Transform The Lives of 5 Entrepreneurs in Colombia

Dear Supporters,

Another rewarding three months have passed here in Medellín! From Together for Colombia and Interactuar HQ we send the hope that all is well with you in your respective lives and countries. It’s wonderful to have support from such a wide range of places and people and I’d like to reiterate our gratitude for all that you have helped us achieve so far!

We have some very exciting news to begin this report with! After working with our 5 disabled entrepreneurs in areas from business administration, to commercialisation, to product development, we are extremely happy to announce that two of the project beneficiaries, Aldemar and Elsa, have been offered formal employment! This is a wonderful achievement and goes to show how your help has enabled them to develop the necessary skills to join the labour force.

Don Aldemar has opened up a franchise business and Doña Elsa now works within a microfranchise administration organisation. Their move to these roles would not have been possible without the business training and psychological and familial support that your donations helped to provide. So from them and us, a huge THANK YOU!!

Today we visited the Asociación Amigos con Calor Humano building in central Medellín. The building, nestled in between brightly coloured houses and local tiendas and cafes, houses a relaxing but vibrant space for people of all ages with disabilities to go and partake in a variety of activities, ranging from art lessons (artwork featured in the photos below) to physiotherapy to psychological support groups.

We caught up with Don Ramon, who’s business of selling homemade cleaning products is going well. Don Ramon suffers from a physical disability that causes him great pain in his spine and that requires him to use a cane. Don Ramon also has a complex family situation whereby he shares his living space with many family members including nieces, nephews, his elderly mother, an aunt and cousins. His products are yet to be formalised and do not have a strong brand image. Both of these factors contribute towards low distribution and sales, as formal stores are unwilling and unable to take more than a handful of products at a time, since they contravene local laws prohibiting the sale of unregistered goods.

Despite Don Ramon having small success selling his goods to neighbours and friends, our aim, with your help, is to formalise Don Ramon’s product selection and give him the opportunity to work with our design team to create a unique brand image and logo. With a registered and well designed product, Don Ramon will be able to widen his distribution network and increase his sales.

We continue to work with Don Oscar, who owns and runs a small shop in Manrique Oriental, on the organisation and layout of his shop. He is an enthusiastic salesman and in the process of expanding his product offering, has lost some sense of organisation. We are working with him to redefine his product placement techniques and to bring back some more order to the shop, which will increase access to and sales of his goods.

We also dropped in to visit Sofia to whom, with your donations, we were able to gift a specialised and unique sewing machine to accommodate for her disability. Sofia and her mother have been enjoying the fruits of the new machine and have been able to increase production and diversify their products. In the coming months we will be working with Sofía on the commercialisation of her product - that with it’s high quality demands a relatively high price, but without brand recognition cannot compete with other well known and well established brands in the market.

Sofía, Ramon, Oscar, Elsa and Aldemar continue to show enthusiasm and tenacity in the face of adversity. They are all wonderful people who deserve the very best, for all the work they put in. With your continuing support, we will be able to further their skills and knowledge, in turn enabling their businesses to flourish and their lives to improve.

We would love to hear from you, so if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via here, our Facebook page Together for Colombia, or via our website.

Again, thank you on behalf of us and on behalf of our beneficiaries. We will be in touch soon!