Adventures in Huancaquito Alto

This week proved to be a busy one, full of visits and a couple of issues to work out. Gloria, who just started a restaurant providing food for field workers of DanPer out of her house in Huancaquito Alto, has been having some trouble with success lately. Last week, they were informed that the workers would no longer be asking for lunches made from them. (It appears that maybe the food wasn't very good one day) This is the only source of income for the restaurant, so we were all very concerned when we heard this.

To help solve the problem, Brad and Matt went to Huancaquito Alto on tuesday to help Edy (an associate of Gloria) try to get the people to their menu. Edy spoke directly with the workers, essentially asking them for a second chance, but more importantly explaining what they would offer that would make their food better than the other option. For example, they are now providing metal utensils instead of plastic. In a moment like this, it was hard for us not to speak up, wanting to vouch for the people we support. But ultimately they are responsible for their own success, and Edy was doing a great job. Luckily things went pretty well. After speaking with several groups and a lot of people, they agreed to order lunch from Gloria's restaurant. We left pretty happy, feeling like things were going to be ok. 

Two days later we did a follow up visit and found out that things didn't go as well as expected. While they still sold a number of lunches, it was only about half of what we expected. Gloria lost money on the day because she prepared more than what was actually asked for. We're still confused as to how this all happened, but it boils down to the fact that there isn't a clear communication between supervisors and Gloria. All of this reinforces the fact that good communication and management are essential to running a successful business. Every country/people is different in how they do things, and that's ok. But a major common denominator to success is clear communication. Observing all of this from an outside perspective provides a great opportunity for each of us interns to learn so that we don't make the same mistakes in the future. Despite everything, we are hopeful for Gloria and their restaurant and are confident that things will work out.

Working on finances with Gloria

While in Huancaquito Alto on our second visit, we had the opportunity to teach english at a local school. Each of us taught two to four classes, ranging in ages 7 to 16. The kids were full of energy and excited to have us there. This will probably become a weekly thing, so we hope to be able to teach better each week. 

Teaching English

Throughout the week we visited a number of different businesses that started through the program. Morgan conducted several awesome interviews of loan recipients from past years. These interviews were neat because we got to hear from several people how their lives have changed through the program. They are all so grateful for having received the opportunity to start their own business through us. Great job Morgan!

This family has successfully run their taxi business. They have payed off their loan and recently moved into a new home. 

September 29th to October 4th

Another week has passed and all is well in Peru! We are having a great time here enjoying a mix of a new work experience and environment as well as a new culture.

As part of DanPer's social responsibility mission, Elena (our boss) has been extremely busy this week helping to coordinate a repair project in a local town where the water canal/bridge broke. We weren't able to attend any of the meetings, but it's interesting to hear about the whole process through Elena. There are several companies (some of them well known, which won't be mentioned) that have some factories on the other side of this bridge where the repair needs to be done. Because of each companies' schedule, including night shifts and frequent truck loading and unloading, it's been difficult to find a time that each will agree to stop traffic in and out of the factories to repair the bridge. Considering how this issue is affecting a local community, it was quite a surprise to learn that most of these companies didn't appear to make a speedier effort to cooperate. Of course we recognize that logistics are difficult, and no one wants to loose money. It's nice to know though that we are partnered with such a great company, DanPer, that looks out for the community and tries to make a positive impact in their lives. After a great deal of work, each company came to an agreement and all will be fixed on sunday night.

Our visits to businesses this week were short but sweet. All is going well with them. With Erik and Ruth, for example, we got to see some of their finished products right before they went out on the market for sale. We are quite impressed with their work! They are very skilled at what they do. Here are some samples:

A shirt Ruth sowed for a customer

A sample of Erik's shoes: These one's look like Mini Mouse's shoes

Another style

The highlight of the week was attending Rossi's grand opening of her beauty salon. We all had a good time there, and enjoyed seeing a look of excitement in Rossi and her now co-workers. As with any project, this was a long awaited day. Opening the business was delayed about a month due to a large inventory purchase and minor construction needs to the building. So as you can imagine, it was a great moment to finally have things up and running.

Attending Rossi's grand opening was a great experience for us, because we got to see a major part of what this program is all about. For a year now, Rossi has been working hard to make this dream come true. Even though we're only here for a third of that process, it's gratifying to see how the program really does make a difference in the lives of those that participate. In Rossi's case we came for the tail end of her business preparation, so now we get to enjoy the transition to an operating business. We look forward to working with her as she does everything to make her business a success!

Christina and Rossi

The local Mayor came to show his support

One of the best parts about being an intern in the fall is that, after a year of preparation, we don't just get to see the businesses start (from the last cycle), but we also get to start a new cycle of students. We're excited to start the classes with a new set of students/program members in two weeks. It's extremely important that they get off to the right start so that they have plenty of time to explore business ideas, research, and prepare. We want all of our participants to have success like those we've talked about in this post!

Last weekend Matt and Molly were fortunate enough to see the annual spring parade. The best part was the unique costumes and dancing.