I know I don’t talk much about my actual project here, but I get asked all the time, “What exactly do you do there?” Well I’m here to explain. I work for a lending agency in Solola. We get money loaned to us from the Guatemalan government and other governments and then we lend that money out at 26% interest rate. We basically run the organization off the interest. We lend to small businesses, now that word is open ended when we are talking about Guatemala. For example a women selling tomatoes on the corner is considered a small business. Well these loans are given out on three levels, individuals, groups of 2 -5 and groups of women 5-20. The lending process is not as tedious and lengthy as it is in the states. There is no such thing as a fica score or any type of measurement to distinguish one borrower from another. There does have to be some type of guarantee, for example property or a co signer. This opens the door to problems in which our clients don’t pay. It’s not like in the states where our credit score follows us for the rest of our lives. Sometimes our clients run off with the money, never to be seen again.
There are two volunteers who work with AYNLA. Larry is in another office that is in another department about 3 hours away. Larry has far more extensive experience in the business world than I do, so I love working with him; I get to learn so much. So Larry and I have been working more as consultants with the management. We help them with the backbone of the business. For example Larry and I worked on the operations plan for 2006 and set up the budget for the business. We’ve also done training and we’ve also accessed the problem with the late payments. The most frustrating aspect of the process is how the agency responds. They don’t, so all the work and effort Larry and I put forth is basically nodded on when presented but nothing ever comes of it. Change rarely happens, and that is very frustrating. There is a huge lack of motivation to change on the part of the agency, so when it comes to our suggestions they don’t move on them. Now I have to admit I’m tempted at times to just do everything myself, but I stop when I remember the goal of Peace Corps, sustainable development. If I do all the work, then when I’m done with my service here, they won’t continue because they don’t know how. Sometimes I just want to scream and nock some sense into these people, but I never lose it in front of them. I just swallow it and end up calling Larry to vent my frustrations. Maybe that’s another reason why I don’t talk to you guys about my work here; it’s exciting but also very challenging.
This is Margarita. She just transferred to my class this last year. Even though she started off rocky, she has turned into a great student and even aced the final. She is very sweet; she saved her money and bought me a little stuffed animal to bring back with me to the states. She is really excited about the scholarship and so is her family. I met her dad and he expressed nothing but gratitude and joy.
This is George and he's amazing. His family invited me to their house because they heard about the scholarship and were so grateful they wanted to serve me lunch. George lives the farthest from school, probably 45 min on a dirt road. When I got to his house I realized that his family has no electricity and that George studies by candle light every night to finish his homework. He is such an inspiration to his family and they totally support his education. His father told me that he never had the opportunity to study, but that he wants his succeed in getting a proper education.
