Monday, September 8, 2008
Retreat Gleanings
It was a cross-culturally fascinating experience to go on a retreat with 20 some young professionals from Sincelejo… First of all, we started almost two hours late—of course! This did not surprise me, but did mean the evening meeting (devotional and all) didn’t start until after 8 p.m. As the featured speaker, I figured it wasn’t my fault it started late, so I just did all that I had planned… They’re young…and staying up late didn’t phase them a bit.
All the women slept in two “women’s rooms” and all the men slept in one big “men’s room;” in itself that is not surprising—except that there were at least three married couples present. Given the situation, it took me a little while to figure out who was married to whom.
For breakfast each day we had yucca (manioc root) and white cheese, and—mercifully—coffee—made almost white with milk, but still, coffee.
When I had these young people break up into small groups for small group sharing or discussion, they did so willingly enough, but it took them a long time to actually get started on whatever the assignment was. Then, once they were “into it,” they were really into it, and it was hard to get them to stop and come back to the larger group. This is probably the result of the kind of educational system here (few opportunities for small groups and thinking for yourself), but they loved doing it. Learning for me: allow more time for small group work!
I had a hard time understanding some of the slang that is unique to this northern coast, not to mention the fast-flying witticisms and jokes that are an inevitable—and wonderful—part of this kind of gathering. (I have been comforted by the fact that many of their own countrymen cannot understand the Costeño, or northern coast slang.) Sunday evening, second night of the retreat, after the devotional, was specifically a time for stories and jokes. With infinite patience and delight these young people translated the jokes and tried to make sure I understood everything that was funny! How could I not love them? But, oh, it was good to finally get to bed!
I had taken along a bottle or two of drinking water…but ran out by the second day. So did everyone else, and strangely no one went anywhere to get water—although they talked about it. There was only one more day to go so I figured I’d survive: first thing I did when I got home was have a nice, ice-cold Coke!
It is a treat, now, to go to church and see a bunch of faces I know, and to have had a peek into their lives. Hopefully each person at the retreat has become more aware of God’s constant presence in everyday things…and lives more as if all mundane activities are indeed sacred—and for Him.
Measuring Impact: Where Do We Go From Here?
The first loans for many entrepreneurs have freed them from loan sharks that charge over 30% interest per month, i.e. almost 400% per year. Why do people get into such businesses? Because they have no other alternative for obtaining their “daily bread!”
Even marginal businesses paying 30% per month interest turn out to be quite profitable when this interest cost is eliminated, so we see many of our clients not only able to pay us back, but also able to capitalize their businesses through our loan program. This goal is emphasized also in our training sessions. A sign of success then, for many, is that they no longer need our program after four months (1st cycle) or ten months (second cycle). For example, a small store in San Mateo has the capital it needs, and doesn’t really need more. In fact, another loan might actually do harm by tempting the owner into areas that may be too risky, or into mere “consumer spending.”
Our goal is to help viable businesses grow; it is not to simply make people more “well off” and thus expose them to temptations they cannot handle. So we ask a lot of questions about the impact of the loan, to determine that further lending is really necessary.
What we are trying to do is find the entrepreneurs who can grow their businesses, and create jobs and income for others. The training sessions are designed to provide the management skills necessary for business owners to take their enterprise to a new level. And capital can be provided as well, if needed. But not everyone is interested – the store owner in San Mateo does not want to expand; and as a lady with a sewing business in Nova tells me, “to add more employees is to add problems.”
Others disagree, and have very interesting expansion plans. A gentleman who sells fruit and vegetables in Sincelejo already has two employees that he supplies with the same products he sells in his early morning (4 a.m.) trip to the market each day—only he maps out different sales route for the three of them. Several businesses that started with the rental of cell telephone minutes have evolved into also selling telephones, photocopies, and providing secretarial services.
What we are seeing now, in the ninth month of this project, are loan groups that are smaller in terms of numbers of clients, but for whom the loan amounts are larger as the entrepreneurs take on projects that are bigger and more complex.
This is, as you might imagine, a lot of fun. Where will we go from here?
All the women slept in two “women’s rooms” and all the men slept in one big “men’s room;” in itself that is not surprising—except that there were at least three married couples present. Given the situation, it took me a little while to figure out who was married to whom.
For breakfast each day we had yucca (manioc root) and white cheese, and—mercifully—coffee—made almost white with milk, but still, coffee.
When I had these young people break up into small groups for small group sharing or discussion, they did so willingly enough, but it took them a long time to actually get started on whatever the assignment was. Then, once they were “into it,” they were really into it, and it was hard to get them to stop and come back to the larger group. This is probably the result of the kind of educational system here (few opportunities for small groups and thinking for yourself), but they loved doing it. Learning for me: allow more time for small group work!
I had a hard time understanding some of the slang that is unique to this northern coast, not to mention the fast-flying witticisms and jokes that are an inevitable—and wonderful—part of this kind of gathering. (I have been comforted by the fact that many of their own countrymen cannot understand the Costeño, or northern coast slang.) Sunday evening, second night of the retreat, after the devotional, was specifically a time for stories and jokes. With infinite patience and delight these young people translated the jokes and tried to make sure I understood everything that was funny! How could I not love them? But, oh, it was good to finally get to bed!
I had taken along a bottle or two of drinking water…but ran out by the second day. So did everyone else, and strangely no one went anywhere to get water—although they talked about it. There was only one more day to go so I figured I’d survive: first thing I did when I got home was have a nice, ice-cold Coke!
It is a treat, now, to go to church and see a bunch of faces I know, and to have had a peek into their lives. Hopefully each person at the retreat has become more aware of God’s constant presence in everyday things…and lives more as if all mundane activities are indeed sacred—and for Him.
Measuring Impact: Where Do We Go From Here?
The first loans for many entrepreneurs have freed them from loan sharks that charge over 30% interest per month, i.e. almost 400% per year. Why do people get into such businesses? Because they have no other alternative for obtaining their “daily bread!”
Even marginal businesses paying 30% per month interest turn out to be quite profitable when this interest cost is eliminated, so we see many of our clients not only able to pay us back, but also able to capitalize their businesses through our loan program. This goal is emphasized also in our training sessions. A sign of success then, for many, is that they no longer need our program after four months (1st cycle) or ten months (second cycle). For example, a small store in San Mateo has the capital it needs, and doesn’t really need more. In fact, another loan might actually do harm by tempting the owner into areas that may be too risky, or into mere “consumer spending.”
Our goal is to help viable businesses grow; it is not to simply make people more “well off” and thus expose them to temptations they cannot handle. So we ask a lot of questions about the impact of the loan, to determine that further lending is really necessary.
What we are trying to do is find the entrepreneurs who can grow their businesses, and create jobs and income for others. The training sessions are designed to provide the management skills necessary for business owners to take their enterprise to a new level. And capital can be provided as well, if needed. But not everyone is interested – the store owner in San Mateo does not want to expand; and as a lady with a sewing business in Nova tells me, “to add more employees is to add problems.”
Others disagree, and have very interesting expansion plans. A gentleman who sells fruit and vegetables in Sincelejo already has two employees that he supplies with the same products he sells in his early morning (4 a.m.) trip to the market each day—only he maps out different sales route for the three of them. Several businesses that started with the rental of cell telephone minutes have evolved into also selling telephones, photocopies, and providing secretarial services.
What we are seeing now, in the ninth month of this project, are loan groups that are smaller in terms of numbers of clients, but for whom the loan amounts are larger as the entrepreneurs take on projects that are bigger and more complex.
This is, as you might imagine, a lot of fun. Where will we go from here?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)