Spring 2014 Week 9

3/17/2014 

This week we visited some of the locations of the students we are currently working with.  Last Monday we headed out to Porvenir to see the workshop of Erick, a student makes shoe for young girls.  We are very impressed with his work, and hope he will be able to receive a loan to improve his work situation.  He needs some machinery to accelerate the shoe-making process, and so he will not have to outsource some of the processes that could be done in-house.   

On Tuesday we headed out to visit the potential future location for Rossi's spa.  She lives out in Laredo, which is about a fourth minute ride in a combi from Trujillo's center.  Her location seems great for her business; it is located on a corner on one of the two main avenues in Laredo.  We walked a couple blocks with her to see the nearest barber shops, which would be competition to her.  She will be, however, offering many more services than just haircuts; the nearest spa with similar services is located about six blocks away from her.  We are still adjusting her finances to help her make it work; most of the students want a lot more than they can afford to start off, so we teach them to start small, and reinvest into their business over time. 

We finally made it out to the famous bakery in Huancaquito Bajo.  One of the original partners recently stopped working for the bakery, so the work is divided among the three remaining partners.  They rotate shifts, as the person running the bakery had to work through the night.  It will be more work for them now, but they will be earning more per person.  The 28th of this month marks the 5th anniversary of the bakery's opening.   

Juan Carlo's Bakery

The bakery's oven.

We visited a business that has finished paying off the loan. It is a little juice shop in a market at the center of Trujillo. She has been doing very well with her business. She has built up a clientele that helps her sell everything she plans each day. We had a juice of pineapple, papaya, and cantaloupe which was delicious. Her business is as busy as possible at the moment with the location she is at. She would like to find a bigger space so she can offer more products but until then she is doing well and most of the time doesn't have to work because she hires someone to work most of the day. 

On Thursday we were able to finally get a tour of the Danper plant. We saw how they sort the asparagus and bottle them. It's a neat process with a lot of workers. Danper sends asparagus all over the world and it is a great opportunity to work with this business here in Peru. 

Visit to the Jugueria