Alumnae begin Ecuador microenterprises

SAN GERARDO, Ecuador – In the highlands of the Andes, near the base of Chimborazo, one of the Western Hemisphere’s tallest mountains, rests a small village  of about 600 people called San Gerardo.

The indigenous community with its rolling farmland and bucolic pastures is picturesque, but at the same time it is depressingly poor. Most adults are involved in agricultural production or are hired as day laborers in the nearby provincial capital, Riobamba.

Last year, two students from the town were the first ever to graduate from high school. Almost a quarter of the population is under the age of 13, a startling statistic that describes how poor the community is but similarly how things are slowly changing for the better. Two 2008 IU alumnae are helping to speed up the development process in this town.

Last fall, Isabel Estevez, a former Wells Scholar, and Erica Weyer, former co-director of IU’s Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers, came to San Gerardo in order to help start a women’s microenterprise that would provide additional revenue along with a sense of empowerment.

“I wanted to come down to Ecuador in order to immerse myself in a new culture, to improve my Spanish skills and, more than anything, to help other women learn how to help themselves,” Weyer said. “So far, the experience has been fantastic and I feel like our efforts have been fruitful.”

Estevez and Weyer helped start a small women’s cooperative called Las Flores, which will help women in the community augment their income. The cooperative helps teach the women how to produce small artisan crafts and, more importantly, how to construct traditional chigras, or small bags similar to purses, a tradition that had nearly been lost before Weyer and Estevez stepped in.

Additionally, the two IU graduates helped a group of men start their own business producing traditional and organic hygiene products, ranging from soap and shampoo to foot cream. The two have also put the community in contact with a health foods company in Ecuador called Randimpak, where farmers can now export quinoa, a popular local grain.

Finally, Weyer and Estevez have helped formalize the town’s banking system, so now entrepreneurs have a way to get seed-money and credit.

Although Weyer will return to the United States in early July to start training as a middle or high school teacher, Estevez plans to returning in the fall to start a handicrafts line for Randimpak’s stores in Quito, Ecuador, in addition to attending graduate school.

To make their efforts more sustainable, the two brought down other IU students to Ecuador this summer. Elliot Hayden, a graduate student, and undergraduate Alyssa Taylor said they hope to expand the San Gerardo project and continue the blossoming legacy of Weyer and Estevez.