There are ten groups of artisans who crochet, weave, tailor and embroider products- some groups only specialize in one area, while some of the more advanced groups specialize in more than one area. There are about 130 women all together, most of whom are illiterate / have not had much schooling, so that makes the whole "teaching business concepts" on my end of the deal that much more of a challenge... not to mention the language barrier (because most of the ladies have not gone to school, they have a poor level of Spanish- worse than mine ;-P). But they are all very lovely women who are very good at what they do... but they just don't "get" the business aspect of things.
The way the artisan component of AMMID works: they get funding from an outside organization for specific projects, workshops and outings (for certain groups of women to be able to see what other groups of other organizations from different parts of the country are doing and how they work).
The problem with the funding for the workshops is that the four intermediate groups receive funding (capital) for materials to make products. The idea behind this is that they will practice making specific products and designs, which they will then sell, keep the product for themselves and reinvest the capital (given by the donor organization) to purchase new materials, so they can keep on making products to sell, and continue to reinvest the base capital in new materials each and every time they sell their finished product.
Fíjense que, the women are not doing that- instead of reinvesting, they are keeping the capital (to buy whatever- food, clothing, etc.- they see it as a donation to them, for some reason) and wait for the next workshop to come around for them to get new capital for new materials, and it keeps going through this vicious cycle.
This is a huge error on part of AMMID, which I am trying to rectify. We just had our monthly meeting two weeks ago, and I am working on a micro-credit proposal plan. AMMID's funding will end in December 2011, and currently they are desperately searching for new future funders (which I am also helping them with- creating a blog and Facebook page explaining what AMMID is with Chico, the guy in charge of this project).
The way I see it (and I have told them this), is that if they don't have more control over the capital given by the donor organizations, they they will not receive funding from other future organizations (who will basically view them as being irresponsible with the previous funding).
AMMID's argument has been that if they do implement a micro-credit program, they they will lose a lot of the artisan members- well, if that's so, then at least the ones who are willing to do it the correct way will be the most successful in the end.
I am really pushing for this because the way it is right now is not sustainable, it's not being handled like a business, nor is it an ethical way they are handling the donor's money. I think they are just afraid they will lose numbers, but are not looking at the long-term affects, which I am trying to showcase.
It's quite a challenging situation, but it really is something that needs to be done if they want to continue on in the years to come. The idea would be to create an administrative change within the organization itself (more control of the donor money), which would need to be approved by the board of directors of AMMID, and then also do charlas, or "talks," to each group of artisans about the issue-related business concepts, i.e., how the entire process is administrated, reinvesting, repaying on time, cost of production, etc., for them to see why this would be beneficial for all parties involved, themselves included.
Time to go put on my game face.
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2 comments:
Hi Barbara,
This is a problem of cultural transformation. Here in USA, one thinks about the future and writes about the past. Just read your blog. In this blog, your challenge is to finish on time this project.You are thinking in terms of the future.
This community of women or men thinks about here and now. Their problem is how to satisfy their everyday needs (i.e., food).
It seems to me that they will follow the business model if you talk to them in terms of satisfying their current needs instead of profit. Profit is about the future.
For some people in that community, profit might be heresy. Just think about their historical background from 1953 to the present. You will find some ideas there. I love your challenge now!
Take care,
Dr. Paulino
I agree. I was on the board of a micro-lending for women institution a year ago, and micro-lending works. It works, as long as the women keep getting workshops on opening bank accounts, basic account balancing, etc. The ones more likely to be able to manage her business in a sustainable way organize into cooperatives and make it. It is also good to make them into groups, with one of the women selected by the others to make sure that each woman is balancing her accounts, making her portion of the payment, etc. Peer pressure works better than top-to-bottom pressure. Unfortunately yes, some women artisans don't have what it takes at that given point in time, and drop out. They can join later, when they figure it out and get their act together. Sounds like a wonderful program what you have there. Good luck!
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