks a woman what else FB can do to help and is surprised at the response. Donors sometimes assume that the borrowers want to grow larger businesses, work collectively, buy in bulk, but this is not necessarily the case. Instead borrowers might need more health care information, books for their children, or help learning a skill that they have seen firsthand translate into a small business. “It has to be their idea,” says Stuart. Working from within is what makes FB truly empowering for those involved—and is also how they maintain assistance without interference.
This also translates into how the success of the program is measured. “In the microfinance world, operational sustainability is a measure of success and we plan to be fully sustainable by 2008, if not sooner.” Stuart adds, “But, if you mean, how do the women measure success, this requires a different answer. We know that Mayans do not measure success in the same way we do, by accumulation (bigger business, individual success), but by reciprocity and being able to help their families. When I think of all the women I’ve met, I would say 99 percent of them are grateful to have more to offer their families.”
