My second Report
2nd Report of Santiago Massano Itiúba 2009
After a little more than one month here we finally started constructing the vegetable gardens. Our project is out of money but I got a donation from one friend, Anna, from USA so that help us to but the material for the gardens.
Yesterday we started with that. Is a really heavy work, the soil is almost like rock and the sun is very strong, but is wonderful to feel that you are rally helping a family.
We did just two gardens that took us almost 7 hours. The families helped us a lot, and they offer us something to drink and eat while we were working. There are not too many families wanting a garden, but those that wants, really wants.
The money I got from donation is enough but I thought we can do much more with that money if instead of giving it for free we start a micro credit project.
Most of the families here have no fence for the garden and they have no money to buy it. The fence is really necessary because here most of the families have chickens and those animals can destroy the garden if there is no fence. So, that is why we bought the fence but we don’t give that for free for the families, we gave them the fence as a loan to be paid in several months.
We did a meeting with all our families before starting and we ask them who wanted a vegetable garden, who can manage to find a fence and who need a micro credit for the fence.
The rules for the micro credit are very simple:
- the minimal amount a family can pay each month is 3 Reais (like U$S1,5)
- they choose if they want to pay the minimal amount or a higher one (and so, they decide in how many parts they will pay the debt)
- If they don’t pay the only consequence is that they can’t get another micro credit.
- If they don’t have money to pay one moth they can pay next month.
- There is NO interest charge for any reason.
After the meeting we had 15 families that wanted a vegetable garden, 10 of them need a micro credit.
We did too two community actions in order to clean the feel where the free market is going to be established. It was a success; more than 24 families were working on it.
Next Friday we have another community action to dig a whole to find water. They already have a water whole but is drying so they need a new one. This is very important for the community because if not they need to buy the water and spend a lot of money on it.
We are planning to a party for children’s day on 12th October. Is going to be a big party and our responsibility is to find some food donation in the markets.
During next weeks we will still work with the vegetable gardens and with latrines. The latrines are going to be done as a micro credit project too.
The community looks excited about this micro credit project, they seem to understand than in this way the money will stay in the community forever, and so, after a couple of months of paying there will be enough money again to start new projects for the families.
The micro credit assures to that the family has some compromise too with the project, and don’t hit the family economy as every family choose the conditions in which they are going to pay.
This Sunday we are going to another community to collect some material of a group of woman that work with Kraft production. This group is going to apply for a government program but they need to present some multimedia material together with the application form, so I’m going to record a video and take some good pictures to present their work.
I am continuing with the English and computer classes in Itiuba, and with the theater classes and English classes in Cacimbas.
Now the dry is coming and so the problems appear in the community. For example the running water is not coming during the days, the water supplies on the fields are getting dry, and the animals are running out of food.
Thanks to our headmaster in IICD Michigan we receive our allowance and money to buy table and chairs so now the things are getting better for us.
The project has not that luck, our project is still without money and so the project leader had give holidays for everybody next week because there is even no money for gas. Even though he is still fighting to run the project even with nothing, and we are in that fight too. Now we are making the difference, Cacimbas is the only area with money to start new projects and so we are working as hard as possible.
I want to give a special THANKS to Anna for the donation she gave us and to Trine for the help she is giving here.
