Reflections

After reading over Mario's last post on Isla de Pascua, there is very little I could say to add on to that. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience. Easter Island was a very interesting mix of both the expected (the moai, of course, lots of hiking, incredibly small town) and unexpected (the amazing beaches, catholic service in espanol/rapa nui, stunning vistas, some of the unfriendly locals, and the incredibly expensive food). I can honestly say that while I have off-roaded before, I've never been the one driving the SUV. And all that takes on a different meaning when you are driving the vehicle about to get stuck in a gigantic mud puddle about 2 1/2 hours walking to the nearest civilization. (although, fortunately, we got unstuck) However, as we've been describing to Daniel (director of Puente Alto AE center) the meaning of baller, I would have to say Isla de Pascua fulfilled every definition of the word.

Our project with the female microentrepreneurs in Puente Alto is also going really well and I have to say that I am getting exactly what I wanted out of it. I came to Santiago and into Accion with the hope of working personally with the microentrepreneurs and talking with them and getting to know more about them. And, I would say interviewing about 10 female microentrepreneurs would fall into that category. I have eaten lunch in their houses, spoke to them about their children and parents, seen them cry when talking about both of the above. In that respect, this project at AE has been an unbelievable experience.

More than that, I am proud of finding a way to help these women. I believe that beyond our interviews, which were cathartic for some of the microentrepreneurs and fun for others, we came up with an idea that achieves all of the goals we had for the project. Having meetings for 6-8 female microentrepreneurs every two weeks provides them with a venue to discuss their businesses and families and problems they may be having with both. It is hard for four gringas to provide Chilean working women with advice on how to better manage their time and resources but other Chilean working women will certainly have insights. And at the first meeting, that is what Katie and Emily witnessed. I am extremely excited for tomorrow's meeting (the second one) and seeing the result of our work in play. (Definitely one of the perks of this project... being witness to the birth and life of our ideas)