You Can't Make This Stuff Up!: Stories from the Field

When I studied abroad here two semesters ago, my American housemates and I had a saying for when something particularly outlandish would happen: "You can't make this stuff up."  It started when my cell phone was stolen from me at a Wisin and Yandel concert and the guy who stole it starting calling and hitting on all of the girls in my phonebook.  I have three such stories from one, recent afternoon in the field.

My housemates and I the night of the concert

Making an almost unhuman face while unbeknownst to
be my phone was being stolen (too many Tonas maybe?)

As I mentioned in my last post, we collect payments from borrowers in El Pantanal once a week.  There are two different groups of borrowers, one from which we collect payments on Mondays and the other from which we collect on Fridays.  On Mondays the borrowers are on a loan cycle administered by the old system.  On the old system, we have four different meetings throughout the communities and borrowers come to the one closest to their home to make payments.  We go to each meeting for an hour and borrowers can come anytime within that hour to make their payment.  The loans were made to individuals and not to groups.  There were several problems with this system.  At first almost all of the borrowers would attend the meeting, but attendance has slowly been dropping off.  Because people do not attend, PHPG loan officers have had to go to individuals houses to collect payments and discuss any problems with the borrowers.  Plus, they have to spend four hours in the afternoon sun waiting for many people who don't come.

A women stopping to speak with Gilbert on our way to work
 about our loan program with her daughter and her pet parrots

After seeing these inefficiencies, PHPG implemented a new collection system when a new cycle of loans began with new borrowers.  This is the system that is used on Fridays.  Now the borrowers form groups from 5 to 10 people that live close together.  If one person does not pay their loan back, no one else in the group is eligible for another loan.  Therefore, forming a group is saying that you trust these people to pay back their loans and their investment plans.  In addition, every group has a leader whose job it is to collect payments from all of their group members and write them reciepts.  Then, PHPG just visits the leaders houses to collect payments for the entire group and only has to write a receipt to the leader.  Although this system has not been implemented for very long, it has been very successful so far.  The leaders have almost always been home when it is time for us to come by and usually all of their group members have given their payments.  I met a borrower who had actually made four payments in advance and many of the borrowers make double payments.  Furthermore, it takes us about half the time to collect payments from these six groups.  Time will tell if the improvements from the new system are sustainable or not.  We will also need to wait until loan cycles are finished on Mondays and Fridays to make comparisons in order to see which system is more successful.

Having a chat with Becca while we stop by Dona Johana's home and business
 to collect her group's payments on a Friday.   She is the leader of her group and owns
and operates a pulperia, which is akin to a neighborhood convenient store.

So, back to my three stories.  It was my first day observing the system on Mondays and we were walking to our first meeting.  Then Pheobe, another intern, told Marsela, a loan officer, and I about something that had happened at her house the last Saturday.  By the way, Pheobe lives with two other interns: Shohta (check out his blog for a first hand account of this story) and Becca.  So that night, a young lady came to their door crying with her boyfriend behind her.  She said that she needed help because her boyfriend was beating her and she wanted to come in.  The boyfriend said that she was cheating on him with Jim, an older gentleman that was living in the house at the time (I'm guessing that's also why they were there).  Pheobe and Becca said that wasn't true because no one ever came over and Jim rarely left the house.  And even if it were true, that doesn't give him the right to beat her.  So, they let her, and not the boyfriend, in and gave her some water and chocolate.  After listening to her story, they found out that she lived with him and his family and that the boyfriends parents always took his side.  Her mother had died and her father was very sick.  She had work as a maid in a home but couldn't find any work at the moment.  The three interns had just arrived so they couldn't mention any resources, such as shelters, for her.  At least Becca gave the girl her extra bottle of pepper spray (apparently her mom had packed her two).

I always heard about such problems in Nicaragua when I studied abroad, but I was more removed from them when I wasn't working with people in poverty.  Everything went smoothly until our last meeting at Dona Nora's house.  First, Dona Nora told us a story about their family.  The last Friday school had gotten out early so Dona Nora's 14 year old daughter arrived home before she did.  When Dona Nora arrived, she said she found an older man in bed with her daughter trying to rape her.  Except, the man was so drunk that he had passed out.  So Dona Nora tied him to the bed and waited for her husband to get home.  When he did, they both found a knife and a machete on the man.  So they woke him up, threatened him ("Do you want me to cut your head off? Kill you?" etc), and beat him with his own machete.

Waiting for borrowers to come to the last meeting of the day at Dona Nora's

Although some aspects of both these stories were comical, both illustrate many of the serious issues with women's health and subordination in Nicaragua that I mentioned in my last post.  Although it's true that Dona Nora's daughter may have wanted a consenual sexual relationship with this man, as psychologist Rosalia from the ADIC workshop pointed out, girls of that age may physically be women but are not women psychologically and are not prepared for sexual relationships.  Many poor women in Nicaragua are not educated, or do not have the resources, to protect themselves for unwanted pregnancy and STIs.  Furthermore, men here often abandon women after they are pregnant leaving the women to provide for and raise a child alone.  Not to mention the interfamiliar violence situations like these cause due to the lack of law enforcement.  Nicaragua has always been characterized as anarchic and it isn't any different where we work.

Finally after hearing this story from Dona Nora, a man stumbled into her yard, drunk, carrying and almost empty bottle of Mombacho Aguardiente (basically Nicaraguan moonshine).  He started on a rant about how we were only there to steal from the neighborhood, that we should go back to where we came from, and something about Daniel Ortega (the current "president" who is anti-American) to only find out in the end that he's actually from Costa Rica (as he tries to show us his Costa Rican ID)!  Dona Nora asked him several times to leave but he wouldn't.  Obviously it would of inflamed the situation even more if the American volunteers had said anything and Gilbert didn't feel comfortable saying anything because it wasn't his home.  Eventually he left.  Dona Nora was concerned about him coming back - "Gilbert, you're leaving me here to be murdered!" Dona Nora joked - but thankfully the man didn't return.

This is just a taste of the lives of women and the anarchy in Nicaragua.  This is one of the reasons I joined PHPG; to take action with community members to improve their own lives when they have few other resources to face these kinds of challenges.  Stay tuned for more!        

Working with PHPG to Empower Women in Piedras Coloradas

As I mentioned in my last post, PHPG works in the departments of Granada and Matagalpa in Nicaragua.  More specifically, they work in the communities of El Pantanal ("the Marshland"; which has several subcommunities) and El Diamante ("the Diamond") in the department of Granada and in Piedras Coloradas ("Red Rocks") in the department of Matagalpa.  I've spent most of my time in El Pantanal, learning about the processes of PHPG and getting to know the borrowers.  This is because PHPG collects loan payments in El Pantanal every Monday and Friday whereas they only collect in El Diamante and Piedras Coloradas once a month.  I was fortunate, as there was only one spot for an intern to go, to be able to visit Piedras Coloradas three weeks ago for PHPG's monthly meeting .

Cathedral San Rafael in the city of Matagalpa

The "Red Rocks" at Piedras Coloradas

Piedras Coloradas is about an hour into the countryside from the capital of the mountainous department of Matagalpa (also named Matagalpa) and is named "Red Rocks" because of the large rocks on the side of the mountain nearby that turn red in the sunlight.  It is a very poor, isolated community.  PHPG lends to people that live on less than $2 a day, but the borrowers in Piedras Coloradas actually live on less then $1 a day. There is no cell phone service and it is very difficult to get to.  It lies down a dirt road full of rocks which includes crossing two or three streams without bridges.  A bus only arrives and departs twice a day and you can forget about taxis.  PHPG workers go in a truck with another development organization, ADIC (Associacion para el Desarrollo Integral Communitario or the "Association for Integral Community Development"), that also works in the community monthly.  ADIC mainly works with community health through education and other projects.  For example, they built latrines in Piedras Coloradas where there were none before and where virtually no one has any type of bathroom in their home.

Me riding in the back of the truck after a great day in Piedras Coloradas

All of these women were in the back of our truck and had to get out  and cross the river  on foot so our truck could make it across.  The male workers were filling in the river with enough rocks to make it passable.

Women from the communities of Piedras Coloradas and Samulali met with both of our organizations in a school house.  First, ADIC did a workshop entitled "Identity and Conditions of Women"  as part of a campaign for the International Day of Women's Health and Mother's Day (which is May 30 in Nicaragua).  The workshop was led by two ADIC workers: Silda and Rosalia.  The objective of the workshop was to promote a process of reflection between these women by leading them through expressing what happens to them, what they live through, and what they want in order to bring about changes and transformations in themselves.  Another objective was to promote confidence and community among the women from both communities and women of different ages.  After an icebreaker, the women were put into groups and given a list of questions that addressed the objectives.  Then they all made posters answering these questions and presented them to everyone in the workshop.

A full room for ADIC's workshop

A group of women working on their poster

I learned quite a bit about the status of women in Nicaragua by listening to what these women had to say throughout the workshop and combining it with my observations of the country.  Women in Nicaragua face the same challenges as women everywhere else in the world.  Issues that are particularly salient in Nicaragua include the high rates of sexual violence, incest between older men and girls, men abandoning their spouses and children, domestic violence, and young pregnancy.  Although there are many of the same legal protections on paper for women here as in developed countries, women generally have nowhere to turn when they find themselves in any of the above situations.  The few police forces that exist are not very mobile (as in they don't really have vehicles) and will usually tell those involved in disputes to work it out themselves.  Many cases that go before courts are usually not ruled in the favor of women's rights.  Furthermore, because many women do not have enough income to be independent of their spouse and do not have other resources, such as shelters, they have no way to improve their condition.  Many women in the workshop admitted to facing domestic violence and needing their husband's permission to even come to the workshop.  Additionally, many women admitted to not being able to read despite the government's assertion that there is no illiteracy in this country.

Poster in the elementary school advocating against chauvinism.  My translation starting from the top: "Chauvinists are those who are vulgar to girls"/ "To be a chauvinist is to be a fool"/ "Chauvinist men are not agreeable to others"/ "Boys loose being chauvinist"/ "To be chauvinist is to be violent"/ "No one likes a chauvinist"/ "Don't loose out!!!"

Other aspects of women's health were an important subject of the workshop.  Rosalia stressed the importance of sexually active women getting paps once a year and the places where it could be done affordably.  She mentioned that there are many lies out their that deter women from getting paps, such as that it will sterilize you.  The workshop also address women's role as mothers in the health of their family.  It is common in Nicaragua for children to be fed a lot of soda because the children think it tastes good and all of the sugar fills their empty stomachs.  Rosalia pointed out that women need to take more advantage of all of the natural fruits and vegetables around them in the forest as a source of food and drink.  

After the workshop, those who have loans with PHPG remained for our meeting.  There are currently 23 borrowers, which are only from Piedras Coloradas, and16 of them make biannual payments while 7 make monthly ones (they had the choice between the two payment cycles).  All of the loans are individual, versus group loans, and all of the current borrowers are on their first loan with PHPG.  We were there to collect the monthly payments and to talk with the borrowers about any difficulties they were having.  We were also there to continue the process of disbursing 50 loans to new borrowers.   That day we were reviewing loan requests with the borrowers and having them sign them.

PHPG's meeting

Loan Officer, Gilbert, reviewing a loan request with a new borrower, Marcia, before she signs it

Before I came to Piedras Coloradas and heard about this system, I wondered, how can this be microfinance?  One of the principals of microfinance is that borrowers make small, frequent payments, which puts less pressure on them, and has produced higher repayment rates than commercial banks.  Then I found out that every single borrower in this community works in agriculture, mostly coffee.  Because Nicaragua has a warm climate all year round, crops can be grown all year round.  Nicaragua also has two seasons that are 6 months long each: winter which is the rainy season (May - October) and summer which is the dry season (November - April).  These seasons coincide with growing seasons: the "normal" season during winter and la postera (post as in after the normal season) where "extra" things are grown.  Because of this, borrowers make all of their profits twice a year, after each season, and it is thus more practical for them to make their loan payments twice a year.  I was impressed on how PHPG had adapted their process to local conditions.

Every single borrow in Piedras Coloradas is a woman.  This is not because it is PHPG policy, but because women tend to seek microloans to invest in their businesses.  First of all, Nicaraguan women have a special entrepreneurial spirit that can be seen from all of the women working in the informal sector in the street and open air markets.  Secondly, the spouses of women in Nicaragua are often employed in other businesses while women work in the home.  Therefore, women often start their own businesses, usually out of the home, in order to bring in more income to improve their families' lives.  It is more feasible for women to work out of their homes because, again, they have other responsibilities with managing the home and children and they don't have to invest in a different location for their business.  Because women are in charge of managing scarce resources for the family, they are also more likely to invest a loan wisely in their business.  As Gilbert said to me the other day, "If you send a women to the market with $5, she will come back with lunch for everyone.  If you send me, I won't come back with anything."  Giving women the opportunity to earn income for their work gives them more power and independence in getting out of the many situations harmful to women's health mentioned earlier.

I learned a few things about the practice of development that day.  First, I learned how important it is for development organizations to work together in order to be successful.  When development organizations work together they can pool resources, and avoid duplicative services, which makes them more effective.  The workshop seemed successful because of its quality, especially the quality of leadership of Silda and Rosalia, and high attendance.  I think there was such high attendance because they made it possible for the women to get there.  ADIC picked up everyone in the back of their truck that lived too far to walk, and not only allowed them to bring their children, but acknowledged that it was their right as mothers.  Without transportation, and the ability to care for their children, these women would not have been able to come to ADIC's or PHPG's meeting.  ADIC also fed everyone lunch which encouraged people to come and socialize in a more informal setting.

In addition, because ADIC and PHPG have a regular presence in the community they have effects that would not otherwise be realized.  ADIC was already announcing that they would be back in a month to have a workshop on baking breads and desserts, and of course, we will be going back with them for our monthly meeting.  Some women were very confident in speaking in front of a large group while others would not even speak when called upon.  Building women's confidence in themselves is an important psychological aspect of empowering women and can happen in this group overtime, because our organizations visit regularly, as the women become more comfortable with each other.

I also learned that it takes people of all different backgrounds to make development work.  Here you had  ADIC which was an organization funded by a variety of foreign and domestic sources and administrated by Nicaraguans, and PHPG, which is an American organization that also has Nicaraguan employees.  Some people would call this Nicaraguan dependence on unsustainable foreign aid while I saw it more as world citizenship.  However, the most important factor was that the people in the community were actually participating.

Introduction: Nicaragua Round 2

Hey Y'all!

I created this blog to tell the world about my adventures on my return to Nicaragua for the summer as a microlending intern with People Helping People Global (PHPG).  I've been back for almost a month now, visiting friends and familiarizing myself with PHPG.  After studying abroad for all of last year in Managua (the capital), I decided that I didn't get enough.  I knew I would miss all of the relationships I formed and the culture, but meeting the love of my life 7 weeks before I left sealed the deal.  So, I'm back not only to spend time with my boyfriend in Managua, but to work with PHPG in communities in the departments Granada and Matagalpa.

Me (second from the right) spending a day in the field learning about PHPG

My boyfriend, Jorge, and I happy to be together again at Montelimar Beach

Nicaragua is known as "the land of lakes and volcanoes" (note the background picture of Volcano Mombacho and Lake Nicaragua).  The infamous Captain Morgan actually voyaged down the Rio San Juan to  Lake Nicaragua in order to get to Granada.  My Nica friends call me "la Capitana", probably as more of a hommage to their love of rum and having a good time than to their knowledge of this history.  However, while the Captain Morgan went to Granada to pillage and plunder, this Capitana is going to give back to the people through the process of microfinance.

If you've never heard of microfinance, it's based on the concept that credit is a human right.  That poor people deserve credit to invest in their businesses in order to improve their quality of life just like everyone else.  Microfinance institutions aim to give credit to such poor people with no conventional collateral that traditional banks will not lend to.  They find creative ways to provide collateral and lend small amounts of money which is paid back in small, frequent sums.  While there have been as many controversies as successes in microfinance, of course micofinance is not THE solution to poverty that some portray it to be.  Development requires a holistic approach with microfinance being one avenue.  I see it as an opportunity for individuals and communities to lift themselves out of poverty.

So, for the following two months I'll be telling you about my experiences with PHPG as well as with Nicaragua round two.  If you interested in more information about microfinance and PHPG check out their website at http://phpgmicrolending.org/.