Fundación Paraguaya

Well, I lied. That doesn’t get me off to a very good start, does it? I said I was going to tell you what I’ll be doing in Paraguay this time, but I’m not. Seeing as they haven’t told me exactly what I’ll be doing yet, I’d be hard pressed to tell you. But in the meantime, I’ll tell you what I do know.

I will be working with an organization called Fundacion Paraguaya. They are a field partner of Kiva, another great organization that I have been involved with by means of investments for the past couple years. Fundación Paraguaya is primarily a microfinance institution, but also has programs in public health and agricultural and entrepreneurial education. I suspect I will be working mainly with microfinance, but I’m hoping I’ll actually get to do some work in each sector, just to diversify my experience.

Microfinance is just what it sounds like--financing, but on a micro level. So, in general, it often provides small (seriously, small--$50-$2000) to individuals in the developing world to allow them to earn a livelihood and become self-sufficient. People can do things like buy a sewing machine to run a tailoring business out of their homes, or use the money to buy more capital to allow them to expand an existing small business they have, like running a grocery store or restaurant out of the front of their homes. If you're curious about the things people do with this money I strongly suggest looking at the Kiva website I've posted above and clicking on the "lend" button at the top to see the kinds of people who receive this money around the world. I'm sure you've heard the quote "give a man a fish and you feed him for today; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." That's kind of what microfinance is like. It allows people to truly develop a means to take care of themselves and become self-sufficient in ways that other types of aid don’t. Microfinance has tended to benefit and empower women more than men, often because women are the ones who are otherwise unable to receive financing from the more common sources, and are apparently also more responsible with the funds they do receive, though men are certainly recipients as well.

This is something I'm passionate about and am really excited and grateful for the opportunity to learn more about it, witness it firsthand, and become personally involved.

On an unrelated note, I got over 400 dollars of vaccinations earlier this week, and therefore felt like someone had punched me in the arm for a few days. My passport is also currently in the possession of the United States Postal Service. Terrifying? Yes. But it’s on its way to the Embassy of Paraguay in Washington D.C. for my visa! So it’s worth it.

Also, sorry this is so very wordy…it will get more interesting and even have pictures once I actually get to Paraguay! Imagine that.