Give efficient stoves to 100 Guatemalan families

Dear friends,

Andrew (Community Finance Guatemala founder and my husband) and I just returned from our first trip to Guatemala since before the pandemic, and we could not be more enthusiastic to share news from CFG.

When we moved away from Guatemala at the end of 2017, after working persistently for four years to build the program and train its leaders, Andrew left the program in the very capable hands of the dynamic mother-son duo, now-Director Wilfred Sotz and Senior Community Finance Advisor María Son.

What started as a small and under-funded initiative has taken on a life of its own, thanks to Wilfred and María, the rest of our tireless Guatemalan team, the hundreds of women in CFG savings groups, and (not least) to dozens of kind-hearted folks like you who have given to support them. Our local team believes firmly that the families in their communities can be empowered to lead healthier, happier, and more abundant lives, and although these families suffer exploitation and exclusion, they are proving that change is possible.

In 2021, with your help, we:

• Added two new full-time positions, growing our Guatemalan team to 6 people!
• Supported more than 400 members in savings and solidarity groups (a 38% increase from 2020!). These members of 21 groups saved the equivalent of nearly $50,000 and generated more than $10,000 in interest on loans, which gets distributed right back to members.
• Formalized our hat-making venture as a Guatemalan social business called Ixoqi' - Women Weaving Development, creating consistent employment for 80 women (that number has since grown to 100). Ixoqi' made more than 8,000 hats and generated more than $15,000 in income to support CFG, reducing our reliance on donor support.
• Conducted trainings to strengthen our Community Finance Advisors, who gave workshops on financial literacy, family planning, and preventative health to CFG members.

We will not stop here! Our team is developing an expansive vision for what is possible to cultivate together in 2022 and beyond. If you'd like to make sure you don't miss the updates, please send an email to CFGuatemala@gracecares.org; if you send your mailing address too we'll make sure to include you in our annual letter. 

Know that your support makes a difference and that you are present in prayers of gratitude from our team and community members in Guatemala.

Meet Jennifer. She is an aspiring teacher and long time member of her savings group "Mujeres Ahorradoras" (Women Savers). Jennifer had never saved money before joining the program and had little knowledge of financial management. After learning how to manage her personal cash flow and, in particular, strategies to spend less money, she was able to start setting aside money for her future. Having a safe place to put this money, outside of her home, allowed her to not fall into the habit of "borrowing" from her savings and then never paying herself back. 

Encouraged by her family and friends in her savings group she began to save more and more until she was able to pay for her own school supplies. This allowed her to graduate from high school with a teaching degree. Unfortunately, she has not been able to find work as a teacher since graduating. And fortunately, the Community Finance Guatemala artisan business is growing fast and so she has been able to earn an income weaving bands for the business's sun hats (like the one she is wearing in the photo). 

While Jennifer still hopes to become a grade school teacher as soon as she can, she is happy to be working with her friends and family and continuing to save her money in her savings group. Her next savings goal is to be able to buy a new pair of glasses to replace her old broken ones.