November Newsletter

SUCCEEDING BY EXAMPLE

Mercedes Gutierrez has been an Adelante Foundation client for three years. Mercedes is one of the few male clients (out of our current 6,052 clients, 0.6% are men). Mercedes is married and has seven children. He is on his eigth loan and sells produce, such as rice, beans, sugar and bread, depending on the season. He lives 0.9743589743589743

in Las Hortencias, a small town in a very rural part of Intibuca. To make his biweekly payments, Mercedes walks about twenty minutes to catch a bus and rides it for forty minutes to reach the bank in La Esperanza. Despite the long ride, Mercedes and the people in his community remain committed to Adelante because they recognize the significance of this opportunity.

Currently, there are 28 established microfinance institutions in Honduras, most of which serve the urban poor. They rarely aim for clients in rural settings, nor do they aim for clients as poor as Mercedes. Due to the high cost and low margins, very few institutions are willing to work at the poorest level. However, over the past ten years Adelante has proven its commitment to serving the poorest of the poor. Very few of our clients own property or fixed assets they can use as collateral to apply for loans. And in most cases they do not own valuable possessions or have previous business experience. This makes it extremely hard for them to apply and receive loans from other legitimate sources. Before Adelante, no one gave Mercedes an opportunity. We believe in clients like Mercedes because we've proven that it's not the collateral that makes them credit worthy, it's that if given a chance, they will do what is necessary to improve their own lives.

Dilcia Meraz is on her eleventh loan and has been with Adelante for four years. She started a small business selling ice cream products in her house and now has a prosperous business, where she employs eight men. When asked why she has been with Adelante for so long, she says "What I most like about Adelante is that they don't take things from us. Other institutions are ready to take your home or car or refrigerator, even if it's only one payment we are late on. Adelante isn't like that. They work with us, help us fix the problem, or refinance the loan." She is very thankful for the opportunity Adelante gave her and says she always makes her payments on time because she wants to have Adelante's doors open for more opportunities.

We are proud to have clients like Mercedes and Dilcia because they are proof that access to financial services is all they needed. Neither of them had previous business experience nor fixed assets they could use as collateral for loans. But Adelante gave them an opportunity and they put hard work, discipline, unity and courage into their business and today are prosperous leaders in their community.