Our partnership with Plan began in June 2005 with our support of school vegetable gardens in Bima, Indonesia (you can read more about that here). We really liked the way the project mirrored our concerns about growing safe, organic and nutritious food and how it involved enthusing and teaching young people about healthy diets.
This year we are funding two of their projects, one in India and this one in Guatemala providing Micro-Finance Plus Services.
Three decades of civil war between the army and leftist Mayan insurgents have left their mark on Guatemala; the conflict ended in 1996 but great inequalities have remained, with poverty particularly prevalent in rural, indigenous communities.
According to a report from the UN, a key reason for Guatemala's lack of economic development is failure to access financial services for low income rural families and this is exactly what our partnership with Plan is aiming to target.
It will benefit 5,000 community members of the Verapaces area by specialising and formalising rural microfinance services, whilst providing capacity training in financial and organisational skills.
Founded 70 years ago, Plan is one of the largest child-centred community development organisations in the world, working in 62 countries on projects and initiatives that address the causes of poverty and their consequences for children's lives.
Most of the countries in South America have gone through a relatively rapid development process over the past decade. However, the persistence of high inequalities in income distribution continue to affect the development and welfare of children.
Plan Guatemala are working in partnership with FONDESOL on this programme, who have been working in this area of rural Guatemala for 8 years and are most aware of why projects like this one are so very important.
Our funding began in March 2007 and is supporting approximately 5,000 community members in the Verapaces area (mainly 
Queqchi) with Micro-Finance Plus Services. Essentially this integrates associated social services such as education, health, food security and child protection.
More specifically, it aims to support financial schemes and develop business literacy in order to provide training for this.
A village banking programme, including basic training, is currently covered in 134 communities. The next step for early 2008 will be to integrate a Micro-Finance Plus Services programme which will compliment the development achieved in the first stage.
Objectives update: September '07
Since the project began, we are delighted to report that excellent progress has been made and work is running smoothly and to schedule.
Following an additional review of the demand for enhanced rural financial services, the project has been expanded to include two further local banks. FONDESOL h
ave undertaken to absorb any additional costs that may arise from this.
To date:
- Seven rural banks have been established.
- The seven banks' management committees and the local community groups have received training in financial management.
- Regular community group meetings have been held to foster and maintain a robust sense of ownership and involvement.
- 150 people have been provided with small loans, at an average of US$162 each.
- 126 have been women - 84%, which is well above the projected target of 75%. This particular emphasis on female community members has boosted the women's self esteem, earning them a well deserved position of respect within the community. Access to loans has also had the significant benefit of allowing them to generate an additional household income.
The newly trained bank employees are responsible for selecting who should receive loans, deciding upon the amounts to be granted, and identifying the appropriate interest rate and schedule of repayment. It is as a result of this level of integration within the community (and the subsequent appropriateness and sustainability of the loans provided) that the delinquency rate on repayments has remained at 0%.
Those applying for small business loans are known personally to those making the loan, and therefore all decisions made are highly informed, and the agreements reached fully appropriate and mutually beneficial for all involved.
As the communities begin to benefit from the small businesses that have been made possible through the receipt of loans, individuals will become increasingly involved in saving, which in turn will give the banks greater resources with which to make loans, making it possible for the programme to not only be sustained but also expanded.
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