Give efficient stoves to 100 Guatemalan families

Community Finance Founder Andrew Becker and I have been in Guatemala supporting the development of the Community Finance Program and visiting some of the savings groups.

Passing the Torch

The most exciting news of the trip is that former local program Coordinator Wilfred Sotz has been promoted to Program Director, taking the mantle from Andrew. The promotion is an acknowledgement of Wilfred’s constant commitment to the program and the leadership he has demonstrated in helping to grow it from a handful of disconnected groups to where it is now, with 18 groups benefiting more than 270 women and their families. Adelina Tubac has also begun training to become an official Community Finance Advisor, a promotion from her current position as Community Finance Promoter. We are excited to see how these two local heroes take on their new responsibilities!

Women Weavers of a Savings Group in Tonajuyú

We visited a new group in Tonajuyú, a remote community with no access to running water. The ten women are part of a larger cooperative of fifty women weavers. We hope others will see their success and decide to join! The group has a particularly fun vibe to it, the women joke around and laugh a lot, and many commented on the social and emotional benefits of getting together for regular meetings, above and beyond the financial benefits.

The day I visited was the 4th anniversary of the weaving group and they had me on stage dancing merengue and wacking a piñata (not at the same time, however). 

You can meet a few of the women of the group and read their testimonies on what it’s been like to be a part of a savings group in the attached document. 

• Testomonies_from_the_Women_of_Tonajuyu.pdf (PDF)