The proposed project is the construction of a women’s community center in rural Paraguay. Specifically, the committee Oñondivepa ‘all together’ proposes to build a modest multi-purpose center, in order to create the first, and much needed, bread bakery in their community. Future plans include the making of other food products, soap and clothing, as well as more ambitious goals like computer classes. This project marks an exciting moment for Paraguayan women, as it boldly challenges strictly defined gender roles and seeks to confront numerous challenges seen in today’s agriculture based communities. A lack of access to capital and the laborious responsibilities of managing a household without appliances like washing machines and microwaves leave women with few opportunities to leave their homes, reach out to neighboring women, and improve upon their quality of life. A practical solution, which taps into their entrepreneurial spirit and capabilities, starts with their own gathering place, located in the community. Its construction will be not only the launching pad for their bread bakery, but also a place for educational activities, experimentation, future planning, and female bonding. To make this a reality, the women have already raised significant capital to buy the property and pay for the title. Additionally and quite significantly, their husbands have committed to greatly assist with the center’s construction, while supporting the concept without reservation. Oñondivepa asks that you kindly support its grass roots effort by contributing to the purchase of essential construction materials for this much needed women’s center.
(For more information about Oñondivepa's community, the merit of this project, and specific project plans please scoll down beyond the below photos)
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Ña Celsa milking a cow
Members gathering firewood to cook with
Ña Elena preparing her vegetble garden
Ña Liliana preparing lunch
Ña Justina washing clothes
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THE BREAD BAKERY/WOMEN'S CENTER
The property the women have bought for their future center
A typical "dispensa' where bread is sold. These dispensas are the market of future bread sales. They are located in the homes of neighbors. (Read below under ¨Backround Information¨ for further explination)
The members making bread during a day of practice
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PROJECT PLAN AND RELEVANT INFO
Backround Info
Oñondivepa’s community, Mainumby, is quite rural, located roughly 70 kilometers from the capital of Asuncion. Currently, roughly all homes have electricity, 50% have running water, 80% utilize outhouses for restrooms (no toilet), most depend on fire wood or coals to cook daily and there is no method of trash collection. Retail activity in the community is only done though numerously well dispersed almacenes (see pictures), or “mom and pop” little stores that are run out of homes to sell basic goods like bread, meat, vegetables, oil, flour, toothpaste, soap etc. The main income source of the local economy, and Paraguayan economy, are remittances, mostly coming from Spain. With that said, almost all people between the ages of 18-30 have gone elsewhere in search of work.
The work that does exist is all agricultural based; the main crop being organic sugar cane which is exported through local cooperatives. Apart from the sugar cane, a truly diverse arrangement of crops and animals fill in the land. Many families grow pineapple, melon, watermelon, peanuts and beans. Additionally, most women take care of a family garden that includes lettuce, tomatoes, onions, strawberries, peppers, and herbs/spices.
The specific community members involved in this project are a group of 13 female homemakers. Their duties include the raising of their children, care of animals (chickens, pigs, cows etc.), collecting firewood, cooking, cleaning, hand-washing clothes and dishes and maintenance of the aforementioned vegetable gardens. Once a week over the last 5 years they’ve taken the time to organize meetings to talk about pertinent matters and ways to improve their quality of life.
More recently, copies of this form were translated and committee members had the chance to write out their input. Additionally, current meetings have included discussions and activities pertaining to the planning of this project.
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COMMUNITY NEED
The merit of this project comes from the fact that these women have made the effort to join together and have kept that up for 5 years now. Throughout those years they have been involved in a local farmers market (see photos) while also serving as a nucleus for organizing community events. Despite seeming like small first steps, they are in fact the hardest of them all.
Using these years of experience, they are now ready to test the waters of a long term profit generating project; and a better project could not have been chosen. By starting with a bread bakery they take advantage of a clear opportunity in the local market.
Foremost, bread is THE staple item in a poor community like this. It is easily made, all necessary ingredients are easy accessible, and it translates perfect from a management skill the women already handle with incredible efficiency, the kitchen. Currently, bread is brought in by bakeries located between 15 and 40 miles away. Locally made bread does exist but only in the rural town center of 5,000 and no deliveries are made from there to the 15,000+ that live in a rural setting around the center. That means distant bakeries incurring significant transportation costs are the beneficiaries of reaching Oñondivepa’s community. Furthermore, the bread that is being delivered is of low quality but is bough out of sheer lack of options. Locally made bread could evidently get from oven to consumer in a much shorter time, a huge determinant of bread quality. .
If this project is not implemented the women of the community will continue in their economic stagnation, which directly correlatives to a lack of education with their children. Meanwhile, suppression of entrepreneurial talent and creativity will stay at a standstill as other entities with more access to capital take advantage of opportunities and leave the women with only greater challenges in order to improve their community from the ground up.
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COMMUNITY INICIATION AND DIRECTION
The community is the driving force behind this project for an array of reasons. Most importantly, they are the ones who proposed it and will be the direct beneficiaries. Furthermore, the ease of the project will be facilitated by the lifelong relationships the committee members have with their neighboring almacenes, the buyers. The idea of the bakery was proposed five years ago when the women assessed how they could help to confront their families’ economic situation while not pulling them out of their homes for too long or too often. Since the idea’s birth they have tried actively to solicit financial help at government entities. During weekly meetings these proposals were discussed and the committee was able to plan out their bakery and ideas that correspond. More recently, planning has been topic of conversation at recent weekly meetings, not only to put clearly on paper what thoughts already were in place but to expand their breadth of thinking toward unforeseen tasks and responsibilities
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
A major contribution by the community is the land they have fundraised to buy which will serve as the future location of their center. Through various bake sales and raffles within the community they raised enough money to buy a property and pay the legal fees to get the title. In addition, to make up for the rest of their contribution the husbands of the women will assist in the construction of the center. Every day the husbands will be on a rotating schedule to assist the construction working in charge of its assembly. (Every man in this community has at least some construction skills. They are incredibly learned and creative in their ability to build things and are therefore quite capable to contribute to the construction of a house. Also, being farmers they have the freedom needed to make this commitment)
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PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
The first phase in the implementation of the project will commence with a meeting not only amongst the women of the committee, but also the carpenter, their husbands and relevant community members as well. (Committee meetings already occur on a weekly basis regardless) The advice of the husbands and community members will be taken into consideration in this all important planning stage. It will be during this meeting that specific tasks will be assigned such as preparation of the land, purchase and delivery of materials, a construction start date, acknowledgement of future topics to be touched on. Furthermore, the committee will begin a weekly activity of stockpiling firewood and make a decision on the first fundraising activity. Fundraising through bake sales and raffles is something the committee is already very familiar with. (It is precisely how they raised the money to buy the property) Events to raise money will be realized during this phase and in future phases in order to buy initial baking materials.
Phase two will begin when the construction starts. Its first goal will be to get the land prepared. Meanwhile a small team will be in charge of seeking out educational possibilities and activities pertaining to bread elaboration, in addition to the vast experience they already have. This would include visits to nearby bakeries, solicitation of classes, and possession of educational materials. Visits will be carried out by a newly formed committee position, a vice president of continuing education. A second new position will also be created, vice president of marketing. Other key roles will continue to be filled in by the already elected President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. Later on they will discuss formation of a product line (types of bread), acquisition of bread baking materials and conduct a search for the best pricing options. Additional talks will touch on a marketing strategy and a finance system. Key finance activities will include cost analysis, product pricing, cash flow management and partition of profits. Aside from aforementioned activities, during this time the construction of the center will be underway. The husbands of the members will be completing their rotation of carpenter assistance. That will involve one day of work every two weeks for each of the husbands.
Phase three will consist of the purchase of initial baking materials and the initiation of marketing activities. Key marketing knowledge will be obtained by talking with local shop keepers, almacenes, to get a feel for local demand and buying patterns. The relay of that information will give rise to a discussion of bread quantities to be baked and how often baking will occur. Furthermore, they will be able to settle on a rotational work schedule for running the center. This will determine who will work with whom, at what time, and which days of the week. Additionally, during phase three decisions will be made about investment or partition of profits. A certain percentage will go to members while another percentage stays within the group for further investments and operating expenses. One particular investment has already been discussed, the need to eventually get away from a wood burning brick oven and move on to a gas or electric oven. Lastly, this phase, like the previous ones will include fundraising events. At this point the committee will assess the balance of their funds against financial projections for baking the bread. If necessary, loans will be taken from the cooperative. (Being that interest rates are very high, upwards of 18%, this option will look to be avoided.
With all of the above prepared and the center built, the first days of bread baking will occur. In these crucial days at least one person will be staying at the center every day to keep an eye on logistics such as heat levels, ingredient levels, cooking time and keeping a log of all relevant data. Once the first batches of bread have been made the first deliveries will take place. As this continues, weekly meetings will analyze success and failures, discuss the current financial situation, and consider growth options.
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PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY
By having their very own center the women create a wealth of opportunities for themselves. Foremost, their ability to solicit and receive educational and trainings classes becomes much more probably; as a group with its own center it is in a much more sustainable position to utilize education. Here in Paraguay, groups like this have at their fingertips a wealth of Non-governmental organizations that provide training and assistance in just about every imaginable capacity; from assertion of human rights to how to start a business. Only with a facility is a group like Oñondivepa able to take advantage of these resources. Additionally, chance of failure is greatly reduced when projects don’t need to be started out of a member’s home. In development projects around the world, use of a home for group projects has created unforeseen problems, leaving the sustainability of project completely in the hands of the home owner.
With regards to increasing the capacity of individuals, there is no better way to foment human knowledge than by putting people in the same place; to do their work together and make mistakes in front of one another. In today’s world there is no better example of the progress that collaboration produces than the internet. The internet’s strength and competiveness comes directly from the fact that so many millions of people are connected to share ideas, make mistakes, and improve practices all without a barrier to climb through each step of the way. These exact same principles apply to a group like this. Only with a central spot to carry out projects will the committee’s strengths and weaknesses manifest themselves at a fast enough rate; one that allows them to succeed with a profit seeking project like a bakery. Obviously, the women could bake bread now at their separate homes but business intellect tells us that the learning curve of a project like that stands no chance against a bakery where process management and information sharing can be a part of everyday practice.
Having explained this is a profit seeking endeavor, this project is sustainable in its very essence. Baking bread is seen as an opportunity to later bake products like cake and empanadas. Profits realized will then be allocated to new projects that increase their market. Additionally, the committee has acquired through training workshops the necessary skills to expand their product line to homemade soaps, detergents, and clothing. As a continuing source of advice along the way, besides a SMB (Small Business Development) Peace Corps volunteer, Oñondivapa has forged a relationship with another women committee, AMUR, a committee that has already achieved such goals as a bakery, general store, and computer classes. During a field trip out to see the women at the AMUR center Oñondivpa was able witness their successes first hand. It was highly inspiring and resulted in a later visit of AMUR members visiting Oñondivpa in their community. Also important is the committee’s relationship with Peace Corps. The current volunteer will be assisting throughout the entire process, all the way up till the end of his/her service. Upon completion of the center it can be assumed that Peace Corps will do everything possible to place another SMB with the committee; this being a standard Peace Corps practice to ensure sustainability.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=526-198
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