Friday, May 22, 2015

No words to describe it

On Tuesday we got to go to PHPG (People Helping People Global). We met with Berly and Martha who were the two ladies that we're going to go on the collections and distribution of money with us. Berly spoke English while Martha only spoke Spanish, but we honestly bonded with both of them. PHPG targets communities where people make 2-3 dollars a day. They use a group lending model so the group will insure it's own members when each member takes out a loan, and the members can take out more then one loan when they repay the previous one, they go by levels. They don't charge interest because they're trying to help the communities and want to make it easier for them.

Going on the collections and distributions was absolutely amazing! Each family welcomed us with open arms into their homes and let us see what the money was being used for. At some points it was overwhelming, seeing the struggles, and how hard they worked to overcome them is something that can't be described in words. Getting to go with them was so amazing I thought it would be the highlight of the trip, but our borrowers stole that spotlight. 

On Wednesday we got to go see the daughters of charity and met our borrowers. It was such a rewarding experience getting to put faces to all the applications we I had worked on. Hearing the stories of how the loans have changed their lives and how grateful they are was easily the most moving thing that has happened. As a student who had never met them before I already had a connection with them. Their smiles, their pain and their journey was something that we got to witness. This is what GLOBE was meant to do, change the lives of others and help them take control of their situations.

- Kevin 

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