Plans for Micro Loans in Tierra Linda

Paso Por Paso directors will make twenty micro loans available to women in Tierra Linda, a village 800 feet up the mountain above Panajachel.

“It makes sense for Paso to focus its efforts in one small village,” director Pat Pretty explains, We are now working with the local school committee, and Tierra Linda has a women’s committee already in place.”

The women have already met twice to consult with women from San Jorge where a similar micro loan program has been in place for a couple of years.

The women decided that loans of 500 quetzales each (about $80 CAD) were the most manageable. These are awarded by lot and administered by the women’s committee. Participants learn how to do their own banking and make modest monthly repayments. No new loans are available until all loans have been repaid, so there is a collective responsibility to succeed.

The money usually helps to start small food based businesses raising chickens, selling vegetables, sewing, and weaving.

The trek to market in Panajachel is by a footpath straight up the mountain.