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3/1/09  Today SWAN spotlights Lia.  A loan recipient with a husband and two children.  She is a member of the "Warnes" group of 15 women that took out loans in November.  They had to wait since March of 08 to receive their training and take out their loans.  They have proved to be a very faithful group of women.  Lia took out her loan in November and will finish paying the balance of the $300 she borrowed this next week!  This is amazing considering the challenging economy in Bolivia.  Though she has finished her loan, and is eligible for another with her good credit, she prefers to provide another woman in need the opportunity to begin a small business.  She asked if she can still attend the bi-monthly meetings to socialize with the women of her group and receive additional business training.  The women of Warnes also arrange for someone to teach them a recipe or craft at these meetings.  This group of women makes SWAN proud.  They key to their success is found in three capable women, Lia being one of them,who give encouragement to their cohorts and mentor, as well as nurture the women of their group who are in dire poverty.  Hats off to you, Lia!

2/29/08 

Today's blog is about a woman who recently paid off her loan of $300.  Maribel Sanchez was a teenager when I first met her over 21 years ago.  I still have the LP of the "Los Bukis" that she gave me as I was leaving for home, finishing up the 18 month mission I served there in Bolivia in '88.  Until recently I would put on the record and let my mind go back in time to remember good people that I came to love in the poverty stricken nation of Bolivia.

I never dreamed that I would have the opportunity to return. 

Yet, January of 2008 I found myself on a plane returning to Bolivia after 20 years to begin microlending to help the poor women in Montero.  I started with women I knew, and branched out from there.  When I walked down the familiar street to reunite with Meribel, I found her sitting in the store that she operates in her home.  The shelves were almost empty.  In our visit, she said she was going to go to Argentina to work to send money home.  I was shocked as she has three small children.  She explained that it is better for her to leave her children to provide for them, than to see them hungry. 

Maribel was one of the first loan recipients.  I was delighted when I received the pictures of her well stocked store.  She purchased bread from another woman who took out a loan for a small bakery.  Since she took out the loan, both her elderly parents have had severe health issues.  Her mother is a brittle diabetic, and has dementia.  Her father suffered a sever stroke.  Then her husband had two heart attacks and almost died.  She is the main breadwinner for the family.

I celebrate her accomplishment of providing for her family, caring for her elderly parents and paying off her loan!  SWAN allows women to take out a second loan upon completion of the first.  Maribel plans to purchase a freezer with her second loan to be able to purchase meat to freeze and sell. 

When I left Bolivia last year, once again, Maribel presented me with a gift.  It was a small china box, nicely wrapped.  I hugged her warmly, but waited until I got in the taxi to weep.  I keep the box on the mantle in my livingroom.  It reminds me of the heart wrenching struggles of poor women in poor nations.   I look at the economic struggles ahead in our own nation with concern.  But even in the most trying of economic times, we live like kings compared to the women I know in Bolivia.

Maribel's store before her loan.                  And After.

2/5/08   It was just a year ago that I traveled to Bolivia to set up CISNE, the Bolivian counterpart to SWAN (Serving Women Across Nations), a 501 (c) 3 organization that, among other things, makes microloans to women to set up small businesses.

Accomplishments this past year. We:

• Established CISNE as a legal Bolivian non-profit.
• Provided sturdy shoes for 250 students at a school in a very poor district.
• Hosted the "self employment workshop" (a two week/15 hour course) for three groups of women.
• Provided small loans for 45 women.
• Began the construction of a classroom for the bi-monthly meetings where the women receive ongoing training, and make loan payments.
  
  I just returned from Bolivia, and would like to share portions of the e-mails I sent home during my 10 days there:
  
  "The past several days we visited about 20 of the women that have received a microcredit from Cisne (SWAN in Spanish). Many are having success. I am finding that those that have familial support have great success. The ones that struggle the most are the women that have many children, and no husband. There are many cases that the man just leaves, sometimes to find work elsewhere, sometimes to find another woman. We have many women with more than five children and have to leave them daily to try to earn money. Since there is no family to help, the children are left alone.
  
  "This was the case today when we went to visit Olga. She has seven children, and her husband is who knows where, and she has no skills. She lives far removed from the hustle of the city and has to travel to the place where she can sell her tamales. We found her children home alone. I think the oldest is eleven; the youngest is 3.
  
  "We arrived at 2 o’clock, well past the lunch hour, and the mom was still not there. The children were very wary of me, and wouldn’t come out of the house. The 8-year-old boy ventured out and showed me the shallow well that is their only source of water. As he was drawing water, I noticed him favoring his left hand. He had an awful burn on his thumb that was weeping and swollen. It cut to my heart. I made small talk with him and showed him how to put his hand in the water that we pulled up to ease the throbbing.
  
  
  "I left with a huge lump in my throat. It bothered me all day. I knew they didn’t have food. We returned that evening with groceries, just the basics: rice, pasta, beans, eggs, oil, sugar and flour. The children were still wary of the gringa, but we made merry with their mama enough to gain their trust. The mother of these precious children has no option but to leave every day. She is embarrassed that she hasn’t paid her loan in several months. She is one of the first loan recipients and we didn't have the support groups in place that we do now.
  
  "We are having a meeting on Wednesday with all of the women to celebrate Cisne, give encouragement, and establish the support network in that first group. The women will be better served.
  
  
  
  "I wanted to report on Benita, the woman Aunt Elaine sponsors. My heart is very tender towards her. She is very quiet, but very faithful. Her husband works as a motorcycle taxi and earns very little since he doesn’t own his own motorcycle and works for someone else. They have seven children.
  
  
  "Benita is very ill and has been for some time. The doctors here say it is her liver and I believe it. Her skin is sallow and her eyes are yellow. She is too sickly to run her business herself, but has a teenager who takes the food cart to the plaza of their small village to sell food. I don’t know what they do when school is in session. Right now, the kids are in their summer vacation. The loan has been a blessing for the family. It has provided the means that the children don’t go hungry.  She had several months where she was bed ridden and could not work, but since then she has been consistant with her bi-monthly loan re-payments.   Her two young girls are adorable and have lots of spunk."

I took with me equipment for silk screening the SWAN logo, and CISNE (SWAN in Spanish) logo.  We made t-shirts for each of the 45 loan recipients with CISNE on the front, and SWAN on the back.  A representation of uniting women from both continents.  The Bolivian recipients were delighted when we presented them with their shirts at the CISNE meeting we held.  Below is a picture of one of the loan groups proudly wearing their SWAN shirts.   We plan to have the women make aprons with the SWAN logo for us to use in fund raising here in the states.