While at the airport’s waiting room, I think back of what I have been through the last days. Different people, different stories, different entrepreneurships: but the same dream of a better life and future for themselves and their families. I think about how because of that first loan, they got wings to become what they are today: empowered people, proud of themselves and willing to continue working hard until they achieve their dreams. At the same time, I also realize that without people and institutions believing in investment for development, this could have never been possible. There has been much achieved, but there is still much to do…
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
To be continued…
While at the airport’s waiting room, I think back of what I have been through the last days. Different people, different stories, different entrepreneurships: but the same dream of a better life and future for themselves and their families. I think about how because of that first loan, they got wings to become what they are today: empowered people, proud of themselves and willing to continue working hard until they achieve their dreams. At the same time, I also realize that without people and institutions believing in investment for development, this could have never been possible. There has been much achieved, but there is still much to do…
Monday, September 22, 2008
Awarding development without borders
It was still half an hour before the event started, but many representatives of our partners were already in the conference room. I recognized the people of CLAEH and Cooperativa Artigas, and met many others. The room was crowded because there were more attendees than expected. Nobody minded standing up during the whole ceremony. This demonstrated their recognition and appreciation to the regional office located in Montevideo, which this year celebrated 25 years of operation in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Central Lanera Uruguaya (CLU) received the Oikocredit Award 2008 for their excellent track record in achieving economic and social improvements for small sheep wool producers – without borders. CLU’s 2000 members belong to 40 cooperatives located in not only the most remote areas of Uruguay, but also in Rio Negro, a province in the centre of Argentinian Patagonia. I learned that CLU developed the Centex brand - high quality Merino wool – which is well-known in the Merino wool trade sector. This brand is exported to Europe, Japan and the USA. Next time I buy a sweater, I will search for one produced with Merino wool of the Centex brand. Let’s hope they have it at the local store!
Central Lanera Uruguaya (CLU) received the Oikocredit Award 2008 for their excellent track record in achieving economic and social improvements for small sheep wool producers – without borders. CLU’s 2000 members belong to 40 cooperatives located in not only the most remote areas of Uruguay, but also in Rio Negro, a province in the centre of Argentinian Patagonia. I learned that CLU developed the Centex brand - high quality Merino wool – which is well-known in the Merino wool trade sector. This brand is exported to Europe, Japan and the USA. Next time I buy a sweater, I will search for one produced with Merino wool of the Centex brand. Let’s hope they have it at the local store!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Go, go... Oikocredit!
The small cottages in Cerro del Toro are very cozy. Built in wood, they look pintoresque in spite of the grey and rainy day. I try to imagine this place in the summer with a lot of people and children playing by the swimming pool. In the large conference room, the Oikocredit delegation – three people from the Uruguayan office and two of us from Dutch office - were warmly welcomed. We sat at a large table, and were introduced to the players of… the Oikocredit wheelchair basketball team!
It was a nice surprise to see these young men wearing a white tee with our logo on. During lunch, it was uncertain if the basketball game will go on as it was still raining. But by the time we finished lunch, rain has stopped. The game can begin!
Some of them move using crutches, others need a wheelchair. We supported “our boys” along the line, and celebrated loudly every basket. The game was intense, and every point was disputed. The players demonstrated their high skills and outstanding physical condition: it demands much energy to play basketball and move with a wheelchair. At the end, the Oikocredit team lost, but it did not matter: everybody had a good time, and we witnessed again how investing in people can make the difference.
It was a nice surprise to see these young men wearing a white tee with our logo on. During lunch, it was uncertain if the basketball game will go on as it was still raining. But by the time we finished lunch, rain has stopped. The game can begin! 
Some of them move using crutches, others need a wheelchair. We supported “our boys” along the line, and celebrated loudly every basket. The game was intense, and every point was disputed. The players demonstrated their high skills and outstanding physical condition: it demands much energy to play basketball and move with a wheelchair. At the end, the Oikocredit team lost, but it did not matter: everybody had a good time, and we witnessed again how investing in people can make the difference.
A new meaning of credit for development
The last visit to a project partner in Uruguay brought me to Cerro del Toro (Bull’s Hill) where Cooperativa Artigas has a recreational complex called “La Colonia” (the Colony). This 2 hectare complex has rooms, small cottages, a pool, and basketball court. Why should a microfinance institution have such a place? The answer is simple: to promote better life quality for their borrowers. Cooperativa Artigas mission does not limit to providing loans, but improving life standards of thei
r borrowers and their families: people with low-income and people with disabilities.
This MFI has a special focus on integrating people with disabilities into society, opening credit lines for two Uruguayan institutions addressing this target group. This is very unique because in Uruguay, as in many developing countries in the world, there is a lack of facilities and programs for these people. In some countries, it goes to the extreme that they are discriminated by society and even by their families.
Like Oikocredit, Cooperativa Artigas invests in people. No wonder the relation between both organizations already dates from 2001, five years before Cooperativa Artigas officially became Oikocredit’s project partner. Credit goes beyond providing a loan, but believing in people and empowering them to continue believing in themselves and in their dreams. Only then does credit bring development and a better quality of life.
r borrowers and their families: people with low-income and people with disabilities.This MFI has a special focus on integrating people with disabilities into society, opening credit lines for two Uruguayan institutions addressing this target group. This is very unique because in Uruguay, as in many developing countries in the world, there is a lack of facilities and programs for these people. In some countries, it goes to the extreme that they are discriminated by society and even by their families.
Like Oikocredit, Cooperativa Artigas invests in people. No wonder the relation between both organizations already dates from 2001, five years before Cooperativa Artigas officially became Oikocredit’s project partner. Credit goes beyond providing a loan, but believing in people and empowering them to continue believing in themselves and in their dreams. Only then does credit bring development and a better quality of life.
When dreams become true
After the ceremony we drove to one of the policlinics where Añece works as volunteer as part of there university education. This time, Sofía Seimur, another third year student, drove along.
Sofía’s dream was becoming a doctor. As she grew older she realized it would be almost impossible for a girl from San Carlos – a city located, 45 minutes by bus from Punta del Este – and from a low-income family to afford studying in Montevideo. But her fate changed. During the last high school year, her biology teacher informed the students that the municipality of Maldonado and CLAEH were offering a full grant to study medicine, which included education and transport. Sofía and three classmates applied, and Sofía got a grant.
From the first year of college, all students are sent to public health centres located in poor areas of Maldonado. For students coming from wealthy families, this is a confronting experience, which helps them to witness first hand what the social side of medicine should be. Students with a scholarship experience the satisfaction to give back to the community the benefit they have received.
Sofía’s dream was becoming a doctor. As she grew older she realized it would be almost impossible for a girl from San Carlos – a city located, 45 minutes by bus from Punta del Este – and from a low-income family to afford studying in Montevideo. But her fate changed. During the last high school year, her biology teacher informed the students that the municipality of Maldonado and CLAEH were offering a full grant to study medicine, which included education and transport. Sofía and three classmates applied, and Sofía got a grant.
From the first year of college, all students are sent to public health centres located in poor areas of Maldonado. For students coming from wealthy families, this is a confronting experience, which helps them to witness first hand what the social side of medicine should be. Students with a scholarship experience the satisfaction to give back to the community the benefit they have received.
The other side of the coin: not everything is shiny and sparkling around Punta del Este
Punta del Este. Wow! I couldn’t believe I was going there. This beachside town, some 100 kms from Montevideo, is the place to be in the summer for the rich and famous from this part of the world. But… what are we going to do in such a place?
The rain and dark sky gave the right scenario to a hidden face of this city: the poverty belt around the summer mansions. Maldonado, a city next to Punta del Este, is the home of many people living in poverty after they emigrated, looking for job opportunities in any of both cities. We arrived to the Centro Latinoamericano de Estudios Humanos (CLAEH, Latin American Center of Human Studies) in Maldonado to attend a ceremony to place the first stone of the new building Oikocredit will support financing.
CLAEH made a statement by decentralizing medical education, not without resistance from other universities. They made this choice for three reasons: to decentralize medical education; to provide access to medical school for students with less resources and living outside Montevideo; and finally, to recover the social side of medicine: helping people without distinction. Oikocredit contributed to finance the implementation of this medicine career. 
Some students granted scholarships attended the ceremony. Among them, Añece Smeding, a third year student, told me that before all medicine students had to study in Montevideo, the capital city. For Añece and her fellow students from outside Montevideo had little resources and it was not affordable due to the economic and social costs.
Añece showed me the large practice room. Next to it there is a cold area where corpses are kept. I did not dare go further than the entrance room. Añece’s enthusiasm revealed she was getting much more than medical education; she was able to share with others what she was achieving during the studies.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Microentrepreneurship and development in Uruguay: who really needs Oikocredit financing?
For the understanding of many living abroad, Uruguay is a country that is not easily linked with poverty or disadvantaged people. Seldom are examples from this land mentioned in the discussions regarding development efforts or poverty alleviation cases. This is far from true, I was told. There is a silent, but broad part of the population that lives under poverty conditions, especially small farmers. According to The World Factbook website, 27.4% of the Uruguayan households live below the poverty line. This brought a new angle to my stay in this country.
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