Microfinance Panoramas from Guatemala
Filed Under: Central America, Guatemala, Panorama, Perspectives, Photography by Daniel Noll and Audrey ScottWhat does a family-run small business launched or expanded with the help of a microloan look like? We offer a couple of answers…in three dimensions.
Maybe you’ve seen our photo essays from microfinance programs in Guatemala and India. Now we share a three-dimensional inside look – via 360 degree panoramic photography – at two small family-run businesses in Guatemala.
Note: For the best effect, click “fullscreen” and use the arrows to move around each of the panorama photos below.
A Weaving Business Inside the Family Home
The image above captures the interior of a family home outside of Totonicapan in the highlands of Guatemala. The space measures somewhere between 150 and 200 square feet: a TV workspace in one corner, a bed in the other, a small table, and some knick-knacks hung on the wall. A husband and wife and their two children live there. Look closely and you’ll notice a large weaving loom – the purchase of which was aided by a Kiva microloan – taking up half the space.
When we visited Juan and his family earlier this year, he had successfully sold his first batch of hand-woven traditional cloth (or traje) at the market.
Candle Workshop Outside Guatemala City
Although only one person received a Kiva loan for the candle workshop above, the entire family benefits. In the shelter of bamboo and corrugated tin, several generations work together cutting string for wicks, dipping them in pots of hot paraffin, and arranging the candles to dry.
After giving us a tour of her candle workshop, the Kiva borrower — a young mother named Magda — proudly showed us the plot of land where her family home would soon be built.
Article Series - Microfinance Around the World
- The Face of Microfinance in Guatemala
- Microfinance Panoramas from Guatemala
- Machu Picchu? Not Yet. A Slideshow of the Other Peru
Leave a comment |
Email This Post
|
Print
