Foundation Finance, like almost all non-profit organizations, needs funding from individuals and foundations in order to continue its work. The best way to secure this is by demonstrating positive impacts, by showing how the organization has changed people's lives for the better. One of my main responsibilities during my internship has been to produce "testimonials" from coffee farmers about the positive impacts that their cooperative and Foundation Finance have had on their lives. But out in the field, sitting in dim, smoky, one-room shacks and talking to the farmers directly, I've found out that packaging someone's life experiences is far from easy. Actually, it's fairly simple to take a quote out of context and stick it next to a photo of a farmer standing in a field and smiling. But the words, the emotions, the whole truth that people entrusted to me, those have been difficult to discard.
While none of the testimonials I've sent to my boss in Boston have been fabricated, they are far from the full story. This process of editing out the inconvenient hardships, the discontent, is absolutely commonplace in the world of non-profits. I don't know how to go about altering the strange hierarchies of the social change machine, but I do feel a responsibility to let some of these farmers speak for themselves. So, without further ado, I present the real "real story," in the form of quotes and photos from my work over the last five months. I bet you won't have a hard time picking out whose words became official Foundation Finance testimonials.
"The credit through Foundation Finance helps us with school expenses, since we have two children in primary school, one in high school, and the rest in technical school...We thank ADIPSA firstly for looking for support for us. The association is really important for us all. And then also we thank the organizations behind ADIPSA that provide credit funds to help us improve our situation."-Oliva Albizures, member of ADIPSA
“Now I’m a little old, and I’m getting tired. I have children, but they’ve moved away. But I keep on fighting here, old man that I am, as much as I can.”
-Raymundo Veracruz Gonzalez, member of Selva Negra Zoque
“We have one child who is studying in El Progreso. This is what has taken up almost all of our life. The year before last, two kids were still studying, and it was really difficult. This is what has prevented us from getting ahead in life, from living in a decent house, because we are spending so much to educate our children...Because we make our living only from coffee, we have no other resources...When the last kid graduates, our troubles will be over...And then bigger troubles will come! Our problems will never end.”-Felix Cruz Jacobo, member of ADIPSA
“Growing coffee independently, we sold our coffee too cheaply. If we had any urgent needs, we went directly to the middleman. And when they saw that we were in trouble, they paid us even less. Now that we’re organized, it’s different. We can take a loan from the cooperative to keep from selling to the middlemen...With capital from the cooperative we keep up our shade cover, pruning, and weeding. And then, when it comes to storage, paying producers, drying the coffee, all of this is thanks to financing from Foundation Finance.”-Abundo Virgidio Ramos Angel, member of Finca Triunfo Verde
“The problem is that right now we need money to pay our workers, and we don’t have any...The workers want their payment right away, and if you’re late by even one day, sometimes they just walk out. It’s hard for us.”
-Hermelinda Morales Martinez, member of Finca Triunfo Verde
“When I joined Maya Ixil, I had a house that was a roof over our heads, nothing more. By saving up my checks from the cooperative, I was able to build a house and terrace my land. Being part of the cooperative has been a blessing for us...I have two sons, one who is a teacher and one who’s still in high school. The cooperative has always helped us with the school fees, and my family has seen the benefits.
-Juan Ordoñez Perez, member of Maya Ixil
P.S. Realizing that this post could mean an early despedida from my internship, I've gone back through the blog and changed the name of my employer. So much for my ethics, right?
