Field Trip

The office of Pastoral Social in Ambato -- where I have been interning -- closed for two weeks in August for vacations.

What to do?

Pastoral Social belongs to a network of four organizations (all closely affiliated with the Catholic Church) that are involved in Microfinance in Ecuador. All four more or less follow the village banking model. I asked to be "shipped" to one of the other institutions for the two week period.

My wish was granted by my supervisor, Mario Moreno, and off to Santo Domingo de los Colorados I went.

Santo Domingo is five hours (by bus) west of Ambato. It is considered to be part of the coastal region of Ecuador (eventhough it isn't on the coast!).

Orlando was my host/boss for my two weeks. Muy amigable (very friendly!).

Basically, the operation runs the same as Ambato, with a few subtle differences. For example, Santo Domingo is considered less "secure" so they don't use cash. The members have to deposit their payments in a bank, and receive checks at the time of loan delivery. Also, there appeared to be less of an emphasis on evangelization and health issues. The result is that the meetings take less time. (Meeting length is often a sore point for bank members in Ambato -- where meetings can run well over 2 hours.)

Did I learn anything new? Frankly, not really. But I did visit more village banks. I saw another part of the country and . . . took another step in my journey in "developmentland."