Honey Project
The Coffee Trust continues to match CopiChajulense (the honey cooperative) with an efficient beehive project in which, hive for hive, The Coffee Trust matches CopiChajulense's purchase of more efficient hives. 180 hives have already been distributed, with another 180 currently being built. These improved beehives should result in greater honey production. Our training for the beekeepers to effectively respond to the challenges of working with bees in a changing climate continues through Edgar, a designated trainer within the cooperative.
Women's Microcredit
The women's microcredit program now exists as two organizations: the original Association and a Cooperative. The Association continues to give small loans (up to $300) to individuals who are part of a larger group (25 or so). Loans are issued without collateral from the individual borrowers, but each group is collectively responsible for all individual loans. The new Cooperative offers larger loans to individuals who have proven to have excellent repayment records in the original credit program.
Adding a second organization with a different loan system is challenging. The Coffee Trust hired Walter Hillerman, a consultant to help the women supervise their fast-growing program. The women are now paying Walter on their own. We have also hired a second consultant, Jorge Recinos, to help advise the women on managing two organizations, focusing on operations, roles, and responsibilities. Jorge meets with the women for one week each month, and then reports back to Paula and Pepe, our team in Guatemala, to review his work. These consultants have served to stabilize the dramatic growth of the program. As always, we provide a number of different resources to the program and provide assistance while the organization makes its own decisions.
Education
We are currently providing scholarships for 4 Ixil students. Rosa Caba (top left) is in her last semester of the Public Accounting and Auditing program at Mariano Gálvez University. She has been applying her knowledge as the General Accountant for the Chajulense Women's Cooperative. Rufina Xinic (top right) is studying for a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Mariano Gálvez University. She is also working for the Chajulense Women's Cooperative, registering payments and monitoring the loan portfolio. Rosalia Gonzalez (bottom left) is studying Social Work at Mariano Gálvez University, and is also the director of Visión Guatemala (learn more about the organization below). Diego Hernandez (bottom right) is studying Political and Social Sciences at Rafael Landívar university. Diego is a Knowledge Management Promoter at Visión Guatemala, collecting information that shows the impact of the program on the participating women and their families.
Visión Guatemala
Visión Guatemala is a new organization in San Juan La Laguna, one of the villages surrounding Lake Atitlan. They have a women-centered approach to development, and are interested in learning from the Chajulense Women's Microcredit program. They have visited the program and are being guided by Paula in developing their own microcredit program.
Read Bill's recent article published in Coffee Talk Magazine here: Ensuring Sustainability: A People-Centered Partnership (on Page 12)