Pictures below are mostly of my travels in the area near Guayaquil last week. My time there was spent visiting rural banks, interviewing FINCA clients, oh, and hitch hiking. I’ve never even considered hitch hiking in the US, but it’s becoming a part of my, if not daily then certainly weekly, routine. Often we just have no other option. I think my favorite experience so far was catching a ride on the back of a pick up truck filled with recently cut eucalyptus trees. It’s certainly the best way to get good view of the deep valleys and dramatic cliffs that are so prevalent here. What impresses me about Ecuador is that they actually have roads that go just about everywhere…however, transportation without your own car is in short supply as you can tell.
I’ve been interviewing FINCA clients as well as people in communities where FINCA doesn’t operate, about what they think they need in order to be more successful in their income generating activities. This was going to be part of my thesis, as well as good information for FINCA re new service offerings and client satisfaction… but now that I am down here I am once again getting swept up in the world of Latin American artisans and the thesis plans are changing.
I talked to FINCA Ecuador about the export project that I worked with at FINCA Peru a few years back (see blog entries from Oct – December 2006). I proposed that I write up a business plan to assess the feasibility of replicating that project here in Ecuador, and they liked the idea. Sooo…they’re sending me to Peru next week in order to investigate the project’s progress. I couldn´t be more excited about doing this. The artisan products here are amazing, and so many people work in this area - but they hardly make any money as they sell to intermediaries who sell in the tourist markets here...the artists don´t even have access to booths in these markets as they operate with some convoluted system that only providing booths to the wealthier merchants (which is a system that I have not yet been able to fully understand, nor does it seem that many people here do.) I think that this type of project could have a real impact on the lives of the artisans here. It´s funny how things have come full cirlce since I first started in on these Latin America adventures 2 years ago!
When I get back from Peru (Megan will be here then!) I will be mostly talking with Artisans about what they think a fair price for their goods is, how much they currently make, what their supply chain looks like…and what their capacity and willingness is to adapt their products to the global market.
And that should keep me busy for some time now! So, all in all, things are going well. I like this little city, but am looking forward to the last semester in Medford as well, which is a nice feeling. I hope everyone reading this is doing well!
Besos (kisses)
-Amanda
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