Educating Rural Families in Vulnerable Conditions

COMAL Network

 January 14, 2025

Seventh Report for GlobalGiving

 Project Title:

Educating children in conditions of rural vulnerability

 Consistent with our policy of gender justice, the COMAL network continues to promote and facilitate spaces for meetings and reflection spaces where rural and indigenous women can share their experiences and learning to boost their economic initiatives and thus provide for their children’s development and education.

 During this period, the COMAL network convened a gathering of women who are members and managers of local credit unions or revolving funds operations. Most of the participants are single mothers who have generated income for their families through small businesses financed via these alternative systems. In this gathering, the women shared how efficient management of their credit and savings systems allow them to feed and educate their children.

 Main achievements:

 This national meeting was held from October 9through 11, 2024. Thirty women from alternative finance initiatives (savings and credit cooperatives, community banks, revolving funds) and credit banks, community banks, revolving funds) located in the eight regions of the country where the COMAL Network is present participated. In the meeting, participants exchanged experiences and best practices: organizational rules, processes for approval of loans, recovery strategies, formats and charts, tracking instruments, and tools for documentation.

 Additionally, the gathering offered presentations by key speakers: Attorney Heidy Alachán, Deputy Secretary of Justice of the Ministry of Governance, Justice and Decentralization presented statistics and analysis on the situation of Honduran women today and Dr. Leonard Banegas of Consultants in Sustainable Development, CDS, who spoke on the Legal and Political Framework for the Protection of the Rights of Girls and Women. Both presented interesting data that reflect the current conditions and challenges of rural and urban women in the country.

 Participants engaged in dialogue in which 10 alternative finance experiences were discussed. Priority was given to lessons learned in aspects such as the management of interest rates, credit placement and recovery, participation, empowerment and women's self-esteem. Both achievements and challenges were discussed.

On behalf of the women and their families we thank the community of donors who, through GlobalGiving, made this training possible, and in turn the empowerment of women in service of themselves as persons and the families who depend on them.

COMAL Network

September 19, 2024

Sixth Report for GlobalGiving

Project Title: Educating Children in Conditions of Rural Vulnerability

Since its creation, the COMAL Network has promoted and accompanied the community organization of farmers and indigenous people, promoted different social enterprises of production and services, including community stores, collective agro-industry initiatives, basic grains, organization of community granaries with native seeds, coffee and vegetable production, as well as the formation of Rural Savings and Credit Banks (CRACs) at the community and regional level with the participation of agricultural producers. These CRACs are community organizations whose purpose is to promote savings and provide financial assistance in a sustainable manner within the groups formed as cajas.

The pace of economic growth in Honduras has been weak and insufficient to reduce the poverty that affects 74% of its citizens. While progress towards equality between men and women is exceedingly slow, the current panorama reveals that women and youth face the worst conditions of inequality, vulnerability, exclusion and injustice.

Progress to date in guaranteeing the rights and opportunities of women and youth is clearly insufficient. In Honduras, as in the rest of the world, women earn less than men and are concentrated in the lowest paid and most precarious jobs, their contribution to society is not recognized and they are excluded from decision-making processes at the household, local and national levels.

Main achievements:

 During the days of September 04 to 06, the workshop strengthening and development of financial inclusion models for participating producer organizations in the departments of La Paz, Intibuca and Lempira was held. The workshop was held at the ECOSOL training center in Siguatepeque. Thirty-three people participated, including 22 producers who are members of the Cajas de Ahorro y Crédito, 9 members of the technical staff of Red COMAL and 2 members of the technical staff of CRS, who work in the project Caminos hacia la Resiliencia (Pathways to Resilience).

 The objective is to develop basic financial skills in small farmers, especially women, to enable them to have a better understanding of how they use their money, as well as the use of tools that allow them to plan for future income and expenses considering periods of scarcity, thereby strengthening/creating financial resilience.

During the workshop, participants reflected on the importance of financial education and the promotion of the savings habit to face different situations at the family and community level.

 On behalf of the community organizations affiliated to our association, we would like to express our gratitude to the donors who, through GlobalGiving, contribute to improving the living conditions of rural families in Honduras.