Jorgeñitas Group

The women of the Jorgeñitas group come from the beautiful town of San Jorge la Laguna, a town located at the edges of the beautiful lake of Atitlán. These women reflect at first sight a confidence that calls your attention, so that while conducting the interview I was discovering the reason for this confidence.

The great majority are artisans and they work making necklaces of jewels. They produce beautiful earrings, bracelets, and necklaces with pearlites imported from the Czech Republic. Some say that this art of making necklaces was imported to lake Atitlán by European artisans several decades ago. There are also women who invest their capital in small convenience stores and knitting machines. They buy thread to create beautiful Guatemalan embroidered dresses and traditional blouses.

When the artisans begin to share how they are going to invest their loans one can realize the dimension of their businesses. The jewelers revealed that with the loan that they are going to receive they were going to buy the materials for the necklaces by the kilogram, while the great majority of artisans buy the materials for necklaces by the ounce. This reflects that they are in a little more advanced phase of business development, since the quantity of commodity that they are going to buy is a lot greater than that of the majority of artisans around la Laguna.

The Jorgeñitas have been working with Friendship Bridge for more than a year and they have benefited from the training given by the loan agents. The women commented that they were interested a lot in the themes of saving money, natural medicine and especially family planning. They mentioned what a large impact it had on them to know that a woman is able and has the authority to plan the size of her family.

Also they mentioned that they like to work with microfinance institutions, especially with Friendship Bridge, because they ask few requirements, the disbursements are fast and they help them with their business. If you contribute to the success of these artisans then they are going to be able to continue developing their qualities as businesswomen and artisans.

Translated from Spanish by B, Kiva Volunteer.

Las mujeres del grupo Jorgeñitas provienen del bello pueblo de San Jorge la Laguna. Un pueblo ubicado a las orillas del hermoso lago de Atitlán. Estas mujeres reflejan a primera vista una confianza que llama la atención, conforme fue transcurriendo la entrevista fui descubriendo el porque de esta confianza.

La gran mayoría son artesanas y trabajan elaborando joyas de mostacilla. Ellas producen hermosos aretes, brazaletes, collares con perlitas de mostacillas importadas de la República Checa. Algunos dicen que este arte de la mostacilla fue importado al lago Atitlán por artesanos Europeos hace ya varias décadas. También se encuentran mujeres que invierten su capital en pequeñas tiendas de conveniencia y tejedoras que compran hilo para elaborar bellos huipiles Guatemaltecos, blusas tradicionales.

Cuando las artesanas empezaron a compartir en que van a invertir su crédito uno se puede dar cuenta de la dimensión de su empresa. Las joyeras revelaron que con el préstamo que van a recibir iban a comprar las bolsas de mostacilla por kilo, mientras la gran mayoría de artesanas compran la mostacilla por onzas. Esto refleja que ellas están en una etapa de desarrollo empresarial un poco más avanzada, ya que la cantidad de materia prima que van a comprar es mucho mayor al de la mayoría de artesanas alrededor de la laguna.

Las Jorgeñitas han venido trabajando con Friendship Bridge por más de un año y se han beneficiado con las capacitaciones impartidas por las agentes de crédito. Las mujeres comentaban que a ellas les interesaron mucho los temas de ahorro del dinero, medicina natural y especialmente planificación familiar. Ellas mencionaron que les causó un impacto grande el hecho de conocer que una mujer puede y tiene la autorización de planificar el tamaño de su familia.

También mencionaron que les gusta trabajar con las instituciones de microfinanzas, especialmente con Friendship Bridge porque piden pocos requisitos, los desembolsos son rápidos y las ayudan con sus negocios. Si ustedes contribuyen con el éxito de estas artesanas entonces ellas van a poder seguir desarrollando sus cualidades como empresarias y artesanas.


About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more