1.Relationships and trust are key. People are sensitive due to personal or family conflicts/instability. The microempresa has served the participants as a space to listen to and encourage each other. We continue working on this part because there is still lack of trust between some members.
2.You have to be careful with the 'rich foreigner' image. Participants were used to selling their creations to delegations and didn't think about selling them in Colombia too. We're now looking for sales opportunities on a local and national level: this involves the participants themselves as vendors, a valuable element of the microempresa.
3.You can't beg someone to do something they don't want to. The women making the dolls are very committed but the teens in the jewelry are more unstable. It's important to encourage and support people but in the end, they decide whether they want to continue or leave.
4.You have to establish and know how to handle commitments with everyone. When someone stops coming regularly, we refer to these commitments to be fair in our actions. You have to understand the person without giving in to any excuse.
5.Networking/sharing with other groups helps generate ideas and encourage. During Holy Week we visited an association of artisans in Agua de Dios [2 hrs from Ibague]. We sold our goods with them and in the meantime talked and shared about our organizations. In June these same women are coming to Ibague to sell with us in the festivals (oo!)
(picture on left: visit to Agua de Dios with microempresa)
6.You have to believe in peoples' abilities and create spaces to put them into practice. Microempresa members use their talents, at the same time earning a small income. It's a space where we laugh, share our frustrations and discover our God-given gifts.
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