July 2008 Articles
Agripina Rodríguez - Colonia de Salomón Martinez, Tocoa, Colon - by Shannon Clohosey
I've been a part of this Asamblea ever since the Fundación Adelante first came to our colonia (neighborhood). Four years ago when Adelante credit officers started visiting us and telling us about their small loans program, I saw how a loan could help my business, and thought I would give Adelante a try. I was part of the first Asamblea here, and that first loan went really well. I liked the support my loan offered my business, so once I paid it off, I applied for another one. And here I am, four years later, still enjoying myself with Adelante!
I have two small businesses that my loans have supported. For over 20 years I have been selling underwear. I would visit the women in my colonia , and other surrounding colonias and villages, promoting my products. They would choose products they like, and I would place an order for them; later I would bring them their new clothing when it arrived.
With my first loan from Adelante, for 1500 Lempiras (80 USD), I invested in this business, buying some products to build up an inventory. I continued doing that for a few more years, but recently I have stopped selling underwear. It is very tiring work, visiting all the colonias and villages, promoting the products and filling orders. Sometimes women wouldn't pay me when I arrived with their order, which would be very frustrating after so much work!
So now I invest my Adelante loans in my other small business, my pulperia - the small shop in my house where I sell the basics, like rice, beans, and sugar. I've had this pulperia for 15 years, slowly growing it, with help recently from Fundación Adelante. With my most recent loan with Adelante, for 4500 Lempiras (238 USD), I bought some basic products in bulk so that I can sell them in smaller quantities to my neighbors. Prices are really on the rise these days, and buying materials in bulk isn't quite as expensive as buying in smaller quantities. A 1000 pound bag of rice costs 700 Lempiras (37 USD), and I can sell one pound bags for 8 Lempiras (0.4 USD).
I like working in my pulperia. I like the independence of my own business, and I like that I can stay close to home, instead of walking from village to village, selling my products. I've really enjoyed participating in Adelante's microfinance program; we've always had a really good relationship, and Adelante gives us lots of independence to do what we know we do best and enjoy the most.
I have a dream to soon build my own little home. Right now I live in my daughter's house, but last year I bought myself a little piece of land. Now I need to save up money to buy the materials to build my house. This will take a lot of work, but I'm excited about my little house, and I am sure that with my motivation and hard work, and some help from my Adelante loans, I'll be able to make it happen!
Adelante Welcomes New Regional Director - René Licona
On June 9th Adelante Foundation was pleased to welcome its new regional director, René Licona. René comes to Adelante with eleven years of microfinance experience in Honduras. Working for such organizations as FUNED (Foundation for the Development of Honduras) and CARE International, René estimates he has logged about 125,000 miles traveling through every department in Honduras, except Gracias a Dios (the wild Mosquito Coast) and the Bay Islands, to create and supervise micro credit projects.
When asked what he likes so far about working at Adelante, René responds that he enjoys the friendly work environment and is impressed by Adelante's education department. Business training was offered to clients in other organizations where he worked, but this is the first time he has seen an education department that offered topics of personal interest to the clients such as health and human rights. He feels this is a strength that Adelante should capitalize on in order to retain clients. The world of microfinance has become quite competitive and René would like to see us expand the services we offer in order to reinforce our clients' loyalty to Adelante.
Over the last month, René has been busy meeting with board and staff members as well as traveling across the country to visit Adelante's offices in such far away places as Choluteca (on Honduras' Pacific coast) and Intibuca (southwestern Honduras). The mood in the office since his arrival has been optimistic. We are glad to have René on board. Vamos Adelante!
Photograph of the Month
Two cute kids, children of one of our clients.
