I wanted to write about my day with the Fundación En Vía in a separate post to the one I wrote about Oaxaca at the end of last week. I actually ended up staying in Oaxaca a day more than planned because of it. And it was most definitely worth it.

When I first got to Oaxaca, I remembered that, at some point during my trip research, I had read about a non-profit microfinance organisation that operated out of there. After some googling, I found the name of it – Fundación En Vía – and decided it might be worth stopping by and hearing a bit about the work they do. So I did, and I ended up signing up for a trip to visit some of the women they help fund through interest-free microloans. It seemed like a good way to hear more about how this kind of organisation operates and to see, up close, some of the effect it has on local communities. I will always have some reservations about such tours but actually, this one proved my reservations wrong – it felt like a very level playing field, probably in large part due to the way it was set up by the team at En Vía and because the cost of the trip helps fund the loans that get fed back into the businesses of the women they work with.

The day I went on the tour, we went out west of Oaxaca City to meet three women who have set up successful businesses with the help of loans from En Via – one grows plants and herbs (and also recently flowers), one makes soaps and balms and one produces chocolate. After a delicious lunch of broth and chicken mole, they each talked us through the work they do, what materials or items they have spent their loans on and how they sell their products. What struck me more than anything is that these are women who know their craft and who are willing to test new methods and new ideas to improve and expand their businesses. And they are all operating in competitive markets and they do need access to financial means in order to obtain sometimes even the most basic ingredients. The cost of their raw materials fluctuate, nature doesn’t always behave as expected and their scale of production isn’t always easy to adjust to demand.

As an organisation, En Vía started in 2008 and was formally established in 2010. They have provided in excess of 2000 loans and have a default rate of just 1%. People who are interested in receiving loans are asked to team up in groups of three which ensures they have a support system within their community and encourages accountability for repayments. Loans are interest-free and the organisation has a very close relationship with all the women involved in their program and communication plays a major role. I’d encourage people to visit their website (link above) for better details than my notes can provide of how they operate and what they have achieved.

For me, the day was a great eye-opener to different facets of the concept of microloans and microfinance as they operate in Mexico (which notoriously have very high interest rates on loans rather than limited access to credit) and it has given me a lot of food for thought about the type of organisations and projects I have supported via Kiva in the past and how I’ll approach it when I’m back from this trip and once again have a sustainable income and some financial freedom. Until then, I’ve got an e-book full of articles about microfinance that I hope to get through pretty soon and I’ll be looking out for other organisations as I go along so hopefully this won’t be the last I get to meet such awesome women.