Saludos desde Guatemala!
I'm now arrived in Guatemala City, and thought I'd give a little update on the final days in Nicaragua to those who have been following the adventures. Given the positive feedback on the photo documentary format, I'm going to stick with that for now..... Heres a little snapshot of the past week....
Pictured here is a Prisma borrower in Managua who prints t-shirts to supplement his primary income streams. His workshop is completely facinating~ a 2 story establishment complete with a graphic design studio, a hamburger shop (in-the-making..), office area, packing room, and dusty art space filled with interesting gadgets such as the one pictured here. To print a shirt he paints a different color on each of the placards, and then spins the machine around and stamps the designs onto the shirt in carefully-calculated proportions. Completely cool!
Here I am with a borrower of MiCredito, an organization that we have been in discussions with about a potential partnership. We're lucky to have been able to capture so much light in the photo as there was no electricity in this borrower's workshop. For many months now, Nicaragua has faced an energy crisis which has forced the power supply companies to implement rolling blackouts throughout the country. In this region, the electricity is out from 2pm to 7pm each day....tough on big business and even tougher on hard-working microentrepreneurs who rely on small profits to feed their families and themselves. Because of the crisis, this woman begins work at 4 in the morning, so that she can complete a days order of garmets before 2 o'clock hits. And this has been going on each day for over 1/2 a year now....phew.
A beautiful photo of a painting at a local art gallery. I love how this painter really captures the true spirit of Central America
A rare peek at a Guatemala City barrio from above. I took this one from the window of the airplane as we were about to touch down at the airport. These are the neighborhoods that the potential partners I'll be talking to in the next few days serve...the excluded populations that are so easy to just forget about when staring out at the cityscape from the glassy windows of this city's thriving center...the face of urban poverty.
Hangin' with some of the MIFEX Ecuador staff in the airport...Robert and Esther, a completely fun and delightful team!
The palace that the Sandanistas stormed when the finally took power from Somoza after his years of ruling the country with an "iron fist." Note the HUGE poster keeping the revolutionary spirit alive....
Hope you've enjoyed the photos!!!
:) Michelle
