An interview with Dafne Calderon, Managing Director of En Via, Nadia Puriri Head of Responsible Tourism and Angela Bautista, Education Assistant.
By Frances Douglas Thomson, Mexico correspondent
Fundación En Vía is a non-profit organisation that works to empower women using funds generated through responsible tourism to provide interest-free loans and educational programs in 5 communities in the Tlacolula Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico.
Dafne had arranged for Nadia, Angela and me to meet in a café next to El Lano park, Oaxaca. I had spent the previous few days studying En Via’s website to learn more about their transformative initiatives, but as soon as we started to delve deeper into their work, I realised I had really struck gold being able to meet and interview them.
Dafne described En Via as “the combination of different proactive choices, networking, word of mouth, the idea of wanting to change the perception of Oaxaca and very passionate people”.
We started discussing their Microcredit Programme which unlike many others in Mexico, are interest free loans solely for women, with compulsory educational courses. In this way, borrowers are far more likely to benefit from their credit and pay back their loans. Nadia added that “the average for a standard Micro-loan in Mexico is 76% and can go up to 200% in some cases”. As an example, ‘Crédito Mujer’, a Mexican Microcredit provider, was using approximately 110 percent as their annualised interest rate. In this way, the interest free framework is what makes En Via’s scheme so unique.
Dafne tells me that it took a lot of time for many of the women entrepreneurs to trust En Via as in the start it seemed too good to be true “It was hard for them to believe, they wondered, “who are you, and why do you want to give us money?” Word of mouth is so important for the success of an initiative like this, it is the most important tool that we use in all the various communities we work in. Women use the schemes provided by En Via and suggest it to friends or neighbors”.
En Via was created to provide business and work opportunities to women in Mexico when the founder, Carlos Topete, grew to understand the importance of Microfinance compared to big loans. He noticed that most women in Oaxaca were pigeonholed into certain jobs such as cooks or cleaners when they had the capacity, skills, and motivation to run their own businesses. All they lacked was the capital which often required credit history.
Before getting their Microloans with En Via, the women must complete 8 money management lessons covering subjects such as personal finances, further business, how to calculate cost and how to save money. Almost all women complete the course to access funds, says Angela, and those that don’t, still learn incredibly valuable lessons for their financial life.
Dafne tells me that the number of women supported by En Via at any given time stays fairly constant as any that leave are made up by new members, but in total En Via has helped already 486 women. The women also work in groups of three to provide support to one another and build a trust network that helps to keep them on the right path. Nadia shared with me a story of a woman who had shared her knowledge of separating her finances in different pots for the various areas of her life, personal, business, household etc. with her husband and children, demonstrating the knock-on effect of this educational opportunity for the community.
Pretty much on every tour, every woman says the main thing they took away from En Via is the importance of managing and separating their money which is what they learn in their initial course. They’ve got those basic financial literacy tools and business management skills that they can take on with them for the rest of their life.
Dafne Caldero
Responsible tourism
Oaxaca is a very special region. There are 16 different ethnic groups, and 200 different dialects, and En Via works with more than 220 women in the Tlacolula Valley, and many are Zapotec women with very distinct cultures. These women run a huge variety of businesses from weaving tapestries, to raising chickens, to managing store-fronts, and more. En Via uses the funds generated through responsible tourism to provide interest-free loans for the women, enhancing the positive impact of tourism development on women’s lives, that contributes to the achievement of the Fifth Sustainable Development Goal – “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls“.
Thanks to the different tours organised by En Via, tourists can connect and engage directly with the indigenous women, widening their perspectives, becoming more mindful of other people and their privacy, and engaging with locals in a completely different way. On the other hand, the women can present their work and the ways they have successfully invested their credit to learn self-confidence, public speaking and marketing skills. The tours are a great way to experience the culture of Oaxaca and have a more meaningful exchange with the local women. Whilst ethically supporting their industries, tourists are actively able to see how their tour money is invested, and the impact that such a small contribution can make in the lives of these communities.
Is not only tourism, this is an educational and intercultural exchange.
Nadia
“Once you go on a tour – said Dafne, Managing Director of En Via – you wouldn’t dream of asking for a cheaper price because you have met and learnt so much about the lives and the work involved in the product you purchase. A good way to be an ethical consumer is to support female entrepreneurs and think of purchases as investments that will not only serve you, but the producer”.
En Via also relies on the help of its volunteers, like Nadia who now works as Head of Responsible Tourism. “I felt so privileged to be able to interact with these women and the whole experience was very enriching”. An insight as to why so many people choose to volunteer in different capacities with En Via.
COVID-19 and the Pandemic
The impact of COVID-19 and the pandemic was huge, considering that 80% of En Via’s funding came from tourism. Business stopped and the prices of basic foods immediately went up. That is why the organisation had to think of new projects, such as the “Growing Strong” Campaign, where women received a starter pack to create either a small chicken farm or a vegetable garden – primarily for their own consumption, but with the potential to sell any surplus. In 2021, Heifer International reached out to support En Via, offering educational programmes and funding to expand the “Growing strong” initiative.
The pandemic also accelerated the switch to online selling, where women learnt how to make logos and websites for online marketing. I was lucky enough to get an insight into an upcoming project which is a digital directory allowing the consumer to directly contact the women without a middleman. We discussed how this connection with the artisan or with the person that is providing you with the service is far more meaningful when you can understand her story and why she creates what she does.
A strong community
The women entrepreneurs meet with members from the En Via team very regularly, whether it be to pay their weekly payments, to join a class or showcase their products to a tourist group. There is also a virtual group chat which is active all times of the day. Even as they become more digital, Nadia says that face to face interactions is something very important that they want to maintain. Some of the members of En Via even live in the same communities as the women and are therefore only a knock away. Dafne tells me how the women really open up to the staff and share very personal problems, this trust and bond is likely made stronger by the fact that the En Via team is fully female.
As I left the Cafe, I felt truly inspired by En Via; their work was wholly positive, it had no catches and was a thriving, ethical and female led initiative. It helps women every single day to realise and unleash their potential to live more fulfilling and enriched lives, I don’t think it gets better than that.
Upcoming events:
28th and 29th of July – annual fair for the female entrepreneurs at the institute.
October/ November – Day of the dead tours which are authentic, intimate and are based in the individual communities.
Follow En Via
Instagram: @fundacionenvia
Tiktok: fundacionenvia
