Home and Reflections...

We're back in the states...We've been back since April 6th, but life has been crazy with a conference for my MBA and then family reunion in San Diego...It's good to be home.

I've been thinking about what we accomplished over the three months. It's nice to look back and realize it was all worth it. Here's and abbreviated list:

1. We provided desks for 30 students and whiteboards for 2 classrooms due to generous donations from a family who supports a non-profit each year at Christmas time. What a wonderful Christmas tradition!

2. We restructured the organization by creating teams of teachers. These teams meet on a regular basis to discuss issues that need to be resolved. They have increased responsibility and increased authority to solve their own problems (an extreme example of this was when one team decided that a member needed to be fired because he wasn't pulling his own weight after repeated warnings. This never would have happened before). The teachers like the arrangement much better because they have much more say over their own work. It has also greatly reduced the amount of time Berly spends on small issues that she really shouldn't need to deal with. With some of her time freed up we were able to focus on other issues.

3. We created a financial system for the school. Berly had never been involved in the finances of the school (which was highly problematic). Financial information had never been used to make decisions. During this trip Berly spent weeks going through the numbers for the first time. It was a difficult, but highly rewarding learning process for her. We then created a system that will allow her to keep much tighter control of the numbers in the future. Already it has made several thousand US dollars difference in losses that have been avoided and increased tuition collections. Over the long haul this will allow the school to function much more efficiently and effectively and ultimately help many more children.

4. We clarified our plans for the future. We still want to build a bigger school to accommodate more students (the end goal would be somewhere around 1000). But now we have a better plan for how to get there. First the school has to prove that it is financially viable on a small scale. In years past the school has had to take out loans to cover losses. With increased financial responsibility we hope to see the school become profitable over the next 2 years. Once the school proves it can be profitable, we will start looking for loans to fund expansion. We would prefer a loan to a grant because it will keep accountability high and allow that same money to be used for other good causes in the future. We will still have to find some sort of social group to make the loan because the school won't qualify for a commercial loan, but we do believe that with a reasonable interest rate (5-6%) the project could be viable. The total cost of the first phase of the project will be around $500,000 USD. This would be enough to purchase land, pay all legal fees and construct a building to accommodate around 500 students.

This project has certainly been a wonderful experience. We are excited to continue our relationship with Liceo Cientifico Cumorah and hope to continue to make a real difference in Guatemala City. I will continue to update the blog from time to time to tell how things are going. If you have any questions/comments please feel free to write me directly at sutterswim@yahoo.com.

Nebaj

Nebaj

The last two days I caught a ride with a friend up to Quiche and then took a bus to Nebaj, a bustling but small town in the middle of the Ixil Triangle. Teresa and Halle stayed behind, as the 7 hour trip two days in a row would have been a bit much. The scenery was idyllic and the atmosphere lively. I went to go do some interviews for some research I’m involved in and I was able to finish what I needed to on Wednesday afternoon, not too long after arriving. I took the evening to wander the small town, sit in the main plaza, people watch and then go to bed. In the morning I went running down a dirt road to a spectacular waterfall (my pictures just don’t do it

justice). It was so nice to be in a place where I didn’t have to look over my shoulder and worry about being shot/robbed/kidnapped/blackmailed/etc. After my run I wandered the market, which was incredibly crowded and interesting. Most transactions were taking place in Ixil, the local language. The women all wore traditional clothing with beautiful green cloth woven in their hair. On the way home we stopped at some old ruins. All in all it was a nice reminder of what Guatemala has to offer.

In Nebaj, I interviewed someone from Soluciones Comunitarias, an organization that I greatly respect. (You can google them; they have a good webpage). They are a for-profit organization that is partially subsidized by Community Enterprise Solutions, an American non-profit. They sell reading glasses, water purifiers, seeds, stoves that use less wood and other items that have profound impacts on quality of life for people in rural areas. They work with local women, who become “microentrepreneurs” taking these products to people in far-flung regions of Guatemala. By using local women they gain access to the local language and knowledge. I like that they charge for the products. I think this is very important for several reasons.

1. People who buy the products really need and value what they are getting. This, in contrast to NGOs who just give things away. (For example the Canadian doctors who gave eye exams and then gave away glasses, only to find broken glasses left on the roadside a few blocks away).
2. By being for-profit they are creating employment for local women. Even if the women leave SolCom, they take the training and self-confidence they have gained. While intangible, I think this is invaluable.
3. The organization is much more accountable for funds because they are counting every Quetzal, trying to attain sustainability.
4. A model that doesn’t rely on donations is much more likely to be scalable (growth potential is much higher).

Overall, a wonderful trip. I hope to go back someday…and maybe do one of the backpacking trips from Nebaj through the Cuchumatanes to Todos Santos…

Response to a comment

Another bus driver dead. I got a ride to the school this morning and there was quite a bit of traffic. We finally passed a bus that was surrounded by an ambulance and police. There was a large pool of bright red blood on the pavement. The driver had been shot and killed, probably for not paying his "war taxes" to the gangs, or maybe for resisting a robbery. It was the route that I ride to the school. I'm going to try to ride the bus less. On a happier note, we visited lake Atitlan last week. The picture of the cute kids is from Panajachel.

I got a great question/comment on the last post. I wanted to respond because I think it raises some crucial issues to things that I haven't figured out. I'm especially interested in these questions because I'm trying to figure what ProGuate (our non-profit) should look like and what it should do. If you have a thought/idea/etc. please leave a comment. I'm interested in generating ideas. Derek asked what I thought about the role of subsidies and charity in education. Here is the email I wrote to Derek in response.

As for the questions--the easy one first. We'll be here until April 6. Now the hard one...subsidies for education. I have no idea what the answer is. I don't oppose a free education from the student standpoint. I don't see dependency as an issue for studnets--they are working hard to learn. I wish the government here were able to provide a quality free education for all students. That just isn't the reality.

The problem I see is that the schools and their administrators become dependent on outside subsidies. I've met too many school directors here who believe that if they could just get sponsorships from the USA for students, then all their problems would be solved. While everyone, without exception, has had fantastic intentions and generally very good educational skills, the business and organizational end is generally in very poor shape. Educators here (or in the US for that matter) are never trained to run a large business, which is essentially what they are doing. Subsidies to their operations often just allow them to continue poor practices. I'm not saying that sponsorships are always bad, or should never be used; I'm just concerned about which institutions receive them and how they efficient that institution really is. Are they really using their resources effectively? How far are the donated dollars really going?
Two other issues arise. One is the long-term instability of subsidies as a source of funding. Donors can be fickle and if a school is overly reliant on donors as a source of funding, problems can arise.

The other issue is only a problem if you are worried about scale. At the end of the day, even if every person in Utah sponsored a Guatemalan student, there wouldn't be enough sponsors to cover them all. When you look at the number of people who live at the "bottom of the pyramid" you realize that those in the developing world far outnumber their wealthy counterparts. There just isn't enough charity money out there to empirically make much of a difference. Like the starfish anecdote, this doesn't mean we shouldn't donate or make a difference in the life of one person where we can. But philosophically, I'm more attracted to financially viable solutions because the potential to scale them is much greater (think microcredit).

So, is there a financially sustainable solution for education in Guatemala? Is there a way to use subsidies and donations effectively without creating dependencies? Are there times when we should take off our financial glasses and just open our wallet? I hope the answer is yes to all these questions.

Sorry for being long-winded. I look forward to discussing this more.

Chris

sustainability or pollo campero

The other day I was sitting in front of Pollo Campero (think Guatemalan KFC), waiting for a ride. A little girl came and asked for a coin. I didn't have one. She sat down and I started talking to her. Ten years old. Not in school. Doesn't know the alphabet. Never been inside a Pollo Campero. Her twenty-year-old tatooed sister with two children sat, begging, about 15 yards away. I invited them all in for a chicken dinner. Did it fix anything? No. Did it create dependency? Maybe. Did it reinforce begging? Probably. Was it the right thing to do?

Sustainability is the hot issue in the development world. Can the project sustain itself? Is it financially viable? Is it scalable? Is it profitable? What's the effect on the environment? Is it creating dependency? Is it teaching self-sufficiency? All these questions are crucial. There are too many stories of people with wonderful intentions who come and make a mess of things, and then, of course, are the billions of dollars of government interventions which are wasted. In Bangladesh I saw a multi-million dollar fishpond investment standing empty. Some foreign government had sent the money, the project was left half-completed and now stands as a memorial to ill-advised planning. Here in Guatemala we have been told stories about how LDS Church members from rural communities will take off their shoes, dress-up "really cute Lamanite" and go begging every time a Book of Mormon tour bus carrying North Americans rolls into town. I don't fault the rural members...they are doing the most economically rational thing they could possibly do, and their needs are real...but somehow it doesn't seem like the best solution.

On the other hand, solutions such as microcredit (when done well) have proven to be highly effective. The repayment statistics are incredible, the money is given directly to the poor and the capital is used to generate employment. But microcredit is not without its critics. It has been argued that microcredit doesn't reach the poorest of the poor, that MFIs (microfinance institutions) that focus on financial sustainability become as bad as the money lenders they seek to replace (google Compartamos), and that microcredit doesn't really provide a ladder to the formal economy, but instead allows people to eke by. Personally, I don't agree with those critics. I'll admit that mainstream microcredit is probably not a viable solution for the poorest of the poor (crippled beggars, the sick, the elderly, street children) but I don't see why someone would criticize helping a person who makes $2/day instead of $1. We just need to continue to seek out solutions for those microcredit doesn't help currently. As for financial viability--I'm convinced by the scaling argument. If only donor-funded microcredit is "pure" because it charges incredibly low interest rates, we'll never reach the required scale to really help the world's poor. And I do believe in the power of the market to dictate interest rates, especially as more and more MFI's spring up. Finally, the recipients of microcredit may never really grow their businesses beyond subsistance levels, but their children are going to school and the real effects make take a generation to see...

So what does this all have to do with the school? I guess I'm inclined towards the side of financial sustainability. We are making progress right now. We're reviewing the school's finances, we're reworking the organization and we are trying to lay the groundwork to grow the school. We will try to look for the best/most effective ways to use donations. The goal of financial sustainability requires hard decisions...what do you do when a family that is not on scholarship ceases to pay tuition--should they be asked to leave? Should they be allowed to enroll indefinately just because they have a sad story? I think these are cases best judged individually, but certainly there has to be a mix...

I have reflected on my experience here with the school, as well as with the beggars and finally came to some conclusions. On a systemic level, I think you have to push for sustainability (financial and otherwise) to have any real impact. As ProGuate moves forward, I think we will emphasize this more and more. On a personal level, however, I think we have been commanded to give, to succor, to love, without asking questions. So did I do the right thing by buying a chicken lunch for a family of beggars? Maybe not, but I would do it again.

the bus, fear and consequence

Another tri-topic entry. Three days ago a bomb went off on a bus. Nobody knows much, but my guess is that it was the local gangs...One version of the story is that the driver didn't pay his "war taxes." It happened in the city, but on a bus headed for Palencia--a route that I've taken as recently as two weeks ago. Fortunately it was the work of amateurs and while four people ended up gravely injured, no one died. The use of a bomb was new--a scary development in a city already full of bullet holes.

Which leads me to the next topic--fear. Some people here (not all, but many) live in a constant state of fear. Not a rational fear, but a deep, unnerving sense that I think in large part comes from violence that can't be explained. It's one thing to say, "there was a gang related shooting and a gang banger died." As tragic as it is, there is the underlying feeling that there was a reason and that it is explainable, if not predictable. This is the kind of occurence that we point to when we tell our children "be home before midnight" or "don't hang out with the wrong crowd." The implication is that as long as you are good, hang out with the right people, say your prayers and do what is right, you'll be fine. But that's not how it is in Zona 18. Instead, it's violence that can't be explained--good people who for no apparent reason, end up on the nightly news. And it isn't just faceless strangers; it's the neighbors kid or your brother-in-law's best friend. And so people end up afraid--afraid to go out, afraid to speak up, afraid to report crime (this is a MAJOR problem), afraid to live their lives. I do believe, however, that the fear often surpasses the reality. Despite the dangers, I think that often times people give in to fear that is almost irrational. The most widely read newspaper doesn't help--pictures of the dead and dying and those weeping for them. The fear prevents people from acting--from banding together, from reporting crime, from reaching out to others. Every 17 year-old with spikey hair is treated far too seriously. The fear plays into the gangs' hands. Despite the danger of gang violence, I'm sure that far more people die in car wrecks (especially given how people drive around here) and yet no one is traumatized every time they hop in their car. I'm not advocating wrecklessness or bravado--just a different approach. 17 year kids with guns are still just 17 year old kids...Let's deal with the problem without the fear that plays into their hands.

Finally (gosh I'm feeling long-winded) consequences. It's been interesting lately with the school. We've been working on the functioning of teams. It's gone well with some of the groups. Basico teachers (whose students are 13-16) have done especially well. But it hasn't come without cost. Yesterday the group made the decision that one of the teachers needed to be fired. They had worked with this individual for three years, tried multiple times to get this teacher to function as needed and finally last week delivered an ultimatum that he either improve or find work elsewhere. The group was given the responsibility for smooth functioning and given the authority to implement this decision, due to my work here in the school. I spoke with the director and she agreed that it was something that should have happened long ago, but she just never had the heart to fire the guy. I'm glad to see the team take responsibility and make hard decisions. But it also makes me think that change never comes without pain. It makes me think about the consequences (good, bad, painful) of what I'm doing here. There will be sacrifices, but in the end I believe that a greater good will be served.

Motorcycles, Bacteria and Sustainability

It's been a better past week. Everyone seems to be over their illnesses. We had to take my daughter (who turned 1 last week) to a local pediatrition to get her treated for diarrhea. The doc seemed competent, but the location was enough to make you nervous. It was small, dark, dingy and in the middle of a tough part of town. We had to take her because we weren't sure if she had parasites or bacteria...it was bacteria. She's on antibiotics and doing much better.

We also saw a motorcycle rally last week. La Caravana del Zorro. 40,000+ motorcyclists headed to Esquipulas to ask blessings from El Cristo Negro. Pretty cool to see that many motorcycles. We sat on the highway watching for more than an hour before the fumes started getting to us and we headed home.

Work here at the school is making slow progress. I've been able to go through the financials as well as continue work on teamwork and other organizational issues. Looking at everything closely, I really believe that in this location, a for-profit solution is the best answer. There is poverty, but there are also more resources than you would find in a place like Bangladesh or even Quiche (Guatemala). The major issues in this place are related to violence, abuse, lack of opportunity for progress, etc. I really believe in the power of the school to combat these problems. But I also believe that there are enough students who can pay to subsidize those who can't...And I think that with some help on financial management systems, the school will be capable of running on its own. And if they can, then it's better for everyone if they do. In addition, financial sustainability means the possibility to scale...hopefully this school will serve as a model for future schools. There is certainly a lot of work to do, but I'm optimistic.

Some days are like this...

How to begin today? I think you have to experience the desperation of the tangled mess of third world traffic first-hand to really appreciate it. Imagine leaving at 5:00am to try to beat the crowds only to get stuck behind busses belching black smoke and angry honking motorists. Lines of cars constantly wedge into every conceivable space, and your if lane looks clear, you better be prepared for trucks, busses, cars and motorcycles to start flowing right towards you, in the wrong lane. The result for us in the past week has been three minor wrecks and a lot of hand wringing...Some days I wish I was working some kind of project in a forgotten valley somewhere instead of in the heart of the monster that is Guatemala City...

Aside from the traffic, I've downed an entire bottle of Pepto Bismol in the last three days with no end in sight. Fortunately, Teresa and Halle have been spared.

On the bright side, we went to the beach on Saturday, and other than the detail above, it was a fabulous trip.

Again, looking to the positive, the funds that we received prior to the trip have been well utilized. They were used to buy desks for two different classrooms and a whiteboard. This will make a big difference for the children. The faculty and staff are very grateful. Look for pictures soon! (I forgot my camera today). Despite the challenges, it really is wonderful to be here.