Bread for Sale...

I am glad to report today was the official start of our first micro-enterprise at the Villa. Today I sold over 200 pieces of bread at the Language Institute to students and professors. While the idea of making bread to sell as part of a micro-enterprise has been floating around the Villa since I arrived here several weeks ago, this week some important developments led to the first substantial sale. Previously Chris and I had been the only customers of the best-kept secret in Cochabamba. However on Monday, when I brought bread for my friend Kim at the Institute, my teacher Tatiana became very intrigued and spread the word to the other professors. News spread pretty quick and yesterday I began negotiating a contract with the Institute to provide the bread for our three daily coffee breaks. Our first official order of eighty pieces will be for Monday. Yesterday I sold fifty pieces just to my teachers and today the demand more than quadrupled to over 200. Chris had to provide me with reinforcements this morning, as I had not anticipated such demand. So the bakery is well on its way to becoming a profitable venture for the kids of the Villa. We are looking to add a few new varieties to our repertoire as well as cookies and cakes. As of right now the mamas are making the bread and we are in the process of training the kids to make the bread themselves. I am very encouraged that we have found a market for the bread which is always the hardest part. Hopefully this can develop into a viable source of income for the Villa and give the kids some training in micro-enterprises. Having read Yunus’s book “Banker to the Poor” before I came here, I am became very interested in applying this model in the Villa. This can be an empowering experience for the kids and give them a chance to provide for themselves to an extent. I am excited about the possibilities and will write more about the project in the coming weeks.

I finished the first half of my language classes today. I have six more weeks of classes and am enjoying them more everyday. I am really starting to feel comfortable with the language and recently during conversations, have forgotten that I was speaking a foreign language. This experience was encouraging for me, and with the help of the excellent teachers here, I feel that I am making good progress with the language. I will also be changing my schedule next week to allow for time in the mornings to work with the gardener at the Villa to start a compost program for our garden. I will write more about this soon. My classes will be in the afternoons for the next two weeks and I will work with the kids in the mornings.

I continue to stay very busy with work at Amistad and with classes.

Thanks for reading.
Gray
grayskinner@hotmail.com