Friendship Bridge Gives Guatemalan Women Hope

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.