My First Weeks in Puno, Peru

Hello family and friends!  I’ve arrived in Puno, Peru and have begun my Kiva Fellowship.  Although only two weeks have passed, I have a lot to report so I have categorized the postings below for you to look over as you’d like.  I plan on updating my personal blog throughout my stay, so please take a look as interested. 

Thanks and I hope all is well!

Emily

Arriving in Lima

After a series of rather uneventful flights (how I generally prefer them), I arrived in Lima, Peru on February 11.  Lima is a large, noisy city where it’s extremely important to be aware of your surroundings and your wallet! It has been some time since I’ve visited a large, Latin American city and I was immediately struck by their method of driving!  It’s not a coincidence that it took me over 6 years of studying Spanish before I learned the rather unused word for “traffic lane”.  What they lack in their usage of traffic lanes they seem to make up for in the use of their horns, which I believe act as turning signals, indicators of traffic signs, quite possibly some type of Morris Code and simply a nice way to salute their fellow drivers.  Although I only had one full day in Lima, I was able to meet with the directors of Manuela Ramos/CrediMujer, the MFI that I will be working with, learn more about my projects over the next few months and do a little exploring.           

I’ve Always Depended on the Kindness of (Peruvians?)

While studying in Chile during my senior year in college, I heard that Peruvians were some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.  Luckily, this Chilean theory was proven true to me within my first few days in Peru!  While on the last leg of my flight to Lima, I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me and it wasn’t long before she was offering me a ride to my hotel.  Immediately my molded American mind went straight to Lonely Planet guides’ “what to beware of” and those horror movies that convince Americans that International travel generally results in some type of involvement with the international sex trade.  Despite my best arguments, I was finally about to accept.  Then, I learned that her husband and two small children would be picking her up and realized that my two carry on bags and two large suitcases (yes, all 5 pairs of shoes have been necessary) wouldn’t leave space for her children, so I graciously thanked her and went on my own way.

After missing the opportunity to accept a ride from the woman I met on the plane, I happily accepted to receive a ride to the airport from a taxi driver, who had dropped me at my hostel on my last night in Lima.  Due to technical difficulties with my alarm clock (and mind) my wake up call ended up being the hostel owner, letting me know that my taxi had arrived.  Not only did the taxi driver wait for me to gather my things and myself, but he even gave me a guided tour along the route.

While waiting in line to receive my boarding pass at the airport, I was surprised to hear “Eme-il-eee”, pronounced in the way that only native Spanish speakers can, coming from a nearby crowd.  Sure enough, my name was being called by the Lima hostel owner, who was waving my debit card in the air.  Apparently, in my frantic departure from the hostel, I had left my debit card (although the hotel owner assured me it was his fault J).  After thanking him profusely for driving 45 minutes to the airport just to return my card, I went through security and sat, waiting for my flight and smiling, not at my own stupidity for leaving my source of income within the first 48 hours of my trip, but at the unexpected and much appreciated kindness of people who were already starting to feel less like strangers.

Arriving in Puno

I was able to share a taxi from the Juliaca airport to Puno with a Russian businessman and two American professors, to whom I happily explained that the double yellow line in the middle of the road in Latin America simply offers a friendly suggestion to refrain from passing on your left.  After arriving (safely) in Puno, I checked into my hotel and started my exploring!  Approximately four and a half minutes later, I realized that speed walking and climbing hills at 12,500 feet was going to take some getting used to!

 

"El Campo" in Puno, Peru

 

Puno is a nice town of about 120,000 residents, located on the banks of Lake Titicaca (I’ve researched the origin of the name and although it’s generally agreed upon that it comes from a mix of two native languages, Aymara and Quechwa, I’m not convinced it wasn’t created to mess with English speakers!).  Puno’s center is lined with small plazas and restaurants and thrives with merchants coming to buy and sell at the local Mercado Bella Vista and with fisherman working from the local port.  Puno’s people seem hard working and friendly and its hills are a beautiful shade of green, perhaps due to the fact that it rains virtually everyday from December to March!  However, the rain comes and goes and is often interrupted by a strong sun that feels as if it’s directly above you.  After 2 weeks here I feel as though I’m starting to really know my way around and am excited to dive a little deeper into the culture (this week, a personal goal is for someone I work with to take me to church with her…..I think I’ll leave out that I’m not Catholic!).  I have found a hotel in the town center that has given me a great deal for the remainder of my stay and who’s employees seem to act as a family that I hope I can be a small part of over the next few months.

Working with Manuela Ramos

Manuela Ramos is an organization that was founded in Peru in 1978 and is dedicated to the implementation of programs and projects that advance the rights of Peruvian women.  Their programs include educating women, primarily in the rural areas of Peru, about gender equality, domestic violence, women’s right and environmental awareness.  Twelve years ago, Manuela adopted a Microfinance program, CrediMujer, that assists groups of 15-30 women in coming together, forming a community bank and taking out a loan together that they use for their individual businesses.  These community banks allow women to work together in idea building and sharing, create accountability to repay the loan (if one women defaults then the entire community bank defaults and no woman in this bank may take out another loan) and enables the organization to work more efficiently (the loan officers make visits to the community bank meetings rather than each individuals place of business).  For more about Manuela Ramos click here (for main site in Spanish) and here (for Kiva’s site in English).

My work with this amazing organization and Kiva will be to complete a project on the cost/benefit analysis of Kiva for Manuela and to post “borrower profiles” and “journals” of the women entrepreneurs on Kiva’s website.  The borrower profiles on Kiva’s site offer photos and descriptions of the women entrepreneurs as well as their required loan amount, while the journals act as follow-ups to the Kiva lenders once the loan has been repaid.  In order to complete this work I will be heading out to “el campo” (rural areas) and meeting with women who take out loans of between $100-$1000, primarily to purchase goods to sell in their kiosk at local markets.  Although I’m a little concerned about how open these women will be with me (I’m about a foot taller and 20 shades lighter……I don’t exactly fit in) and there might be a bit of a language barrier (Spanish is obviously my second language, but it is also the second language of many of these women, who primarily speak Aymara or Quechwa), I am thrilled to experience microfinance in a very up close and personal way! Next week, I will go to “el campo” and begin to meet a handful of the women whose lives have been affected, however large or small, by the loans made be regular people just wanting to contribute and by an organization that is committed to making connections, providing complete transparency and furthering sustainable economic growth.

 

Two Entrepreneurs, peeling potatoes for their business

 

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same (for my Team in Training gals!)

The first day on the job here I was able to sit in on a meeting where some Manuela women from Lima introduced a new program of their organization, where they will be addressing issues surrounding gender, physical and sexual violence against women in Peru.  Sitting around a large table, hearing ideas and comments fly back and fourth, I couldn’t help but be reminded of meetings at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and feel at home being surrounded by strong-minded, passionate women!  I love that I was able to make this connection to home amongst the many differences.  For more about this program from Manuela, please visit the Kiva Fellow’s Blog by clicking here.

Manuala Ramos Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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