¿Qué es "Esperanza Internacional"?

¡Hola a todos!

This is going to be my official blog about my time in the Dominican Republic. For those of you who don't know, I am working with a micro-financing organization this summer called Esperanza Internacional (aka: "Hope International") as an intern in their Operations Department. What Esperanza does is pretty amazing--they provide small loans (usually around $250 dollars in the Dominican Republic) to local entrepreneurs who don't have the money nor resources that they need to start their own businesses and thus provide for their families. A large majority of their associates are women. This is because mothers are typically the ones who provide the money for their children to eat, become educated, etc. Esperanza also provides other services as well, such as health services, education, literacy classes, water filtration loans, etc. Their focus is on holistic transformational development that is centered on Christ; basically, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to work with them, and I feel incredibly blessed that they let me come!

My main job while I'm here will be auditing one of their specific branches (more on this later), but I also will be able to go out into "el campo" (the field) to see the businesses of all of the local entrepreneurs that Esperanza works with. I'll get to record their stories, take their pictures, and just learn about their lives--and then send my findings to both Esperanza and Kiva, one of Esperanza's major partners. I'll also add some of those stories here :)

That's all for now! I'll be posting some of the experiences that I've already had in just a little while, but for now, I'm going to go make some more memories en este momento!