Give efficient stoves to 100 Guatemalan families

The Community Finance Guatemala (CFG) team works hard to understand how the services we offer are actually benefiting the women we serve. Our CFG Program Director, Wilfred, recently took the opportunity to visit several of the women that participate in both a Savings and Solidarity group and the rapidly growing artisan business, Ixoq’i. Ixoq’i recently became an officially registered small business in Guatemala and has become an income generating initiative for not only the participating women but for CFG itself!

Wilfred regularly expresses how great it feels to receive the gratitude of women such as Albertina, and then to share that gratitude with the greater Generosity Network of supporters like you. Albertina spoke with Wilfred about how many women, mothers in particular, have benefited from CFG’s support.

She said that “mothers don’t have many opportunities to work and it is hard to depend only on the fathers, who sometimes do not have work.” She then went on to say that “in my personal life [working for Ixoq’i] has helped me a lot with my children, to be able to give them, maybe not everything, but to cover their needs.”

The peace of mind that comes from knowing that the family’s survival is not completely dependent upon just one source of income is one of the greatest gifts the mothers we support have received. And in return they have given us the gift of gratitude, and well wishes.

Just as Wilfred passes on this gratitude to us, may you now receive it and pass it on to others.

“Thank you to Wilfred, and to all the people who made it possible for this project to come [to Tonajuyu].” -Albertina

Wilfred recorded a part of his conversation (in Spanish) with Albertina which you can see below: 

Links:

• Wilfred and Albertina talk about CFG's impact on her life

Welcoming our Newest Team Member, Brenda!

Hat sales to Sunshine Tienda have been so successful that we've been able to create a new position especially to manage our budding and growing artisan program. Meet our newest team member, whom we welcome as our new Artisan Program Coordinator! Brenda is a self-made entrepreneur, and we are excited to share with you a little bit about her history of hard work and determination. The fifth of twelve siblings, Brenda was born on April 18, 1994. From an early age, she has had to confront the reality of living with scarce resources to support a large family, but thanks to the hard work of her parents and her own efforts, she was able to study and graduate with a degree in accounting.

Because of the lack of employment opportunities in her community, after graduating at age 18, she traveled to Panama to work as a domestic laborer for one year. As her first work experience outside of the home, the year was an opportunity for Brenda to earn her own money for the first time, and to experience life in another country and culture.

Upon returning home, Brenda had few work prospects and decided to enlist herself in a series of workshops for youth on entrepreneurship and employability, during which a new opportunity emerged to become a caretaker and domestic worker for a family in Guatemala’s capital city, where she worked for five years.

But Brenda did not forget what she had learned in the entrepreneurship workshops, and although she was busy with her work in the capital, she decided to use her weekends to simultaneously pursue her own entrepreneurial endeavor, taking coursework in Cosmetology. Eventually, she began to work as a beautician on weekends to supplement her income.

Brenda and her husband got married in 2020, and now she is four months pregnant with their first child, back in her hometown of Comalapa. She and her husband dream of being able to provide a stable and secure future for their children.

Since joining a CFG Savings and Solidarity Group in 2019, Brenda has not only developed the habit of saving money, she has also taken advantage of every opportunity she could through the program. She is still cultivating the family garden we helped her start last year, and has raised and sold the chickens she received, using the income to purchase more chickens. She and her husband plan to continue to grow their family farm in order to make a business out of it. Brenda has also worked to weave bands for Sunshine Tienda hats, and this has helped her save money in the hopes of being able to construct a home through the FOPAVI program.

Brenda says that being part of CFG has been a blessing in her life, and now as an official member of the team she is grateful for the opportunity to commit herself fully to the work of serving her community.

Let’s welcome Brenda as the new CFG Artisan Program coordinator!

Click below to read our full first quarter report of the successes you are contributing to as part of our Generosity Network.

Links:

• CFG First Quarterly Report - Success Stories