Meeting Guatemalan Entrepreneurs
Jose Chamorro Turban and his daughter Mari in front
a few of the shoe molds they use to make shoes.
Photo by Emily Allred
Our two study tour article authors, Lauren Cunningham
and Bob Esser, sharing a light-hearted moment.
Photo by Tim Aldrich
By Lauren Cunningham, WCCN Intern
Participating in WCCN’s Guatemalan study tour afforded the opportunity to meet many interesting and dynamic individuals, such as Willy in Xela. His enthusiasm for his current project, Café R.E.D., made our visit especially memorable. His passion was evident as he described what he hopes Café R.E.D. will achieve and how its creation helped him grapple with his personal history. Willy shared his story with the study group, detailing his experience as a Guatemalan guerilla fighter, US immigrant and worker, and repatriated Guatemalan. Particularly interesting was his comparison of his time in Wisconsin: the Madison he had known as a Guatemalan immigrant not speaking English to the Madison he returned to, after living in Arizona and Texas, as an accomplished chef for Whole Foods.
Willy explained why he returned to Guatemala after so many years in the US and the issues he waded through to make this decision. Understanding similarities of his story to others, Willy wanted to act as a resource for Guatemalans who had been deported or who repatriated like him. He wanted to help them find a niche again in Guatemala. Through Café R.E.D. he employs repatriated and deported Guatemalans as chefs and servers, allowing them to rediscover themselves in their homeland and to realize that life in Guatemala also can afford important opportunities.
Willy’s narrative led to comparisons between his story and WCCN’s work. As a microfinance institution, WCCN lends to borrowers so that they can improve their lives and the lives of others by creating employment opportunities in communities because Guatemalan people, like Willy, know how best to help themselves. Willy’s sentiment also was shared by borrowers of CDRO and ASDIR, partner agencies of WCCN. Meeting with these individuals was a great firsthand experience of how microfinance works and can thrive in rural communities.
Traveling in Totonicapán, we met with CDRO and ASDIR’s boards of directors. After meeting with ASDIR’s board, we visited three microloan recipients. The first borrower we met, Jose Chamorro Turban, used loans to purchase two rubber sole-maker machines and one sole-threading machine to manufacture his “Daisy” shoe line, named after one of his daughters. He also purchased a machine for a daughter who was manufacturing shoe parts, which he later bought from her for his own shoe venture. The loans allowed Jose to diversify from making women’s shoes to also manufacturing men’s dress shoes and children’s shoes, selling more goods at market in Totonicapán and increasing the number of his employees to 22.
Willy highlighted the need for commercial and entrepreneurial opportunities in Guatemala to encourage individuals to stay and make their living in-country. The microfinance loans to Jose and others serve the same goal. WCCN and ASDIR help create and grow microenterprises that employ individuals and allow them to earn wages.