Organizing Women for Self-sufficiency and Community Power

“We never had a fund like this before.  Women feel better about themselves because of these loans.  It is an opportunity for women to do for themselves; to know that we have value, we don’t just have to depend on others.”   Angela, president of the Cereto Credit Committee

The Karen Adams Microlending Project was established in 2005 from the estate of Karen Adams, a victim of breast cancer who wanted her inheritance to be used to support those most in need in our world.  The Microlending Project aims to support the economic and organizational development of women by establishing Microlending Committees for women in rural communities in north central El Salvador.   Project Salvador has continued to raise additional funds for this project which has expanded to 18 communities in 2008, with a 100% payback rate on credit loans ranging from $50-200.  Over 500 women and their families have benefited directly from this project.

The Cereto Credit Committee in north central El Salvador is one of six new microlending committees that Project Salvador started up in 2009 in coordination with three women’s organizations in Suchitoto, Cuscatlan, bringing our total to nineteen.

We had our annual evaluation of the Karen Adams Microlending Project on July 28, 2009 with eighteen of the nineteen committees present—over 70 women enjoying a morning of icebreakers and group reflection on the gains and the challenges of this work.  They were asked to visually represent their micro-enterprises and came up with some very creative renditions of chicken coops and selling in the market, corn fields and mini-stores, homemade earthen ovens for breadmaking, vegetable patches, and pigs.  Over 1200 loans have been made in the past four years, from $20-$200, benefitting over 620 women!  Across the board, the women affirmed the value of their small loan funds in strengthening the organization and power of women in their communities.

Funding starts at a maximum of $50, but women can work their way up to loans of $200.  Each community will end up managing a fund of $1500-2500, depending on the size of the community and the demand of the women.  Funding is rolled out over a period of three years, as the women develop their capacity to administer the fund and use it as a tool to organize their community.  The fund becomes an asset of the community, available for many years to come.

The loans are made at 6-12% annual interest, determined by each committee.  This makes the project entirely self-sustaining.  Interest is used to cover the expenses of the committee—accounting supplies, copies and meeting and training expenses.  Additional interest is used to expand the loan fund capital and make more loans available to the community.

Most of the committees conduct group meetings with the women who are taking out the loans, to make sure they understand the conditions of the loan, are able to deal with any difficulties they are facing, and to strengthen the organization of the women in the community.  The Sitio Zapotal committee has taken this outreach even further and has already made two visits to each of the twenty women who received the first committee’s loans, to make sure that their investments are going well and encourage them as they grow in their independence and sense of self-worth.

This summer, I was able to visit eight of the nineteen microlending projects.  It was quite invigorating!  We were able to meet with the full group of women participants in six of the eight communities.  In the other two, we met with the Credit Committee responsible for administering the funds.  I met with all six of the new committees funded in December 2008, as well as two previously-established committees.  It is helpful for the women to see a representative from Project Salvador as they get started, to reinforce the importance of an honest administration and community ownership of the funds.  This sense of accountability has enabled each of the communities to break through a dominant mentality that the money is donated, so why not just keep it and not pay back the loans.

Notably all but one of the funds is functioning smoothly with 100% payback of the loans.  The one that is having difficulties is due to the resignation of the treasurer.  The committee is in the process of getting the books up to date.  They are confident that they have not lost any money, but it was fortunate that we showed up and caught what was going on before they did.  PROGRESO, the organization responsible for working with this community, is monitoring this situation closely and will be deciding whether the community can handle the administration of the fund or whether the money should be reclaimed and moved to another community.

Project Salvador will complete the funding of the current nineteen committees by 2012, with another $12,000 needed to fully fund each committee ($9000) and cover training and coordination expenses ($3000).  If we are able to raise additional funds ($2000-3000 per community), we will add on new committees in 2010 and beyond.  We invite you to keep the women of El Salvador in mind as you consider our funding appeal this year.  In the words of Marta Alicia of Sitio Zapotal, “It is thanks to the solidarity of Project Salvador that we are creating a new dynamic of integration of women into the life of our community.  It is truly making a difference.”