Last Thoughts From Jungapeo

Today is our last here in Jungapeo, and while we´re excited to move onto San Cristobal and really get into our research there, we are very sad to leave. We woke up at 6am this morning to say goodbye to the girls, our "hermanitas," before they left for school. Vicky bought us flan for our trip, which will be very delicious this afternoon. It will be hard to say goodbye to her and Alejandro, and little Ale of course, but we feel good that we have been able to maintain our friendship through time and distance! We will definitely be back.

Regarding the project, yesterday and the day before were excellent days. On Saturday, we interviewed Doña Mago, a woman who has been borrowing from Compartamos for over a year. She had mixed feelings about it. Her biggest issue was that she could not manage to pay back her loans pretty frequently, and the other women in the solidarity group were always having to cover for her. She felt that the interest rates were just way to high for her, and the fact that the first payment was due a week after receiving the loan made it extremely difficult. Our neighbor, Porfiria, felt that the problem had to do with the fact that there arent any available jobs in Jungapeo, so starting your own business within a week of receiving the loans would be impossible. This is reflected by the fact that Doña Mago has never used the loans to start a business, but rather for her personal expenses, which explains why she can´t pay it back sometimes.

Then we spoke to Claudia Sanchez, the employee of Compartamos that works in Jungapeo collecting on the loans. We had a great interview with her. Her main point was that the loans are to start small businesses, like a fruit stand or selling clothes from a catalogue, not large businesses like Porfiria and Mago expected. In that way, she said, Compartamos has helped people.

My interpretation is that Compartamos probably does help people, especially those who already know what small business they want to start and how to go about doing it. For people who need to have more of an income, and/or have no idea how to start a business, they are pretty much just put into debt. For example, Compartamos has let Mago take out more loans even though she has no proof of a business. They also don´t educate or train their borrowers really. They give them a simple orientation about the payments and when and how they are due, and thats it. I think there is definitely a lack of business knowledge that is contributing to the problem. They say they have a social mission, but they don´t really follow up on it.

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Sarah