Emily Schechter

Financing Independence: A Nicaraguan NGO empowers women to run their own businesses, challenging traditional gender roles.

"I can't tell my husband I am involved with Pro Mujer and receiving a loan for my business," said a woman in the back of the room who hadn't spoken all evening. "I have to lie just to come to these meetings because I'm afraid of what would happen to me." 

This was my first focus group with Pro Mujer Nicaragua, a women's microfinance and health NGO. I was eager to find out what Nicaraguan women thought about gender roles, and this woman's comments quickly revealed my naïveté. I realized that there was a long road ahead in the process of changing gender attitudes and achieving women's equality.

It was September 2008, and I had been in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, for seven months as part of American Jewish World Service's World Partners Fellowship. Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, and much of that poverty can be found in the barrios of Managua, a city plagued by lack of beautification and constant urban sprawl. I was working with Pro Mujer Nicaragua, a branch of Pro Mujer International, a grassroots NGO that provides the most impoverished women in Nicaragua with the resources to start their own businesses through microfinance.

Barriers to women's entrepreneurship
I learned quickly in Managua that traditional Nicaraguan gender roles place women in the home and label them solely as caretakers. Nicaraguan women who want to grow small businesses are not often seen as credit-worthy candidates by banks.

Pro Mujer gives women the opportunity to build income and contribute financially to their families, a role that has been seen as exclusively the job of men. With the small loans they receive from Pro Mujer, clients can maintain their businesses and protect themselves from financial risk. For many Pro Mujer clients, it is the first time that they are making an independent income, no longer needing to be dependent on their husbands to fulfill personal and households necessities.

Unfortunately, this "reversing of gender roles" sometimes creates a head-on collision with Nicaraguan machismo, an extreme version of male chauvinism. For many women, it is expressed as a short-lived tension that soon fades as their husbands feel the financial relief of having a second income. Yet some must wage a much larger and more dangerous battle to gain their husbands' acceptance of the changing conditions in their homes.

One woman quietly took me aside at a meeting in the nearby town of Leon:  "My husband doesn't like that I am in Pro Mujer. He controls the loan I receive for my business and I'm not allowed to make any decisions. I don't know how to stand up to him."

For those clients who incur constant backlash on behalf of their participation in Pro Mujer, paying back the loans can be complicated. Clients are required to repay a small percentage every 14 days into a communal bank. If husbands controlling their wives' loans misuse or abuse the funds, than clients miss payments and other members of the community must make up the difference.

A Pro Mujer employee explained that these situations can lead to violence: "Domestic violence is often the recourse that these men will use to intimidate their wives to stop accepting loans from Pro Mujer," she said. "I have to be a source of confidence for my clients because they are afraid."

Changing minds, changing lives
Twice a month, Pro Mujer staff lead workshops on issues like gender equality, self esteem and household and communal leadership. The trainings are held on the bimonthly payment days, to make it easier for women to attend. With every word, Pro Mujer staff remind their clients of the value they hold to themselves and to their families.

The organization works hard to build confidence and empower each client.  Staff members stress the importance of open communication with family members: "Learn how to talk to each other. Don't be afraid, you just need to be persistent," explained a Pro Mujer health educator to a group of clients in Managua. Often, Pro Mujer staff ask their clients to invite their spouses (mostly husbands) to join their meetings in the hope that seeing the work of Pro Mujer first-hand will help ease the tensions at home.

The changes in women who succeed with the program are tangible. One client boldly stated, "I have my own money now, I don't need to depend on my husband anymore."  While it certainly doesn't happen overnight, with time, patience and hard work clients begin to see a difference. The ability to support themselves generates a strong sense of self esteem and empowerment. Clients place a high value on the ability to support their children and give them the opportunities they didn't have. It never ceased to amaze me how hard they work. 

 

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