It can be done: women and mothers as entrepreneurs

PARAGUAY, Dequeni, Noelia Ferreira •

In collaboration with Visión Bank, as part of the project “Women as Entrepreneurs, Promoting Children,” forty-six women and mothers were awarded certificates for successfully completing the manicure and pedicure course in a ceremony held at the Community Center 12 de octubre in San Antonio; each of the micro entrepreneurs also received a tool kit. —

The communities where the project was implemented are located in a structurally weak area where the simple houses made of corrugated cardboard are hopelessly overcrowded and several basic needs are not met.

Women in the communities of Ita Poty and Ita Koty, in the city of San Antonio, work mainly as domestic servants and street vendors to care for their children, who are otherwise left in the care of someone somehow responsible while their mothers go to work.

The pandemic has massively exacerbated the poverty situation in the affected communities (unemployed family members, lower family income, high percentage of children with learning difficulties), which is why they need our support, accompaniment, and protection.

In these communities, there are no kindergartens or other spaces for the timely stimulation of young children, so the children enter the formal education system without this important foundation, which makes the adaptation and learning process slower and less efficient.

Empowering mothers as entrepreneurs

The course was primarily attended by mothers and housewives who wanted to start their own businesses that would allow them to earn an income without neglecting the education of their children. In addition to the job training, the mothers received workshops on leadership and motivation, sales, and a motivational lecture on entrepreneurship. They also talked about the importance of women becoming protagonists of change, no matter where they are. All of this is possible with discipline and perseverance.

The banking project also explained the Vipay app, a digital tool with 100% online access that allows transactions from cell phones, so that women can carry out their transactions directly from where they are. In this way, we promote the development, financial inclusion and bankarization of entrepreneurial women and mothers.

“I’m going to get ahead”

Verónica Pereira (40), one of the graduates, mother of two children, is proud of what she has achieved: “I want to tell you about my experience, my dream and, above all, my reality. I am a seamstress and now I am a professional beautician.” This woman is already working in her community.

Rosalina Barrios, in turn, stressed, “For me, this is something very important, I will put it into practice and move forward.”

During this process, Dequení is taking care of her children – boys and girls from 0 to 4 years old – in the Alfombrita Viajera (Traveling Play Mat) project in the communities of Ita Koty and Ita Poty in the city of San Antonio.

This is the second year of implementation of the project in collaboration with Visión Bank, which offers women and mothers the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial skills in their communities.

To learn more about Dequení’s projects and how you can support them, contact Mariane Bauer mbauer@dequeni.org.py

Institutional page: www.dequeni.org.py

Original: Spanish, 11.06.2022. Translation: Maria Fischer @schoenstatt.org