Message-ID: <199510030311.AAA20185@rjo04.embratel.net.br> Date: Tue, 3 Oct 1995 00:11:20 -0300 From: Joaquim Moura <mailto:poa-bsb@CR-DF.RNP.BR> Subject: Brasilia e-news # 24 To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Dear Friends these are the latest news from the Santa Maria community development project.For more details, including some pictures, and historical background, please refer to our home page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~jyven)
Last Thursday , the project in Santa Maria has started its fight against hunger and lend money to the poor programs.
1. Santa Maria is a very poor satellite city nearby Brasilia, where live about 120 thousand people, recently settled there (four or three years ago).
Most people came from rural areas (maybe from the arid Brazilian northeast) and don't know how to make a livelihood at a modern city. Most are illiterate, most are women and many are youngsters.
The new government of Brasilia decided to start there the pilot project against hunger and unemployment. The idea was not to give food basic supply to the poorest, but to sell it by 40% of its normal price, and to use the money to supply a microcredit program toward productive initiatives inward the community. Besides paying 40% of the food basket, the families must provide between 5 and 8 hours (to be yet decided) of "voluntary" work to the community, according the objectives defined by the local group of participants.
During the last eight months, a governmental small team was dedicated to implement this project. They organized a research to identify the poorest families inside a parcel of Santa Maria, evaluated the results and chose the 366 starting families. They also helped the community to organize a cooperative to better manage the food selling and the money lending. After all these initiatives, last Thursday at least the first food selling has occurred, for these 366 families. (There is enough money already allocated by the Government to supply these 366 families for a whole year.)
The selling was a success. The Governor was there, and many Secretaries. The money gathered summed to almost US$ 5,000. To complete the success of this first movement, it was distributed to the people a hand-out (500 hundred copies) where the entire project was properly explained, as well the possibilities opened by it to those eager to run their own business.
A small detail: the hand-out was written and designed by me, and the name of the Partners of the Americas is there, fostering the idea of our transnational pioneering project.
Tomorrow (Tuesday night) I will go to Santa Maria to meet the cooperative participants and start planning the second environment of the project: the lending program. We will discuss what training to provide, what limits, what payment conditions, what interest rates etc. As you know, I have promoted a research among the international agencies which lend to the poor in similar form. So I will have some ideas to suggest. I also have received some forms from Tricle UP Foundation, which we will consider when designing our own forms, to be filled out by those requesting some money for their microenterprises.
Of course all the suggestions from our international advisors will be very welcome. ______________________________________________________________ Joaquim Moura (all the controversial opinions are just personal) Youth & Citizenship Development Commission Partners of the Americas - Brasilia / Washington DC Committee SHCGN 713 - Bloco I - Apt. 202 - 70760-739 - Brazil Phone (55 61): 414-1904 (w); 273-5613 (h); 414-1898 (fax)