What is that?

Credit:Pinterest user Sarita L.G.A.

Pejibayes

Pejibayes or Pejivalles are a starchy fruit popular with locals in Matagalpa. The fruit comes from a palm tree and is a relative of the coconut.  The Pejibayes in Matagalpa taste starchy more like a vegetable than a fruit. There are different types and the taste varies depending on the type. The fruit is boiled with salt until the skin is soft enough to peel. Matagalpans love Pejibayes and you can find a woman selling them on nearly every street corner in the city. If you walk around the city you may be surprised to find that a few of those sellers are also PHPG clients!

Flooding in Malacatoya

The rainy season has been hard on the people of Malacatoya. On a recent visit we saw many houses flooded along the main road. 

The team, JC, Joe, and Berly. Behind us are rice paddies; Malacatoya produces most of the rice in consumed in Nicaragua.  A few of our customers work the land here. 

A Visit to San Juan De Oriente

Two students from Roanoke college joined PHPG for social visits to our clients in San Juan De Oriente. Our clients, all artisans,  were proud teach us about their craft.

JC looks into a client's new oven. The oven was built with the help of a loan from PHPG. The oven isn't completed yet, it needs to be sealed. The final steps in the process will occur after the rainy season passes.

Brenda show's us how to turn. It's a special skill that takes 2 years to master. Only some of the artisans in San Juan De Oriente can turn.

She was just about to fire some pottery when we stopped by. She explains how the pottery will be fired for 8 hours and the oven must be carefully sealed during the process.

A closer look.

In his workshop, Darwin shows us  how designs are etched into the pottery.

A special thanks to Emma Webb for the photos!

Collection Day

Today we made the rounds with the PHPG team here in Granada. We split up into two teams. Juan Carlos, Joe, and Berly visited individual clients and Juan Carlos Jr. and Manuel different loan groups. We snapped a few pictures along the way.

                     A road in the community of Nueva Esperanza frequently traversed by PHPG.

 

                                          Juan Carlos and Berly going to visit one of PHPG's clients.

                 The team discusses what it takes to run a business in the local community.

Savings Program in El Diamante

It’s an exciting time to be a part of the PHPG team! We are currently working on several projects in addition to the rounds we make on Mondays and Fridays. One of the projects is a savings program for 24 of our clients in the community of El Diamante. This is something very beneficial given that most do not have access to banks. The program also helps the savings collective become more autonomous. 

We first introduced the concept of a savings program back in the month of June and we have made a great deal of progress. The PHPG team is looking to introduce the same project in other communities where we distribute loans in the near future. 

The main idea here is that in the future the community will take deposits and (after having saved up enough to begin lending) make loans to community members to support their businesses and to undertake projects to help improve daily living. This could include building a well, or funding a bakery in the community. These neighborhood projects are a nice improvement and a great way to advance living standards and quality of life.