Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Project, in June 2013 undergraduate Sarah Baran interviewed Maria Yapura, senior administrator for the Mitre and Marilo agencies of Protagonizar, a microfinance lender in the lower class community of San Miguel, Buenos Aires, Argentina. In this interview Yapura discusses Protagonizar's development since its establishment, the organization's impact on the community, and how faith and education are integrated into its work.

Can you please share with me a little bit more about your background, your family, your past work experience, and what lead you to Protagonizar?

I am an only child, and my mother passed away ten years ago. I do not have a good relationship with my father. He lives in the center of Buenos Aires, where he has a small gas service business. I live alone now, but I have family nearby. My aunt and uncle are my neighbors. I have lived in Santa Brigida for twenty-eight years, more or less. I was born and lived the first couple of years of my life in the center of Buenos Aires, but my parents separated when I was young. My grandmother used to live in Santa Brigida, so my mother moved out here because it’d be more comfortable to be near family and raise a child. Thus, my mother moved out here and began to work in the area, and I came with her.

What experiences did you accumulate before Protagonizar?

I was an accounting teacher for four years in different high schools. Then in 2004 I began to volunteer and work for Protagoniar. I found out about Protagonizar through the church because I used to teach religious classes there as a catechist in the chapel. This was the same chapel where Protagonizar began. Protagonizar employed five people in 2005, so I presented my resume and applied. Thus I have been working here for eight years now.

Can you speak a little more about the early beginnings of Protagonizar and how it has developed since then?

As I mentioned, at the beginning it was first volunteers. There were about ten, more or less, but the number was not always constant. Sometimes people would have other commitments, or something would come up in their family and they would not be able to help out for a while.

Once people were contracted, things changed, and the organization grew rapidly. For example, in 2005 we were still in the church for the first couple of months of the year, but in April we opened the office here in the neighborhood, Mitre, and in March of the same year we opened the other office in Santa Brigida. Immediately, we got to work preparing the offices, as we had to put them in order and decorate them. It was a lot of work. Then, we started with a system that was more professional to keep track of all of the credits and the different groups. During this time, we were also learning how to work together as a team and how to understand one another. Everything was new for us. It was a lot of fun.

To advertise, we broadcasted on the local radio stations. We hung signs and posters in the streets. We put up ads in local papers. We gave talks in the local churches—this was probably the most effective method, this and talking about it with neighbors or people we knew. This has always been the most effective strategy, mouth to mouth, and it is essentially still our most effective means of publicity today. We get enough interest now from our entrepreneurs telling their family, neighbors, friends, etc. that we do not need to do be advertising like we did in the beginning.

We also had problems in the very beginning. For example, in 2004 we had the objective of growing but did not have a lot of experience. Thus many people—in total probably around fifty people—took credits and could not return the money.

When we started, we were six people, only four when we were in the chapel. As you know, Jesuits founded Protagonizar, consequently many of those who started out as volunteers were connected to the church in some way as catechists or other volunteers. This is pertinent because we work within a neighborhood we know. Our economic level was similar among all of us; we were all from and worked in these neighborhoods. Yet we each had different experiences, beliefs, and ways of living the faith. We worked for the mission of Protagonizar. We adapted and learned. With time, new people were integrated into the foundation, and we are now twelve. There is more diversity, and not everyone is from the same economic position now.

What are the responsibilities of your current position?

I am a senior administrator and thus am in charge of this office [Mitre] and also Marilo. I pay the credits and have the responsibility of handling the money. I work as an accountant for the organization and supervise the other employees in the offices as well. I organize meetings to consolidate information. I am responsible for the training of new employees as well as for the entrepreneurs. We all do a little of everything—whatever the institution needs to be maintained.

What is the role of education in Protagonizar?

The education we provide is basic. The money for us is the means. It is not the end. We are more concerned with providing these means so that the ends—the most important being the basic needs of life, food, shelter, health, etc.—can be realized. We provide the money so that the entrepreneurs have the opportunity to pursue the fullest capacity of their business. Our work is rooted in solidarity, and education is also ample. We educate financially with rules and regulations that ensure that the entrepreneurs complete their part of the deal, but all of this is only one part. This neighborhood of Mitre is the poorest of the four, and the people that work and live here are accustomed to the government providing for them and supporting them financially. Here, with Protagonizar, nothing is free. They borrow; they do not receive, and in this manner they learn about their own capacities.

What is the role of faith in your own life?

In my life, it is central. For me, God is the reason that I am working here. My training and my education could have led to a different position, one where I would receive more money; however, I am working here because I feel useful here. How can I explain this to you? I am happy when someone says that now they can have a wall and are no longer as cold during the night because of my work. One thing, a basic need that can improve a situation, this is what ultimately makes me feel helpful.

What is the role of faith in Protagonizar?

Protagonizar would not work without the faith of the people—in the employees and the entrepreneurs. We live in a world that is far from a utopia. In a country like Argentina, where there is a lot of poverty and people live dependent on the government, the idea of a credit or loan organized and run the way we do is crazy. People are not accustomed to this idea, and when we first started, we were something new in Argentina. There were no other microfinance organizations. We did not know how to grow at first. Last year there was a conference on microfinance in the la Universidad Catolica [Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina]. We attended, and it was helpful because I learned more about the theory part that can be put into practice. I already know the field part of the work, but it was helpful to learn how to structure my work. In these types of conferences, it is always valuable to learn more and improve the way you conduct a microfinance organization. In other countries that have a greater presence of microfinance, the culture that surrounds the work is different. They promote an attitude of entrepreneurship, which can be seen, for example, in Bolivia. The relationship of dependency is not as great. It is easier to give credit if people are already accustomed to the idea and the concept that they will have to return it.

In your opinion what are the impacts of Protagonizar on the community?

It works to foster empowerment. It is the value of having something; this business is your own. Not just anyone has this capacity to have their own business because it takes a mountain of resilience to return and start anew when things do not work out. Moreover, it is the nature of business to be variable. Sometimes it works, and then there are other moments when it does not. More than just economic, the trust is also logical. It is more personal, and when the entrepreneurs realize it is a mutual trust and that they need to care for the institute as well, they place value in maintaining this relationship. I believe this is most important. Moreover, we are a place where people can come if they need something. I love this part. For me, with my responsibilities, it is easy to always be thinking about the money, the rate, the quota, etc., because it is a constant tension between this need and the people. It is easy to get caught up in only thinking about the numbers, but I love when the people come to the office and I am reminded that no it is not a number. It is a person with a family, someone who gets sick. It’s a different reality then.

For example, I often think of this time when one of the entrepreneurs told me his story, and I started crying when I heard it. To give you a summary, there was a man in the group Floricitas [little flowers], and he told me that eight years ago he worked as a cartañero. He would walk around the neighborhood with his cart collecting others people’s trash to recycle it for money. He told me that one day he was walking when it suddenly clicked. He realized: “I don’t have to live this way. What am I doing? What is my life?” With this insight, he began to gather all the money he could save from what he earned. After a while he was able to start his own business selling chicken. Today he has a business with his children, and his life is different. We have the privilege to witness what happened with this man. Seeing the power and the force of someone with a cart who thinks this will be his whole life but then now has a business, I realized too the power of God, and I cried and cried. It was so powerful.

This is the principle difference between us and other banks. Here we recognize the importance of the people. We know who they are, where they live, and if a child is sick. In the bank, you are a number and nothing more.

What is your favorite part of work?

I love to teach. It’s a rich experience in the classes of Cuentas Claras. The more people in the class, the more fun it is. I also love talking with the people because, as I mentioned before, it gives me a new focus. It’s grounding because they are the reason that I am here. It reminds me of our objective.