Microfinance in Alto Perú: End of training sessions with AVSI and planning of new course

Thursday, April 15, 2010

End of training sessions with AVSI and planning of new course

On Saturday 10th of April we held the last of the series of eight training sessions on entrepreneurship ogranized in cooperation with the NGO AVSI for the members of the ASOLs of Unión Perú and Santa Isabél. Even though this course has come to an end, the cooperation between SOLAC and AVSI will continue in the form of monthly sessions where a professor hired by AVSI will be visiting the members of the ASOLs to follow up the progress of their micro-businesses and give them advice.

On the other hand, the Microfinance team is now in the planning stages of a new training course which will be offered to the members of the existing ASOLs and to the future members of the new ASOLs that will be formed in May. This training course will be carried out by SOLAC’s loan officers, who will start to be trained to give this course by INCUBA Network (http://www.incubanetwork.com/index.php), an organization which specializes in giving support and training to micro entrepreneurs.

SOLAC decided that it would be best for the members of the ASOLs to be receiving the entrepreneurial training directly from their loan officers – i.e. the Microfinance team – since the latter know them personally and can therefore better serve for their needs.

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Project Location: Alto Perú

The area of Alto Perú, in the district of Chosica-Lurigancho (East Cone), is one of the most rural areas in the periphery of Lima. It has long been accustomed to migration from the Andean interior and this, along with the inexorable demands of industry and the deriving industrial contamination, has resulted in extreme standards of living and sanitation, and pervasive child labour.

Previously, Asociación SOLAC has built a library in the school with the help of the community, to give the children and adolescents a place where they can develop their educational and creative skills. However, the library has not been used to the extent hoped for. Soon it became clear that children could not spend more time at the school premises as their labour was inevitable for the families' income. Most families in Alto Perú earn their living by making bricks out of contaminated water and earth. They get paid per 1,000 bricks produced and need the help of their children from as early as 3 a.m. every day. After school, children need to continue making bricks. Not only does this lead to a lack of concentration and children being tired during class, but they often suffer respiratory and similar problems and miss classes for many related reasons.

Microfinance will allow the families to receive a sum of money that they will invest in a way which is most beneficial to their situation. The loans will be accompanied by courses and workshops (such as how to keep track of money, as well as practical workshops on, for example, producing and selling textiles) and emphasis will be placed on the promotion of saving. The long term aim is that children spend less hours working and have more time to devote to education and simply being a child.

Microfinance in Alto Perú

Thursday, April 15, 2010

End of training sessions with AVSI and planning of new course

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Project Location: Alto Perú

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