A Glimpse of the Road Ahead

In a few short weeks I will begin working at PROMYPES - la Promoción de las Micro y Pequeñas Empresas (the Promotion of Micro and Small Businesses). Based in Huancayo, PROMYPES is a micro-finance NGO that recently raised approximately $300,000 USD in start-up capital from local private investors. Like other micro-lending organizations, PROMYPES makes loans to those who otherwise would be unable to secure a loan from a traditional bank usually due to a lack of collateral, the small nature of the loan, the inability to comply with the traditional terms of a bank loan and/or illiteracy. Early last week I got a glimpse of my life ahead and was able to spend about five hours at the organization´s office and out in the field talking with potential clients.

My day started off in the office, a brightly colored building that just a month prior was a jardín de niños (kindergarten) and is located only about a block and a half from where I live (who would have thought that my comute would be better than the one in Chicago!?!). I was greated by approximately ten people all about my age... I think... althought 27 here is not what it is at home. I´m constantly asked if I have children (no), am I married (no) and on and on only to receive confused and pitiful looks in response... but that´s another story. Anyway, each person introduced themselves, gave me a kiss on the cheek (which is customary here) and asked me a few questions about myself. We then commenced collectively analyzing the financial statements and proforma of a man who wanted to borrow S/.300 (approximately $120 USD). This lasted for perhaps an hour or two until the group could go no further as they were arguing over how much money should be allocated to the consumption of beer over the course of 8 weeks. It seems as though more questions needed to be asked about the man´s budget that he initially gave us.

The office then broke into teams of two to visit potential clients out in the field. I tagged along with two women to la oficina/casa del zapatero (a shoemaker´s). The shoemaker, his daugher and his two year old granddaughter were living/working together in a one room concrete shelter approximately 20´x 20´. The space was cold and dark with only one window and a door to let in the outside world. One corner of the space was quartered off by sheets draped over a rope. Behind the sheets was the family´s sleeping area and a place for the toddler to play. The rest of the shelter remained quite bare and was filled with only two chairs, a work station that consisted of a sewing machine and long table, and materials - rubber, cloth and glue - piled up in the corners.

During our stay the shoemaker told us about his business: the process and timeline of making a shoe, what everything costs, where he buys his materials, etc. He described these things in great detail while we scribbled notes, facts and figures, and carefully fingered the materials that would soon become part of a sneaker. Then, after a few hours, we left promising to return sometime tomorrow morning.

I´m not sure what happened the next day; if more questions were asked, if PROMYPES analyzed his situation, or if the organization okayed or denied his loan. Either way I feel proud to be part of the process... this new form of banking created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. My half day of job shadowing at PROMYPES resparked my passion for the micro-lending industry and I know at this moment that I´m exactly where I need to be.