Candelaria borrows from Whole Planet Foundation’s microfinance partner Friendship Bridge in the city of Aguacatán, Guatemala. She purchases fabric components such as hand-woven sashes that her mother embroiders, as seen in the foreground of this photograph, then further crafts and assembles her embroideries and huipiles (traditional blouses) in local markets and also online on Facebook! Candelaria is very proud of her work and her business.
When WPF’s J.P. Kloninger visited her, Candelaria gave feedback to our microfinance partner, Friendship Bridge, that it would be helpful to the entrepreneurs in her community to have a field credit officer who speaks the local language, Aguacateco. Aguacateco is one of ten languages in the Guatemalan department of Huehuetenango, where Whole Planet Foundation funds Friendship Bridge’s microloans. She was eager to provide translations of some common terms in Aguateco and helped us better understand the unique challenges microfinance faces in Guatemala’s multilingual culture. WPF’s J.P. Kloninger collected these notes from the field based on his conversation with Candelaria.
Microfinance Partner: Friendship Bridge
We work with Friendship Bridge to reach microentrepreneurs in Guatemala. Friendship Bridge has branch offices all over Guatemala, from Lake Atitlan to Huehuetenango and beyond. In addition to microloans, Friendship Bridge staff in the field administer adult education and health services to the clients they serve.