Things I May Never Do or See Again

This past week I took a trip with my Microfinance group and professor to visit some microfinance cooperatives. First we went to a community called Quisapincha. The three men who work at the cooperative were really excited that we were there to visit them! They work in a tiny little office, giving loans to the surrounding communities to support their work as farmers or artisans. The cooperative started 7 years ago with $40 and now gives loans up to $2,000. They two things they struggle with: 1) Capital--they can't get enough loan money in order to meet the demand of the communities 2) Many of their clients don't know how to sign their name, this causes legal issues. We went and saw some of the clients they support--leather maker, shoe maker and a group of women who raise guinea pigs. There are about 30 women and each have a little pin outside of their house. They raise the guinea pigs for 3 months and then sell them. Why? Because Ecuadorians eat guinea pigs!!! It's a delicacy. One day we were holding live guinea pigs, the next we were eating them--literally :) The conditions that this indigenous community lives in some may consider poor, but they seem to have what they need. They work very hard and end up with enough food to eat and seem to be happy. I used the bathroom in the owner of the cooperative's house--made of gray cement bricks, dark, without electricity and newspaper for toilet paper. I am really interested in working in this community for 6 weeks for my internship, trying to gather some statistics about the cooperative and then write a proposal to try and apply for some more capital. I also want to find a sustainable solution to the problem with the signatures. But to be completely honest, I am terrified of living the way the community does. They don't always have running water and electricity, bathing is for special occasions. They don't have phones in the house and the internet is a 30 minute bus ride away. I am going to visit a couple more cooperatives and then make a decision. It's tough! I want a challenge, I want to push myself but I'm just unsure of how far.

The second place we went was even further from anything modern. It was a community called Pilahuin. It is colder, also in the mountains. This community has a queseria (place to make cheese). Each morning and afternoon, the community members milk their cows (I milked a cow too!) and then bring the milk by horse or donkey to the queseria. The company keeps track of how much each family brings so that they can pay them respectively. I saw how they make the cheese, a very interesting process! While there, we also visited a school. They children were very excited to see us! Their classrooms reminded me of what I had seen in the Kansas History Museum, very dated. All the children wore boots, panchos and hats because of the weather. Their cheeks were shiny, redish purple because of the cold and wind. I loved the kids, so excited and so enthusiastic!

The way the people lived really amazed me. They ate the eggs from their chickens, drank the milk from their cows and lived off the land, nothing more. It was an eye opening week, so far from anything I have ever seen before.