Location: Masaya Setting: Urban Established: 1999 Staff: 17

 

Subject Areas

Community Development: Community Empowerment, Capacity Building

Microfinance: Entrepreneurship, Credit, Strategic Business Development, Community Financial Institutions, Budgeting and Financial Management, Fundraising

Research: Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis, Asset Mapping, Needs Assessment

Youth and Education: Social Leadership, Teaching

 

Organization Objectives

ALTERNATIVA’s mission is to promote entrepreneurship through the development and management of small business loans for men and women. It works to strengthen and expand the financial resources available to all community members, and provides equitable support and services through finance education and economic empowerment. Its goals are to:

• Provide loans, financial training, and consulting services for small business owners so they can create a solid financial resource base
• Assist local artisan workers in forming and operating cooperatives that strengthen their market opportunities and promote support in business management
• Educate youth in microfinance and small business creation, enabling them to create their own businesses and develop real-world job skills
• Assess the development needs and assets of microenterprises and apply the information toward strategic development techniques for low-income clients
• Promote and support gender equality and women’s rights through education, services, and lending equity programs

 

Program Information

 

1. Urban and Rural Micro-credit

With a focus on cooperative credit, ALTERNATIVA provides loans to small business owners in urban Masaya and the outlying rural areas through door-to-door outreach and appointment services at its main office. The rural office is located in Catarina, a small tourist destination overlooking the lake on the hilly outskirts of Masaya.

 

Opportunities

• Meet with small business owners and potential entrepreneurs to assess their financial positions
• Draft financial plans and logistics of loans granted to small business owners and potential entrepreneurs
• Provide intermediary support to clients seeking help in negotiating with banks
• Help staff with door-to-door outreach and communicate with potential clients about loan process and support services
• Develop print materials to advertise the services ALTERNATIVA offers
• Conduct research on success of current outreach program and develop suggestions for programmatic improvements

 

Requirements

• Interest in economic initiatives and/or small businesses
• Experience/knowledge in economics and microfinance is a plus (though not mandatory)
• Intermediate to Advanced level Spanish
• Willingness to converse with clients and conduct visits to their homes and businesses (with staff support)

 

2. Microfinance Marketing & Strategic Management

ALTERNATIVA conducts outreach for new clients as well as marketing assistance for existing clients. Both activities involve a fair amount of out-of-office work and direct communication with staff and clients, complemented by office work to update information.

 

Opportunities

• Design and create brochures to promote local businesses
• Update and revise existing brochures and print materials
• Conduct introductory outreach workshops about ALTERNATIVA’s entrepreneurship, business development, and cooperative programs for local small businesses
• Work with small business owners to create and implement innovative marketing campaigns for their products
• Revise ALTERNATIVA’s website and create an online catalog to showcase the participating businesses and their artisan products
• Assist with creating and presenting radio announcements on ALTERNATIVA’s programs
• Research current marketing and outreach programs and assess impact

 

Requirements

• Interest in marketing, outreach, economic initiatives, and/or small businesses
• Experience/knowledge in economics and microfinance is a plus (though not mandatory)
• Intermediate to Advanced level Spanish
• Some knowledge in designing brochures and HTML code is a plus
• Desire to build and strengthen communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as a team player

 

3. Cooperative Development and Support

One of ALTERNATIVA’s key strategies for business success is the development and maintenance of cooperatives among Masaya’s numerous artisan workers. Since many of the artisan workers already have informal connections, the cooperatives are intended to formalize these relationships by emphasizing the importance of fiscal group responsibility, community support, and communal banking. Currently, the main cooperative is for shoemakers (conglomerado de calzados). In the future, ALTERNATIVA would like to form cooperatives for other artisan craftworkers, pulperia owners, and workers specializing in ecotourism in a nearby tourist village (Catarina).

 

Opportunities

• Participate in regular meetings with cooperative members to evaluate and support their business progress
• Gather quantitative and qualitative information for ALTERNATIVA’s business surveys
• Facilitate workshops in financial education, developing community support and banking systems for cooperative members
• Explore the possibility of new cooperatives through outreach visits, opinion surveys, and research of the ecotourism businesses in Catarina
• Create new workshops based on cooperatives’ needs
• Work with artisans and/or pulperia owners to form new cooperatives

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced level Spanish
• Interest in outreach, data collection, economic initiatives, cooperatives, and/or small businesses
• Experience/knowledge in economics and microfinance is a plus (though not mandatory)
• Willingness to converse with clients and conduct visits to their homes and businesses (with staff support)
• Interest in building strong communication skills
• Ability to work independently and as a team player

 

<![if !supportLists]>4.     Youth Education

ALTERNATIVA provides financial education and business formation workshops for nearby high school and local college students to help them develop real-life skills. Currently, there is no set schedule for the workshops; however, ALTERNATIVA recently built a new classroom with computers and internet connection to build its capacity for regular class sessions. A past FSD intern completed a highly successful 8-week course on business formation for teenage students.

 

Opportunities

• Lead training workshops in entrepreneurship, strategic marketing, budgeting, managing financial resources, fundraising, and/or other business/finance-related topics
• Create new workshops on relevant topics
• Work with youth to develop business plans and implement their ideas
• Incorporate business visits, computer and internet education, and scholarship assistance into the program
• Organize young women’s small business group
• Develop and organize workshop topics, hours, and times

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced level Spanish
• Interest or some experience/knowledge in youth education, economics, and/or business-related topics
• Interest in working with and training bright, eager students
• Desire to strengthen organization and communication skills

 

<![if !supportLists]>5.     Community Development and Local Connections

ALTERNATIVA creates and sustains alliances with local NGOs and government offices as a part of its mission to build economic resources within the community, and to break out of the “credit-only” cycle that pervades many microfinance organizations. Some of its partners include the city government of Masaya, MASINFA (an FSD partner organization), and a UN development initiative (Organización de los Naciones Unidos para el Desarrollo Industrial).

 

Opportunities

• Present workshops on personal advancement topics, such as continuing education, self-esteem, family planning, and reproductive health for female clients
• Collect and incorporate data on the needs and assets of the community for internal and external reporting
• Translate financial education documents and manuals from English into Spanish
• Create an internal financial education manual that can be used by and for clients

 

Requirements

• Intermediate to Advanced level Spanish
• Interest in economic initiatives, small businesses, education, health, personal advancement and/or gender equality
• Experience/knowledge in economics, health, businesses, and/or other related topics is a plus (though not mandatory)
• Ability to work in groups
• Strong communication and writing skills

 

Program Supervisors

Maria Lidia Espinales is the assistant director and direct supervisor for FSD interns and volunteers. She is an economist who works part-time for ALTERNATIVA in Masaya and part-time in Granada for another non-governmental organization.

 

Leonardo Martinez is the director of ALTERNATIVA and head supervisor for FSD interns. Also an economist, Mr. Martinez teaches business and economics classes at local universities on the weekends.

 

Note: Responsibilities offered to each participant will be proportionate to their level of experience. Participants who are new to development work may predominantly support and assist current project agendas, while those with much applicable experience may be able to assume greater responsibility. Research projects are strongly encouraged by this organization to support each program’s objective because minimal resources are currently allocated for research.

 

Working Conditions

Most projects involve a mix of time spent in the office and out in the field. While visiting clients and business sites, much of the work involves collaborating in groups, usually with at least one other ALTERNATIVA staff member. Depending on the interest of the interns, activities can focus more heavily on fieldwork (client visits/direct contact) or office work (paperwork, computer work, and research). ALTERNATIVA’s office is comfortable and includes a waiting area for clients, a tiny kitchenette, a few staff computers, and several more computers in a classroom for teaching. In October 2006, ALTERNATIVA completed the construction of its classroom, two small meeting rooms, and bathrooms. It also has a small courtyard for storing bicycles and motorcycles as well as a mascot—the director’s friendly pet dog, Estrella. The work schedule is from 8am to 5pm with a one-hour lunch break.

 

Organizational Background

One of the many factors underlying Nicaragua’s poverty is an overwhelming lack of financial resources for its citizens: many do not have the initial capital needed to get loans from banks, nor institutional support to develop and succeed in their businesses. In 1990, microfinance organizations began forming in Nicaragua, initially with the idea to provide poor clients with financial education and credit to start businesses. However, the majority of these microfinance organizations have gradually become loan companies that specialize only in credit. ALTERNATIVA’s seeks to change this contradiction through its own practices, emphasizing teaching and training, cooperative assistance and community banking groups, and very low interest rate loans. ALTERNATIVA also actively supports gender equality and women’s rights; the majority of its clients are women, and female staff members enjoy a balanced work environment.

 

About ALTERNATIVA’s Clients

ALTERNATIVA’s clients are low-income individuals and families who usually operate corner-stand businesses (selling food, creating artisan and tourist handicrafts, sewing clothes, making shoes, etc.). The majority of its clients are under 40 years of age and 65% are women.