Farmers Market

Just last Friday our class had a farmers market activity. About 6 of our clients came and we got together and had a market simulation where the clients each had a little booth set up and were selling their product while us staff members went around with fake money buying their products and services. It was a lot of fun. Luz had her tomale store but it was right next to her competitor Arturo, who named his tomale store Tomalandia. The Ascua family from Argentina set up their handyman shop and offered any kind of repair/painting services. We also had a soccer coach and a dog groomer. It was a great activity and it gave the clients a real opportunity to put their ideas and skills to the test. After seeing this last general conference I'm reminded on how important our duty as members of the LDS church is to help the poor and the needy. I know that microfinance and the accompanying business instruction is a good thing to teach those who are poor and needy useful business skills. I'm really glad I've been a part of this organization and I will continue to find ways to serve in my community. Each of us in the Lord's kingdom are brothers and sisters no matter what country we came from or the color of our skin.

Microbusiness Mentors

 After splitting with Centro Hispano, our new partner is the Boys and Girls Club of Utah County.

 This is our awesome class. Jordan and Spencer are stellar teachers and I envy their Spanish skills.

 Another beauty shot of the class. They are so great.

This is one of our clients Joanne from Haiti. She is our only English-speaking client.

Hopping on board with Microbusiness Mentors

As I searched around for ways to get involved in micro credit I eventually found out about a local group called Microbusiness Mentors, a non-profit group which was started in 2002 by BYU students. I found out where they had their weekly classes and I began stalking them and begging them to let me get involved last summer. This guy Spencer, who was super nice to me, explained to me about their organization and what they do and all, but it seemed like they had all the staff they wanted and they also were experiencing some kind of schism with their partnering organization, Centro Hispano. So after just showing up several times to their meetings and seeing how they didn't seem to have a spot for me at the moment I found other stuff to do to satisfy my thirst for serving in the world. I started playing sports with kids at a local elementary school on Fridays and occasionally helped out with the institution in question, Centro Hispano. But then one day early this year, as I was searching for jobs online, I saw that Microbusiness Mentors was looking for new interns/volunteers and I sent them my resume. I was contacted back, luckily, and had an interview set up for me. When I showed up they recognized my as the kid who stalked them last summer and they must have admired my energy and offered me the Marketing Director position, which I gladly accepted! Since January I have busily been trying to recruit people from the community to take our free business classes and learn from us how they can start their own business with a small loan of only $500. I have absolutely loved this internship because it allows me to serve in the community, use my Spanish that I have been learning from my major (almost all those in the class are Hispanic), and learn more about business in general.

Getting Started

I first heard about micro credit from my dad probably around 10 years ago when he was talking about women in Indonesia or something who were working hard trying to sew for a living while their husbands would just sit around lazy and get drunk. This new thing called micro credit allowed for poor women in these situations, who were obviously hard workers, to get small loans for sewing machines so they could sew for a living. I thought the idea sounded really cool but it wouldn't be until many years later that I would hear more about it and even get myself involved in it. After my mission to Salt Lake City, which is the raddest mission ever, I jumped into my studies at Brigham Young University, and after switching my major from Broadcast Journalism to Latin American Studies, I heard about micro credit once again from a very energetic and determined professor named Warner Woodworth. He shared lots of scriptures from all over the standard works about how the Savior has taught us to give to the poor and needy and talked about how micro credit is a great way to help those who struggle to make ends meet in other countries. I was sold on it right away and later that day I went to the BYU library and checked out a few books on Muhammad Yunnis, the accredited founder of micro credit/loans/financing, and learned a lot about the movement he created. My curiosity in micro credit led me to search for different ways I could get involved in the thing.