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COMMUNICATION IN MICROFINANCE
An Exploratory Case Study
Irina Gendelman and Giorgia
Aiello
University of Washington
Fundachiapas
Fundachiapas was founded in September
2002, thanks to a technical partnership between IPM, a Bolivian
microfinance institution, and GRET (Research and Technological
Exchange Group), a non-profit international solidarity organisation
based in France. Fundachiapas was created as the first large
microfinance institution of the state of Chiapas and is now
located in its capital, Tapachula. The institution’s
goal is to expand to the rural areas of Chiapas by its second
year of activity. At the time of our fieldwork, Fundachiapas
employed less than 10 people and had 853 clients, divided
in groups of 4-6 people. Most of its clients are, at the moment,
small business owners from the adjacent open air market, and
the large majority of them are women.
At the end of 2001, PlaNet Finance selected the Fundachiapas
project for a 40,000 EURO loan in two instalments. Fundachiapas
received the first 20,000 EURO instalment on September 13
2002 and the second one on November 18 2002. The loan will
be paid off by the end of 2003, at a 7% interest rate. In
Tapachula, we met with Paola Bellotti, the head administrator
of PlaNet Finance’s Italian mission, who introduced
us to Fundachiapas’ head administrator Roberto Balderas
and to his employees Fernando, Claudia and Yolanda.
Our fieldwork at Fundachiapas was particularly interesting,
because what seemed to distinguish this institution from a
regular bank or credit institution was not the actual lending
model, but rather the vision and the outreach associated with
it. As a matter of fact, the interest rate that is applied
to the small weekly loans (ranging from 1,500 to 4,000 pesos,
i.e. 150-400 US dollars) that are given out to groups of clients
is high (around 30%) and the loans themselves must be paid
off every monday. Also, Fundachiapas does not give out loans
to people who do not have anything, as a way to help them
get started, for example by providing them with the money
to buy the necessary equipment to open a business. One of
the fundamental requisites to be eligible for loans is to
be the owner of a small business.
In the interviews we conducted
with Fundachiapas’ head Roberto Balderas and with his
three employees, the following discourse patterns about microfinance
emerged:
1) emphasis on the role of microfinance as an instrument to
fight poverty and promote solidarity among people, especially
small entrepeneurs;
2) preference of a relationship with clients based on trust
and immediacy in communication;
3) valuing of employees’ lack of previous experience
in large or small credit institutions.
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