The Fashion Show

Planning of Practical Workshops for Alto Perú

SOLAC decided to start practical workshops for the beneficiaries of the microfinance pilot project with the aim of giving the participants an opportunity to learn new skills that they may later use to start a new economic activity or to create an additional source of income (it is very common for micro entrepreneurs in Lima to have more than one small business).

We put together a list of six different options for the practical workshops according to what was more feasible to carry out in the community. The list of choices included: knitting and crochet, jewellery, yogurt, jam, pastry, and chocolate workshops. The members of each ASOL voted to decide the two workshops that we going to be implemented. The most popular choices were knitting and crochet, and the jewellery workshop. We contacted professional teachers for each workshop that were recommended to us by other NGOs, Vilma Acuña for knitting and Gloria Cabrera for jewellery, and we elaborated a six-week plan for each course. For the knitting and crochet workshop we decided, together with the teacher, that the course was going to take place twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays for three-hour sessions. The teacher explained to us that it was very important to have at least two sessions per week for the knitting and crochet workshop, as it is a very difficult skill to learn and requires a lot of practice at a basic level. For the jewellery workshop we decided to have a three-hour session per week on Sundays for six weeks. We also set a 5 PEN fee to sign-up for the course as a symbolic amount to ensure the commitment of people who decided to participate. The fee also included a set of materials for each participant for the course that they could take home to practice what they learnt in class. SOLAC decided to give priority for the signing-up to the workshop to the participants of the microfinance pilot project, then according to the vacancies in each course to the rest of the people of Alto Perú. The Head mistress of the local primary school, Nelli Villegas, agreed to let us use one of the classrooms of the school to carry out the workshops.

Extension of our Microfinance Pilot Project

Due to the successful running of the two original ASOLs and to the high demand for participation from other people in the communities, we have decided to extend our pilot project to give approximately another 24 people in the area the opportunity to benefit from a microfinance scheme, as well as to offer our two initial groups the option of entering a second cycle of the project, with the opportunity of receiving higher loans.

In May we started talking to people in Santa Isabél, Unión Perú and Santa Crúz de Huachipa, to see who was interested in forming a new group. By the end of the month we had already formed two new groups, one in Santa Crúz de Huachipa and another in Santa Isabél.

Approved funding for the extension of our project by the Austrian Embassy in Lima

We are very pleased to announce that our application for funding from the Austrian Embassy in Lima for our extension of the Microfinance Project in Alto Peru has been approved. At a meeting with the Ambassador, Dr. Andreas Melán, and with Mrs. Karin Eckert, responsible for cultural issues and international cooperation, which took place at the end of May, we were told that the Embassy was happy to provide funding to our project and cover the remaining budget.

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Austrian Embassy in Lima, Education World 86, as well as our other donors for allowing us to carry out our work!

New Training Sessions

As previously mentioned, we have decided to carry out the next training courses on entrepreneurship ourselves. Throughout April and May we have been creating a syllabus together with INCUBA Networks, using their manual as a basis to create one that has been greatly adapted to the requirements of the people in Alto Perú.

As we are strongly emphasizing the notion that a microfinance project is not only about the loans themselves, and recognizing that a training programme will develop a strong group atmosphere and a good relationship with the loan officers, we have designed four initial sessions which are compulsory for participants in order to receive a (or their next) loan.

Syllabus:

Session 1:
Understanding the environment and recognizing one’s own qualities as an entrepreneur

Session 2:
Brainstorming various business ideas, out of which three are selected to be put through an internal and external filter, in order to see which business idea is most viable. At the end of the session the participants decide what business they would like to invest their loan in.

Session 3:
Analyzing the market and the four Ps of the chosen business idea.

Session 4:
Bugdet (and breakdown of what the loan will be invested in)

The two new ASOLS:

ASOL “Las Triunfadoras” (Santa Isabél) and ASOL “Karin” (Santa Crúz de Huachipa)

After receiving an introductory session on what the Microfinance project consists of, the two newly formed groups, “Las Triunfadoras”, consisting of seven women and one young man, and “Karin”, which consists of six women, began with our four–session training course. The classes were very beneficial, both to the individual members of the team to support and guide them with their business ideas, as well as for the strengthening of the group dynamics and the relationship with the loan officer. By the end of the four sessions there had been a clear change in the level of comfort and trust between the group members.

The loan officers of each group then went to visit each person individually to fill in a questionnaire and discuss their business idea and the investment of the loan. Each case was then discussed at the office before the papers were prepared for the disbursements.

The disbursement of ASOL “Karin” took place on 7th June in Santa Crúz. Mrs. Karin Eckert from the Austrian Embassy took this opportunity to visit our project on site. She had the opportunity to meet the women, visit one of their sewing workshops and participate at the disbursement meeting. The group decided to name their ASOL after her, as a thank you for providing the funding required for the project.

The disbursement of ASOL “Las Triunfadoras” was held the following day (8th June) and was celebrated with soft drinks and cake. Group photos were taken and the members stayed longer to chat.

ASOLs “Sagrado Corazon de Jesus” and “Unidos para el Desarrollo”

Our two ASOLs which started in December last year have completed their fifth and sixth repayment meeting (on 11th May and 11th June respectively), and have herewith completed their first lending cycle. Although we have had two women with difficulties repaying the fifth loan, they have all managed to repay the whole amount by the end of the loan period. The repayment rates of the two groups have therefore been 100 % for the first cycle.

Almost all group members have been showing much interest in continuing with the project and were eager to receive the second cycle of the loans, in which they are entitled to a maximum of 800 PEN (around 280 USD) – depending on their repayment capacity.

Sagrado Corazon de Jesus has completed their four training sessions and have had their disbursement on 21st June. They are 11 members – all nine who have participated in the old cycle plus two new members (who have been accepted by all group members, but are, according to SOLAC rules, only entitled to a maximum loan of 400 PEN).

Unidos para el Desarrollo insisted on completing their initial classes before 11th June and therefore had their disbursement on the same day as the last repayment meeting. The ASOL consists of nine people in this second cycle – two members have left and a new participant has joined. The loan portfolio of this group is 4,450 PEN (approx 1,565 USD).

Third and Fourth repayment meetings, and Education World 86 visit

We have had two more successful repayment meetings with the two ASOLs of Unión Perú and Santa Isabél. At the last one our visitors from the French NGO Education World 86, who arrived on the 2nd of April, attended the meeting to get to know the members of the ASOLs and see how SOLAC’s Microfinance programme is running.

Here are the thoughts of Melinda Tims, EW's secretary:

"Education.world-86, Solac´s sister NGO in France, has provided the venture capital needed to start up 2 microcredit groups in the Huachipa slums outside Lima. The French NGO has also had 3 members working in Peru since early April, working both with the microcredit team and with the local school in the same area ; this experience has provided a first-hand opportunity to see the work in progress. The results have been outstanding.

The Solac microcredit team brings together talent, intelligence, great commitment, and outstanding preliminary results. The first 2 women´s economic self-help groups have completed their business training workshops and are half way through their repayment cycle, and 2 new groups are currently being formed. The ground work for all of this has been carefully thought out and the team has been highly successful in trouble-shooting so as to avoid any pitfalls. This endeavor is an ongoing process, so much obviously remains to be done in this impoverished area in terms of integrated economic development. EW enthusiastically supports all this work in the field and extends its hearty congratulations for all that has been accomplished."

EW Secretariat - Dr. Melinda Tims, University of Tours (France)

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.