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 Bolivia PartnerTrip Travelogue
April 17-27, 2008
by Chris Megargee
PartnerTrip Coordinator
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
 It's been an amazing week here in Bolivia. Yesterday was our final day together, and we enjoyed an excursion to the southern section of Lake Titicaca. This gorgeous lake, which straddles the Bolivia/Peru border, has a significant place in the rich history of both the Inca and Tiahuanaco cultures (the latter having begun around some 2,600 years ago). The lake is about an hour and a half drive from La Paz, and the opportunity to traverse the altiplano and gaze at the Andean peaks of the Cordillera Real is as enticing as the lake itself. Along the way we saw many examples of the rural poverty that exists throughout Bolivia—adobe homes, often crumbling, many with thatched roofs and some with corrugated tin. These sights affirmed the desire and the need to reach more people, which was expressed by both of the microfinance partner organizations we visited this week.
 Global Partnerships supports 19 microfinance institutions in Latin America, and it is always enlightening and inspiring for me to meet with the leadership and staff of these organizations. Over the last few years I have had a chance to meet with 10 of our MFI partners and with each new encounter I have been introduced to unique strategies and services provided by our partner organizations. Our meetings this week with CRECER and Pro Mujer Bolivia gave me, and our travelers, a chance to see how they are effectively and effeciently providing both social and financial services.
CRECER requires their borrowers to save a percentage of the funds loaned to them from the very start of their loan (what they call the "initial savings") and then to contribute a specific amount to that savings total with every loan payment (what they call the ahorros durante or "savings during"). At the end of the loan cycle, the savings is returned to the borrower in full. When we asked CRECER clients what they like most about CRECER, every one of them pointed to this obligatory savings as a huge plus. I was impressed by this culture of savings that CRECER is creating—and I have to admit that it's a good lesson for me as well!
 While many of our microfinance partners are offering social services along with microfinance services, Pro Mujer Bolivia is doing so with a breadth and depth that is truly impressive. Their integration of financial services for the poor with social impact services like computer training, self-esteem workshops, youth programs, child care, health education and health services demonstrated a powerful commitment to helping women and their entire families to seguir adelante (move forward) on many levels.
This week we learned that both CRECER and Pro Mujer Bolivia are introducing insurance services for all of their clients. These insurance programs cover the debt owed by a borrower in the event the borrower should die and also pay a benefit amount to a designated beneficiary and cover funeral costs. The payment structure for these insurance programs in both cases makes them completely accessible for all of their clients to take advantage of them. At two of the communal bank meetings we attended with CRECER, we were present when this insurance program was announced for the first time to the women gathered, and they all applauded in grateful response to this news.
 We had a great group of participants in our PartnerTrip this week, and I enjoyed learning together with all of them. We all parted ways last night in La Paz—some folks headed for home to the U.S. and others stayed here in Bolivia for a few days of sightseeing. I've returned to Cochabamba to spend time with friends here. While I always feel some sadness in saying goodbye to our travelers, our microfinance partners and their clients, I also feel an even stronger commitment to getting back to work at our offices in Seattle. One can't help but want to take action once you meet the real people whose lives are being improved through microfinance integrated with valuable social services.
 People sometimes ask me how I reflect on these trips once I return home. And I respond by telling them about my morning commute. As I drive into work each day, I think of a particular borrower I've met on one of these PartnerTrips, and I make a sort of personal dedication of that day's work to them. I now have many new faces to keep in mind and hold in my heart each day, knowing that everything Global Partnerships is doing with the help of our many supporters is helping people here in Bolivia—people like Viviana, who makes leather crafts; Paulina, who owns a small grocery store; Justina, who makes and sells blankets; Silvia, the wedding planner; Ana Maria, who makes plaster piggy banks; Daniel, who washes cars; and Benigna, who owns dairy cows.
Thanks for sharing this Bolivian PartnerTrip with me through this travelogue. If you find yourself intrigued by what you've read and perhaps interested in traveling with Global Partnerships to Latin America to see for yourself how your support can expand opportunity for people living in poverty, consider applying for our upcoming PartnerTrip to Guatemala, November 16-22, 2008. I'll be be back in the office next week, and I welcome an email at cmegargee@globalpartnerships.org or phone call (206.652.8717) from you if you'd like to learn more. In the meantime, ¡mil gracias por todo tu apoyo!
--Chris
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Friday, April 25, 2008
 Our time in La Paz has gone too quickly. After meeting yesterday morning at the headquarters of Pro Mujer Bolivia with CEO, Vivianne Romero, and her leadership team, we headed high up to the city of El Alto on the altiplano to visit three Pro Mujer clients. Among these three women we found diverse businesses—including a woman who works as a wedding coordinator and can provide a wedding dress, cake and decorations with as little as 24 hours notice. While each of their businesses and experiences were different, their dreams were very similar, as they each work towards a better life for their children.
 On our second day with Pro Mujer we returned to El Alto to visit their largest regional center and see the array of services they offer there—programs which demonstrate their commitment to integrating human development with financial services. We first participated in the twice monthly meeting of communal association "Esmeralda." The women of this group have welcomed three young members, each 16 yrs of age who are part of a program Pro Mujer is piloting to provide young people support for their own income generating activities. These youth benefit from the mentorship of the adult members, and their growth in personal responsibility and self-esteem has been notable.
The proud, strong, and jovial members of this group were happy to answer our many questions. We learned that they had all heard of Pro Mujer from friends in their neighborhood. What were their businesses? They were quite varied, from selling cell phones to making macramé crafts. And what do their husbands think of their association with Pro Mujer? They are supportive—even if they were hesitant in the beginning. These women have learned to build and expect relationships of mutual respect.
 Another highlight of our visit was the computer training labs run by Pro Mujer in this center, including a visit with 11 teens who shared their future aspirations with us. In this group we were introduced to future chemistry teachers, accountants, lawyers, nurses, agronomists and a doctor. Next door were the younger children, ages 7 - 14, who are also learning computer skills, including, Microsoft Word and Mario Bros! They gasped with astonishment as we introduced ourselves and revealed our ages to them (just like in America, to a seven year old, anyone over the age of 30 is very old!). As moved as we were by the stories of the clients, the teens, and the school children our hearts melted when we were treated to a puppet show by the very youngest children who were in Pro Mujer’s day care center. Our tour concluded with a visit to the health center where women and children receive medical care.
 Our final visit today was with an artisan who makes banks made of plaster. Her inventory included banks in the shape of pigs, rabbits, cows and turtles. It seemed only fitting after all of our group discussions regarding the value of personal savings that our final visit was with a microentrepreneur who makes and sells piggy banks.
Tomorrow we head out to the southern section of Lake Titicaca to experience more of the beauty of this land and to take time out to share some of our favorite moments and reflections from our week’s journey in Bolivia. I look forward to sharing those with you in my next dispatch. Until then, ¡Hasta la proxima!
--Chris
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
 ¡Hola de Bolivia! Yesterday afternoon, we traveled to the community of La Maica, just a few miles outside of Cochabamba, to attend the meeting of a communal bank organized by CRECER. Most of the residents of La Maica—and all the members of this bank—make their living from dairy farming. As with all of CRECER’s communal bank meetings, it began with an educational component. On this occasion the training focused on the basics of family budgeting. Holding up a large poster, the loan officer invited all the women to prioritize various expenses in the life of a fictional bank member named Antonia.
Sitting along a bench, wearing the broad-rimmed, white straw hats which are characteristic of Quechua women like these, the members were quite animated and confident discussing among themselves which expenses really mattered for Antonia—like being on time with her monthly loan payments. (By the way, the Quechua people are one of the primary indigenous groups here in Bolivia.) On the other hand, they all agreed that the wedding expenses for Antonia’s son should be given the lowest priority level. We all laughed as one woman shouted out, “If his fiancée really loves him, she will wait for him to save up for the wedding!” After they completed assigning Antonia’s budget priorities, they were asked to do the same for their own families’ budgets as homework prior to the next meeting.
 With the training complete, the women moved into the loan payment process, proceeding one by one to the table to make their monthly payments. As they did so, we PartnerTrip participants enjoyed chatting with them and learning about their lives. The bank president, Benigna, in whose house we were meeting, walked us to the area where she keeps her 14 cows. She shared with us the ups and downs of her business, and her plans for the future—including her desire to secure enough funds to build a shelter for her cows to protect them from the hot sun and the torrential rains so they will stay healthy and produce more milk.
As we drove back into the city, with fields passing along on both sides of us and the sun setting behind the mountains, I felt like this last meeting was a great way to end our time in Cochabamba. I lived and studied in Cochabamba several years ago, and it was wonderful to have been back for this visit and to learn of CRECER’s work in this beautiful part of Bolivia. And while our time in Cochabamba went by too quickly, I shared our entire group’s excitement to move on to our current location here in the capital city of La Paz.
 We arrived in La Paz this morning after a brief flight which afforded an incredible view of the snow-capped Andes and the stark altiplano which border this city. We were greeted with blue skies and thin air and so we took things a bit slower to adjust to this new altitude. Upon arrival we ventured forth from our hotel to enjoy our first taste of salteñas (delicious!) and some exploration of the city and its surrounds.
La Paz is filled with narrow, steep, and bustling streets. Aymara women are all about, selling wares along the sidewalks and going about their daily errands. (Aymara is another of the principal indigenous groups here.) As we traveled around downtown, we enjoyed glimpses through the buildings of the ever-present Mount Ilimani (21,000 feet) watching over the city.
Tomorrow we begin our meetings and client visits with another of Global Partnerships' MFI partners, Pro Mujer Bolivia. We are anxious to meet the women of La Paz and gain a better understanding of how they work and live. But now it’s time to turn in, since we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Thanks for traveling with us through these postings. I’ll look forward to sharing more news soon. ¡Buenas noches!
--Chris
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Monday, April 21, 2008
 ¡Saludos de Bolivia! After a two day journey from the U.S., our group of ten PartnerTrip participants arrived here in Cochabamba, in the central highlands of Bolivia. Our flight on the Bolivian national airline, AeroSur, was good fun—and markedly different from what most of us are used to. The flight was far more of a social experience, with people roaming the aisles, chatting with friends, handing babies around, and passing the time en route.
At 8,500 feet above sea level, we wondered how the altitude would feel as we stepped off the plane upon arrival and walked across the tarmac to the airport—but it really had little effect on any of us. We’ll see how it goes when we do the same in La Paz later this week, stepping off the plane at 13,300 feet!
Sunday morning we were delighted to experience Cochabamba’s famous clima agradable (agreeable climate). Rebeca Lastres, one of my colleagues from Global Partnerships’ Managua office is here with us this week, and we started our day learning more from her about GP’s process for selecting and monitoring our microfinance institution (MFI) partners in Latin America. It was a great breakfast discussion, and given how many of us are coffee aficionados, we were grateful that our wonderful host here at Hotel Aranjuez, José, was eager to demonstrate his new espresso machine.
 In almost any city or town on any Sunday in Latin America, you are sure to find people gathered with friends and family in the central plaza, and Cochabamba is no exception. After our breakfast conversation we made our way to the plaza to do a bit of people watching and visit the cathedral (which was begun in 1571). We then headed to the community of Tiquipaya for another great discussion, which helped provide context for all we will be experiencing this week. We met over lunch with Jim Schultz and Lily Whitesell, who live and work here in Cochabamba for The Democracy Center. It was fantastic to spend time with them gain insight into many of the current political, economic, and social issues which are at play in Bolivia today.
 The day ended with a visit to the top of Cerro de San Pedro where a massive statue of Cristo overlooks the city with arms outstretched. Cochabambinos are proud to point out that their Cristo is actually a few centimeters higher than the one in Rio. The location provided us a beautiful view of the city, which resides in a sort of bowl, surrounded by green mountains on all sides.
Today we began our exploration of concrete examples of how microfinance is making a difference in people’s lives. We were welcomed at the offices of GP’s microfinance partner institution, CRECER. It was clearly a mutual honor for us to meet them and for them to receive us—the National Director of CRECER, Jose Auad, flew out from La Paz to give an overview of their work throughout the country, and the regional team here in Cochabamba joined him in answering our many questions about the nuts and bolts of how they provide their combination of microfinance and education services to women living in poverty.
 With the deeper understanding of CRECER’s work, we boarded our bus and headed out to meet some of their clients. In my role with Global Partnerships I’ve lead six trips like this one and every time, it is that moment which is such a joy for me—as it is for the entire group. We met four incredible women today at their homes and their businesses, all members of communal banks organized by CRECER. There will be more to share from these and other visits, so please stay tuned. For now, it’s 11:00 p.m. here in Bolivia, and we are getting an early start tomorrow to attend a working meeting of a communal bank—so I’ll sign off. ¡Hasta pronto!
--Chris
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