Namaste Direct: Lifting Guatemalan Business Women to Thrive

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

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People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

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and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

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inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential. Business can be

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such a force for good in the
world, elevating humanity. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want

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Working on purpose. Now. Here
is your host, doctor Elise Cortes.

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Welcome after Working on Purpose program.
Thanks for tuning in again this week.

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I'm your host, Doctor Release Cortez. Join you live from Dallas, Texas,

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which is home base for me.
If you don't know me yet,

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I'm a man management consultant specializing in
meaning and purpose, organizational logotherapist, inspirational

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speaker, social scientist, and author. You can learn more about me and

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how we can work together at atleastcore
test dot com and Gusto dashnapp dot com.

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Let me thank my partner and sponsor, work Proud. We are a

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perfect collaboration. Everyone wants to know
they matter and that the work they do

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is meaningful. And appreciated. Work
Proud is a mobile platform built to encourage

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employees to share stories and recognize each
other's contribution. Work Proud empowers hr and

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business leaders to help company cultures where
all employees are inspired to feel proud of

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their work. I'm proud of their
company. You can learn more at workproud

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dot com. With us today our
two guests, if we can get them

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both in, we have Bob Graham. He is the founder of Noma Stay

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Direct and Noma Steak Guatemaya and joined
us from San Francisco. He has been

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a businessman, CPA, philanthropist and
author of Fifty to Fifty at fifty Going

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Just Beyond. Juhinnia Duran is the
executive director of Noma Steak Guatemaya and joins

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us today from Antigua, Guatemala.
We'll be talking about why Noma, Stay

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Direct and Guatemaya exist work these organizations
due to empower business women in Guatemala and

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their impact their work is having on
the women and their communities. Bob and

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U Hinya, welcome to working on
a purpose. B and Venita alter Rohando,

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It's so great to have you.
We may where well. You're so

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often we are see if we can
get Bob's audio to work. But in

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the meantime, we're going to start
our conversation with you, Hinea, and

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let me let me give some contexts
listeners and viewers to why we're having this

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conversation. I just recently came across
Nama State Direct because I was invited to

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join their board, and I said, when I found out what they're up

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to, I said, absolutely yes, I am interested. So for those

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of you who have never heard of
them, we'll talk more about them as

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we go along in this conversation.
But Nama State Direct is a non profit

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organization that empowers women in Guatemala through
the use of financial literacy, training and

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mentoring, as well as through the
provision of necessary micro loans to jump start

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or improve upon their personally own businesses. So it's incredibly inspiring. I love

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the notion that we are literally uplifting
these women and their families, were empowering

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them through this education, teaching them
to be better business women and making a

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difference in their profit, their income
and their business documents. So I'm very,

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very proud to be on the board
and help you to serve. So

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to get us started here you Henney
up, if you would help us understand

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what it's like to live and try
to make a living in Guatemala. You've

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been there almost your whole life,
but one year if I, if I

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did the math right, I have
been here for twelve years, No,

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since the twenty twelve Okay, Yeah, and what's it like to help us

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understand bring us into the world of
Guatemala. What's it like there to try

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to live, to try to work. What's happening? Yeah? And thank

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you for this great opportunity to give
your audience a quick overview about Gatemala and

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nowur women Whatatemala is a nation that
is not by its switch and their culture.

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However, it is equally known by
severe inequality and poverty. Ironically,

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guatemalabus the highest GDP in Central America, yet still has some of the highest

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manufish and modern child mortality rates in
the region. The primary costs of poverty

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in Guatemala are its economic, social, and land inequality rates, which are

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among the highest in the world.
It is estimated that the top five percent

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controls or owns more than eighty five
percent of the wealth in Guatemala. In

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turns, Guatemala has no real little
glass, and poverty is tremendously concentrated in

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rural areas with indigenous populations. More
than seventy percent of guatemala indigenous population lives

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in extreme what Themala's corre situation of
inequality and poverty is hundreds of years in

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the making. Whatatemala, one of
the ethnic Mayas, was first conquered by

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Spanish in the sixteenth century. After
gaining independence in eighteen twenty one in eighteen

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twenty one, the state never achieved
through the stability. The end of the

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decade long Guatemalan Revolution in nineteen fifty
four was only met with the beginning of

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a thirty six year war civil war
between nineteen sixty and nineteen ninety six.

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Sounds like kind of depressing all this
information, but is the truth and I

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want the audience to know why we
are doing our job here. The indigenous

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population was never actually involved in Gatemala's
conflict until the third and most a stay

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in place. In the civil war
throughout the late seventies and eighties, there

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were more than two hundred thousand people
murdered and more than a million people displaced.

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Yet the events of the twentieth century
are not the root causes of the

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poverty in Guatemala, and did not
create the nations in equality. The violent

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conflict greatly in here in the state's
ability to develop into a modern nation,

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and therefore worsened assisting conditions. In
reality, the country's historical pattern of exclusion

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dates back to the eighteens. Unlike
its landscape and people, Guatemala's economy is

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rather singular and has always been dominated
by agriculture, particularly coffee. When the

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market for coffee emerged in the late
eighteen hundreds, economic elite, mostly of

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European origin, utilized all the Spanish
legislation to claim and privatize large amounts of

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land to use for plantations. These
not only destroyed the tradition of communal lands,

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but also forced indigenous people to move
to higher altitude unless fertile land subsisistems

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farming. During the Civil War,
the number of families with too little land

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to support themselves increased by thirty seven
percent, and the rate of landless persants

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reached one quarter of the workforce.
In nineteen seventy nine, two percent of

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the population control of the population control
more than two thirds of the land,

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and it is estimated that the situation
has not changed since the causes of poverty

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in Guatemala are heavily rooted in his
history of inequality and exclusivity. However,

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going forward, Gatemala has a strong
potential to reach social objectives and alleviate poverty

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through economic growth, development and equality. Now, through all these years,

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women have been living in a machista
culture where they are treated as a second

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or third class citizens with none of
or minimal opportunities to reach their creams.

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So you can see that this country
has been fighting all the time, and

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that's why we are doing the job
that we are doing with women. Oh,

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Henny, that was an incredible historical
narration, one that I wasn't actually

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expecting. But I'm just lighted by. And I want to also say thank

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you to you, HENNYE, for
joining us and being part of this conversation

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in English. English is your second
or third language, and I want to

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thank you for working with us in
English. And you're doing beautifully. So

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thank you, thank you. So
you're welcome. You're so welcome. So,

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Bob, I'm so glad you're able
to join us. Thanks for keeping

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at it right, keeping great to
be here, right. I'm so happy

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to know you and happy to be
inspired by you and connected to your beautiful

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vision. And if you could,
I want us to be a little bit

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brief so we can get through this
kind of introductory stuff here. But tell

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us how it all started back in
nineteen seventy three when you visited Guatemala during

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your Kellogg Foundation fellowship. This is
what got the vision started. Well,

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Elise, you're touching out a key
event in my life. On that trip,

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I spent three days of the immersion
into the social, the political,

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economic, geniographic sectors of Guatemala and
it's life, and I just fell in

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love with the people and the scenery
and the country and the climate and the

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intense colors that you see in Guatemala. I was joyful and at the same

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time stunned by the extreme poverty and
literacy and the war torn sorrows that were

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endured by so many of the people, especially the Mayans, especially in the

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rural areas. They clung to just
tiny little farming plots on hillside land,

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or as indentured laborers on the vast
coffee and cotton plantations that belonged to the

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wealthy elite. And we visited them
in the fields and it was common to

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see their foremen were wearing pistols and
pretty hard scowls. It was not a

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pleasant life. Someday, someday I
thought, I want to help people who

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suffer in this way. About ten
years later that internalized thought became indeed,

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when I planned to put fifty percent
of my money in fifty percent of my

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time into philanthropic ventures at age fifty
fifty to fifty to fifty. I began

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that program in nineteen eighty six,
and I was experiencing so much joy that

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five years later I went all in
and began devoting one hundred percent of my

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time to serving others, and that
has continued to this day. I am

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so delighted, Bob, because you
know, this show has been on air

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for six years, and so much
of what I'm trying to do in the

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world is one helping to awake and
and ignite that passion in people to do

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something with their one precious life,
and at the same time to be able

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to for leaders, to be able
to create a workplace where people actually want

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to come to and they thrive and
they do business that betters the world.

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So I'm so honored to be on
your board with you and serve with you

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your vision, your mission, your
passion is so beautiful and the perfect example

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that I want to be able to
share with my listeners to be able to

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help them reach for what else they
can do to serve from their life.

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And I also think it's really amazing
your book, this idea of fifty to

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fifty. At fifty something does happen
when we get to that fifty mark that

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says about we got it? You
know, we've got more years behind us

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than we do ahead of us,
probably, so what are we going to

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do with our lives? So I
really appreciate an applaud how you continue to

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serve from your passion and the purpose. So you HINNYA, would you just

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say briefly and we have a little
bit of time before we go into our

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next segment here, I think it's
important for listeners to understand how you became

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involved with No Mistay and your role
as executive director. Why is it important,

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how do you get involve and why
is what you're doing important? Okay,

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yes, thank you for asking and
your interest. I didn't start at

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fifty. I started fifty five,
yeah, Jaquie in twenty in twenty eleven,

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I was going fifty five and I
was going to retire after working in

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a Swiss company called Siba here in
Guatemala. And after I left the company,

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I built an avocado farm for ten
years. But I felt like I

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still needed to do something for Guatemala
because the country has given me a lot.

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I was able to raise by myself
three children and I was in a

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safe economical situation. So I asked
myself, who is going to give a

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job to these women, women fifty
five years old in Guatemala where they are

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always looking for young people. And
that was the big question mark I had

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every night I went to beil thinking
am I in an impossible dream or what?

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So then, as you know destiny, I had the opportunity to meet

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both through a person here in Antigua
and he gave me the job. I

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had experience in database and analysis and
as they was starting to use the basis

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to analyze the results they had over
the years before twenty eleven. So now

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as a executive director, I work
with a team of ten colleagues and we

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are always looking for opportunities to help
our micro entrepreneurs in areas we work I

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mean a regionally like Sakarate pegasim Atenango. The departments of the country are looking

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for new opportunities to grow. I
like my work because I have always thought

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we should help our put poor people. How we have to help them to

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fish and not give them the fish. That's something that I always say.

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We should not create dependency, but
make them value themselves for what they are

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capable of doing. And that's exactly
what we are doing. There is no

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price for the smiles and gratitude you
see of the women of the program for

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what they have learned through the education
and advisory. They feel supported and that

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we value what they are really doing
to survive and to help their families.

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They learn also to love themselves as
women and their role in the family.

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So that's why I like working with
them, Namasti, because of the value

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we are giving to each of the
women we have been working with. So

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beautiful you, Henny, and I
can't wait to be by your side working

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with you in the trenches. But
on that note, let's grab our first

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break. I'm your host, doctor
Realis Cortes. We're on the air with

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Bob Graham of Namaste Direct and you
Heney durand Namaste Iguatemaya. We've been talking

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about why this organization exists, what's
the vision that they're out to accomplish.

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After the break, we're going to
get into what they actually what they actually

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do to help serve women. Stay
with us, We'll be right back.

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Doctor Release Cortes is a management consultant
specializing in meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker

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and author. She helps companies visioneer
for greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose

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inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures that
elevate fulfillment, performance, and commitment within

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the workforce. To learn more or
to invite Elise to speak to your organization,

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please visit her at Eleasecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get

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your employees working on purpose. This
is working on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.

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To reach our program today or open
a conversation with Alise, send an

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email to a lease Alise at Elisecortes
dot com. Now back to working on

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purpose. Thanks for stating with us, and welcome back to working on purpose.

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As I've watched the pandemic continue on, we look for ways to help

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companies support their employees handle the anxiety, stress, depression, and feeling disconnected

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while also helping to lift and inspire
them with ongoing professional development. So we

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now offer a wellbeing weather ar a
learning series called Grab Your Gusto Vital well

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Being from the inside Out. You
can learn more about it at eliscoretest dot

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00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.079
com or send me an email to
at least coortest dot com and we'll talk

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about it if you're just joining the
program. My guests today are you Hennie

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Durand, executive director of NOMA STE
Guatemaya, calling in from Antigua, Guatemala,

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and Bob Graham, founder of NOMA
State Direct and Guatemaya, calling it

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from San Francisco. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes. So for this

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next segment, I really want to
get into just really what you're doing specifically

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to help women, because it can
be hard for people who are so so

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far away from the action to understand
this. So you Handy, you already

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said in your introduction some of the
things there's a lot of agricultural businesses that

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happen there. But what kinds of
businesses would you say? Generally you pick

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the women entrepreneurs that you serve.
Okay, first, Alice, I would

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like to explain to the audience that
our women or the women we work with,

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normally, they don't start the business
because they want to. They love

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to, that's the dream. They
start because necessity they need to help the

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husband if they have one with the
household expenses to subsist in this country,

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with its lack of opportunities, as
I plan, initially, women have all

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also continued with their home activities for
this reason. The most common businesses we

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do is a storefronts, which are
little grocery stores in the garage of the

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houses because they are at the house. Normally, they businesses are from home.

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We have thirty two percent of Howard
women and doing that. They also

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sell shoes and clothes that come from
the States, use clothes that they are

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important to Whatatemal that's thirty percent of
our clients, and also prepare food with

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twenty seven percent. You can see
that the percentage is high if we are

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all of those three type of businesses. But there are more and I can

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give you some others like weaving,
selling traditional clothing, dress making, selling

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houseware, selling cosmetics, making and
selling lotions, selling natural medicines, selling

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silver yearly making and selling chocolate.
Also honey they also sell sell fruit and

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vegetables, and this is mostly in
community markets selling firewood raising and chickens and

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eggs, and also pigs and those
and more of different type of business making

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to fias making tamilies. So there
are a lot of businesses that we help.

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Really we do not care what type
of business they have as long as

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they want to increase their costume.
Excellent. That is an incredible variety.

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Okay, So now I want to
get into just some of the more of

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the programs and starts. But before
we do that, Bob, we didn't

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get a chance to the first part
to really sort of presence your background,

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which you just very briefly just help
our listeners understand the background that you had

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before I ask you about some of
the financial literacy work that you do,

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so then they can understand that,
well, my background is ours a CPA,

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and as a CPA really formulated some
strong views about how to do effective

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business. People of out and asked
me how did you become Why did you

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become a CPA? And so I
have to tell a little story because I

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can actually remember when I decided to
be a CPA, and that was at

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age sixteen, and I was living
in a small town in Red Oak,

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Iowa, and junior in high school
and stopped at my dad's insurance agency one

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evening after school and noticed that there
was a stranger working in one of the

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spare offices, and I asked my
dad, who is that guy. He

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said, well, he's the CPA
from Omaha, and he's down here for

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a few days. He's going to
do your tax work for his local clients.

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And then he kind of lowered his
head and lowered his voice, and

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he says, I think he's pulling
in forty dollars a day. I talk

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forty dollars. My god, I'm
making forty cents an hour after school at

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the local newspaper. Dad, I
want to talk to this guy. So

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he introduced us and the nice guy, and he started recruiting me to be

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a future CPA, and so I
made up my mind that is what I

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was going to do, and I
entered the profession right out of college in

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fifty nine. I became the youngest
CPA in California in nineteen sixty one.

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Two years later and all of them, they became a and international CPA firm.

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And before I went into business that
I love being a CPA, you

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know, and how has that affected
in my work? Well, I've read

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that the characteristics of a successful CPA
includes accountability, determination, innovation, reliability,

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organizational skills, and the small dose
of perfectionism. And I can think,

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I think that you can see those
attributes in Noma Stays DNA. By

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the way, I love how you
tell that story in your book. It's

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delightful. And your book is really
one part memoir, one part inspiration,

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and there's many other parts that I
could speak to, but it's beautiful.

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So let me let me just applaud
that first. Okay, So I want

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to make sure that our listeners understan
and that you provide financial literacy to the

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women business owners. You also provide
mentorship. I also want to quickly acknowledge

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the comment Melanie Aguado has joined us
here. I won't read the comment just

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now, but I just want to
make sure that Melanie will hear you.

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Thank you so much for joining the
conversation. We will absolutely address your comment,

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probably off air, but thank you
so much for listening for us.

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So, Bob, help us understand
a bit about how Namasty Direct addresses financial

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literacy for the women business owners.
What's the propris great. Financial literacy is

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really a basic building block our principal
methodology helping these women's as personal business advisors.

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And we'll talk about them a little
later, but these women need the

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building blocks, the fundamentals, and
we can teach the fundamentals in groups them

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five to our sessions each nine month
cycle, and we use lectures and video

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clips and wal chart media that our
educational specialists have developed. And for example,

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the curriculum for the first cycle includes
dreams and goals, business plan development,

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separation, business and personal money,
business budgets, personal budgets, how

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to calculate profits, keeping records,
leadership, self esteem, importance of debt

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service and managing extortion threats, which
is an unfortunate situation in Guatemala that is

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quite less. I would you know, many of us businessmans could use that

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kind of training. I hope it's
the extortion part, but yeah, all

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of that this sounds pretty good to
me. So all right, well,

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let's talk also about the mentorship.
So you, henniya, if you could

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tell us just a little bit.
We don't have too much time to hear

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a lot of details about it,
but a little bit about the personalized mentorship

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you provide to the women business owners. Okay, yes, I would like

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to add that the education and the
advisory we do is adapted to the needs

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of the women because we have twenty
five percent who are completely illiterate and twenty

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percent only went to first to fourth
grade, so maybe the topics are like

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very basic, but they don't know
how to read and write. So the

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problem has the three pillars, the
education, the monthly mentoring, and the

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microroom. The business advisor is the
one who visits the client every twenty eight

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days to see how she is doing
personally and business wise, because if the

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woman is not right in health,
or she has a problem or something,

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she has to find some support to
be able to do her business right.

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And he also, as he does
these nine times during the cycle, that

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means every twenty eight days, he
asked her how did she apply the educational

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session, how she is doing in
the sales, how the expenses were,

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and see if she reached the objective
of the business plan or what measures do

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they have to take to drive the
business to her objective. She said,

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at the beginning, all the data
that is kept written on the field to

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the office, we enter that information
in our database that we call prosper that

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has five hundred fields for each women, and then we analyze the results by

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client, by growth, by region, by business advisor, or any way.

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We want to see how the results
are doing in the according to our

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objectives of the year and also our
mission. So I think that we are

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an MgO with a lot of information
to be shared with our donors and they

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can see how their money is invested
on each women women we work with,

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Beautiful. That sounds like a lot
of accountability and handholding and just encouragement to

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me, beautiful, Bob, would
you just briefly tell us a little bit

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about the micro loans. There's I
know you offer customized micro loans to help

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women entrepreneurs formalize their business models and
their finances. So what kind of sums

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are we talking about? What are
these loans usually used For the first cycle,

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the loans are for two hundred and
fifty dollars the equivalent see and they

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run up to one thousand dollars in
the third cycle, and then subsequent after

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that, subsequent cycles in what we
call our star clients can get loans from

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two thousand to four thousand dollars they're
repayable and nine equal monthly installments together with

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interest at the lowest Guatemalan microfinance interest
rate of two percent a month, along

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with a two percent loan guarantee fee. Assuming successful repayment by the clients,

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that money is returned. We're a
great believer in savings and we have to

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encourage savings. We have a non
state savings club where we match the clients

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contributions dollar for dollar. Pretty good
match, I would say, and I'm

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happy to report, even with the
evil effects of COVID, that the women

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at this time are successfully completing their
loans for ninety one point seven percent of

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the time. Hen you gave you
examples of what his loans are funding,

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and they're so varied that sometimes I
think the women are following the old business

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adage of find the need and fill
it. The most innovative business that I

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have seen was owned by a woman
in Honduras. Since she had a very

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successful lottery. I said, what's
the secret of your success running a lottery?

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And she says, Look, she
says, I people love lotteries,

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and I have a great advantage over
the government lottery because I'm giving out prizes

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that my clients customers want I go
around. I asked them what would you

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like to win? And then I
buy that price and put them in the

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lottery. That is brilliant. That
is brilliant, innovative. Let's let's grab

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our last break here. I'm doctor
Releas Cortez, your host, who are

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on the air with Bob Graham of
NOMA State Direct and Juhnnie durandev Namaste Godemaya.

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We've been talking about what these organizations
do to help women in Guatemala.

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After the break, you learn more
about the actual impact of how this organization

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00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:44.559
and these people matter. Stay with
us. We'll be right back. Doctor

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00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:50.759
release Cortes is a management consultant specializing
in meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker and

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00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:57.000
author. She helps companies visioneer for
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired

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00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:02.680
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate
fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the

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00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:07.200
workforce. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

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00:33:07.559 --> 00:33:12.839
please visit her at Elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your

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00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:23.599
employees working on purpose. This is
working on purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.

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00:33:24.119 --> 00:33:29.440
To reach our program today or open
a conversation with Alise. Send an email

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00:33:29.480 --> 00:33:37.160
to Aleise Alise at Elisecortes dot com. Now back to Working on Purpose.

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Thanks for stating with us, and
welcome back to Working on Purpose. I

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mentioned after the first break about the
Grab Your Gusto well being what Webinar Learning

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00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:52.400
series. The content of this program
is adapted from part one of my recently

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published book called Purpose Ignited, How
Inspiring lears ignite passion and Elevatecause. I

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wrote it to awaken readers to their
passion and purpose and help transform them into

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instpirational leaders who enlighten the workplace and
elevate the contribution of business to all of

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stakeholders, something kind of like we're
seeing in Bob and Eu Henya. If

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you're just joining us. My guests
are eu Hennia Doran, executive director of

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00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:15.800
NAMA ste Guatemaia, calling in from
Antigua, Guatemala, and Bob Graham,

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00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:20.400
founder of NOMA State Direct and Guatemaia, calling in from San Francisco. I'm

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your host, Doctor Lei's Cortes.
So for this last segment, I really

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want to get into the difference the
impact that you're making as I say,

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I'm so riveted on this notion of
helping more people to get the ability to

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have the impact that you both of
you were having. So, Bob,

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you and I talked about this when
I was going through my board interviews.

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You've chosen to serve women business owners, specifically Guatemala. So for our listeners

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to understand is you and I have
talked about it. Why invest or focus

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on women? Ah? Well,
simply stated women or the future of Guatemala.

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There are two major factors in our
program, the facilitator moving our very

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favorable short term results to the long
term. First, because it's knowledge based

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and therefore internalized by the women,
they will carry this forward. Secondly,

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women uniformly invest their newfound profits in
the family, thereby benefiting the children and

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both now and in the future.
A study in Guatemala showed that women are

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fourteen times more likely than their male
companions to invest extra income in household expenditures

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such as food, medicines, and
children, all of which benefit the children.

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They uniformally spend ninety to ninety five
percent of their increased money on the

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family, as compared to ten percent
by males. Here's another thing. Women

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work to see that their children stay
in school longer, especially the girls.

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Women always tell us that they want
better lives for their children, and they

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have a fierce determination to make that
come true. All of our clients have

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dreams, and that's why they make
better students. Beyond that, women are

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much more likely to attend pure based
training sessions and repeat their loans than men.

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Everybody benefits when women become more independent
and have greater resources. No matter

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what your personal interests may be,
poverty, family planning, health, water,

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nutrition, women's empowerment, social justice, economic justice, these women all

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have something for you. We need
to just just take that as a screenshot,

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a little blip right there, and
just throw that all over the world.

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Bob, I completely agree with that. So so far, you have

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trained over four thousand women since two
thousand and eight through the NOMA State Business

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Development Program. I think that's an
incredible way to spend your one precious life.

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As we've been talking about, I'd
love to hear from each of you

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just briefly, what does that mean
for you. First of all, I

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am glad I met Bob. He's
a person with a great heart level of

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inspire anyone who is able to listen
to his history and how much he loves

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what Emala and the working women.
He understood from the very beginning, how

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their lives were, and how much
trouble they have in the society. I

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am proud to say I work with
him and that the objective of my life

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is done now that I have been
able to conduct, through our colleagues,

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a better life for thousands of women
and their families. The lessons for the

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children from their mother's experience being a
great micro entrepreneur who was able to let

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them to school, college and probably
to the university, is the same for

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00:38:02.719 --> 00:38:08.480
a better one of money. That's
all. That's my real feelings. So

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beautiful, so worth it. Yeah, from my standpoint, at least you

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know, our work is very enjoyable, generates satisfaction, and it serves the

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purpose that's higher than the self.
It provides a vehicle for the expression of

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00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:34.840
love. Beautiful, Oh my god. It provides a vehicle for the expression

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00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:40.719
of love. That's another film clip. It certainly is. It provides a

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life of happiness, which is something
that we all need and desire. Mm

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00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:52.159
hm oh beautiful. So one of
the other things that you you were,

406
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:55.480
the three of us have talked about
here is you report that over the last

407
00:38:55.480 --> 00:39:00.039
five years there's been a forty four
increase in micro entrepreneurs monthly income for each

408
00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:06.119
nine month loan and education cycle completed. So that's amazing already. So paint

409
00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:08.599
a picture for us how this improves
the lies of these Gorman entrepreneurs. Could

410
00:39:08.639 --> 00:39:14.199
you speak to that you, Henna, Yes, I am going to give

411
00:39:14.239 --> 00:39:19.280
you a real example of one of
the women we have worked with. Her

412
00:39:19.400 --> 00:39:23.920
name is Salva Loos. When she
became part of the program, she recently

413
00:39:24.039 --> 00:39:31.960
had a drake and her left part
of the case was paralyzed. And besides

414
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.559
that, she was also living with
an alcoholic husband and she had three boys

415
00:39:37.960 --> 00:39:44.639
and a little store where she was
making three hundred and forty six dollars a

416
00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:50.639
month. When she finished her first
cycle with us, she was making seven

417
00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:58.639
hundred and ninety six dollars. That
means that she doubled her profits. In

418
00:39:58.679 --> 00:40:05.000
her next cycle, she maintain maintained
her eight hundred dollars a month profit rate.

419
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:13.119
But that what she was doing she
was investing, thinking in new areas

420
00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:20.960
where she can grow her business.
And also she was participating in the conference

421
00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:27.519
and learned how to handle her alcoholic
husband, so she was doing better in

422
00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:34.559
business. So in her first cycle, she became part of the program we

423
00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:40.199
call the Stars, and she had
besides the store that she made it bigger,

424
00:40:42.119 --> 00:40:47.320
created a hardware store because there were
a lot of constructions in her hometown

425
00:40:47.920 --> 00:40:53.599
and she noticed that people had to
go to Antiwa and they could easily buy

426
00:40:53.639 --> 00:40:58.880
it from her. She made a
deal with the bank where she was able

427
00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:04.480
to pay check, received payments for
bills, and she got the commission there.

428
00:41:05.079 --> 00:41:10.119
She also made tortillas, so she
created a lot of different business and

429
00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:16.920
when she finished that cycle in twenty
fourteen, her monthly profit was three thousand,

430
00:41:17.159 --> 00:41:22.960
one hundred and five dollars a month, that is nine hundred percent more

431
00:41:23.599 --> 00:41:31.400
from her starting profit in twenty eleven. And with this profit, she was

432
00:41:31.559 --> 00:41:40.000
able to pay for a cornea operation
that one of her songs needed without getting

433
00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:46.239
involved in another loan from a bank
or from also whatever. She learned how

434
00:41:46.360 --> 00:41:51.559
to say how to pay and she
was able to do that. So she

435
00:41:51.719 --> 00:41:58.679
is doing a great with her business. Unfortunately, she recently had a CROs

436
00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:05.519
cycle accident in Gatemala. But as
she relegated part of the business to these

437
00:42:06.039 --> 00:42:10.199
kids, so they are able to
continue if she is not there. I

438
00:42:10.280 --> 00:42:22.079
bet her business are doing great.
So we are convenienced that the monthly advisory

439
00:42:22.159 --> 00:42:28.679
and the financial education is the one
that helped her how to create this great

440
00:42:28.719 --> 00:42:32.519
business that she is having. Now
I'm going to just guess she's pretty happy

441
00:42:32.519 --> 00:42:39.760
she met NOMA State Director. Just
gotta guess. Okay, So we're coming

442
00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:43.599
close to the end of the show. But one more piece of the financial

443
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:45.719
piece that I really want to cover
for our listeners and viewers here. So,

444
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:50.079
Bob, you report a two hundred
and fifty percent return on money invested.

445
00:42:50.239 --> 00:42:53.599
So for every one hundred dollars NOMA
stage spends on training the first year

446
00:42:53.599 --> 00:42:58.519
after her training, each woman earns
more than tour fifteen profits. So that

447
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:00.800
is really quite interesting. Help us
understand why that is so important. What

448
00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:07.639
that means. Well, this ROI
metric is important to the women because it's

449
00:43:07.679 --> 00:43:13.519
important to many of our donors.
In other words, as the desire for

450
00:43:13.639 --> 00:43:19.519
tangible results is increase in the world
of philanthropy, more giving is being directed

451
00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:24.000
accordingly. This means that more Guatemalan
women are able to get our life changing

452
00:43:24.239 --> 00:43:31.440
education because we attract more donations.
So our donors, in effect, are

453
00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:43.800
affirmed in their decision by this ROI. You remember the adage we move in

454
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:51.039
emotion and we rest in reason,
So this is this is the resting.

455
00:43:51.639 --> 00:44:00.360
The ROI provides that resting in a
two fifty return is handsome indeed, But

456
00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:06.079
remember this is year after a year, as knowledge doesn't appreciate. So the

457
00:44:06.840 --> 00:44:15.719
Kumbuldi return is really the stuff of
adventure capitalists dream right alongside the women's dreams.

458
00:44:15.760 --> 00:44:20.679
That's so beautiful. Well, we
didn't get a test to cover in

459
00:44:20.679 --> 00:44:22.719
the last segment. We do a
little bit of time here, so I

460
00:44:22.760 --> 00:44:25.599
would like to talk a little bit
about the annual business conference that you put

461
00:44:25.599 --> 00:44:30.760
on for the women entrepreneurs. What
I find amazing about what I think I

462
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:34.039
know about it so far is this
is when the women come to this one,

463
00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:36.880
it might be the first time they've
ever been away from their families and

464
00:44:36.920 --> 00:44:40.360
spent a night or time away,
and now they're gathering with other women to

465
00:44:40.360 --> 00:44:44.679
talk about and learn about their businesses. So what are I know? This

466
00:44:44.719 --> 00:44:46.199
year is probably going to be virtual
again, and I'm thrilled to be part

467
00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:52.079
of it. But tell us a
little bit about this business conference. Yeah,

468
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:57.320
every year about twenty twenty and twenty
twenty one, we invite the one

469
00:44:57.360 --> 00:45:01.599
hundred women from our Creating Prosperity program
to this event. It is a big

470
00:45:01.679 --> 00:45:08.079
challenge to reach this number here in
Guatemala because living in a machista country where

471
00:45:08.400 --> 00:45:14.599
men are not supposed to take care
of children, cook or be responsible for

472
00:45:14.679 --> 00:45:21.480
them for three days, many cannot
participate. However, we normally reach about

473
00:45:21.559 --> 00:45:25.719
ninety percent of the objective every year, which is a significant number for us.

474
00:45:27.719 --> 00:45:34.400
Fifty percent of the participants have never
been out of their homes. You

475
00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:38.360
have to see their faces when they
are treated like wings in a five star

476
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:45.039
hotel in Lake Cathyland, which is
the most beautiful of the world, with

477
00:45:45.159 --> 00:45:51.320
three meals, meeting new people who
are in the same situation as them,

478
00:45:51.800 --> 00:45:58.440
and learning new business and personal skills. That's priceless. When you see them

479
00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:05.000
at the closing of the conference with
a marineba or any type of music,

480
00:46:05.119 --> 00:46:12.119
everybody dancing. They forget about all
their problems for a few hours, but

481
00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:20.800
that makes their lives different and they
remember that forever. So and another thing

482
00:46:20.880 --> 00:46:24.039
is that they walk away of the
conference with a new sense of pride,

483
00:46:24.840 --> 00:46:30.039
with a lot of new knowledge for
their lives and with new friends that they

484
00:46:30.119 --> 00:46:37.280
have to do business or they just
make new friends. It's so important a

485
00:46:37.360 --> 00:46:40.800
socialization. Yeah, if we have
time, I'd like to add a couple

486
00:46:40.800 --> 00:46:45.039
of minutes here, just a minute. Publicist working most of the time,

487
00:46:45.079 --> 00:46:46.239
so just go ahead and add one
minute if you would, and the work

488
00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:53.440
close with your comments. Okay.
What I want to say is that we

489
00:46:53.599 --> 00:47:00.599
have an annual do on our trip
a week and we always do it build

490
00:47:00.639 --> 00:47:07.000
around the conference, and that trip
is going to be in March next year,

491
00:47:07.320 --> 00:47:14.519
March thirteenth to the nineteenth and with
three days after conference with the women,

492
00:47:15.360 --> 00:47:19.440
and we would love to have listeners
join us on that trip. Well,

493
00:47:19.519 --> 00:47:25.079
you know I'm coming right brought me
out close the borders of the country

494
00:47:25.079 --> 00:47:29.559
to stop me. Okay, well
we're getting close to the tern. I

495
00:47:29.599 --> 00:47:31.559
do want to hear from just both
of you, just like like may thirty

496
00:47:31.599 --> 00:47:35.440
seconds each. You know, you
know this show is listening to by people

497
00:47:35.480 --> 00:47:37.320
around the world, and you already
know what we're up to here. What

498
00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:44.239
would you like to leave our listeners
with today? I just would like to

499
00:47:44.280 --> 00:47:50.039
say some words from Laotsu, who
was a Chinese philosopher contemporary of Confucius.

500
00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:55.320
Since contract BC, go to the
people, live with them, learn from

501
00:47:55.360 --> 00:48:01.639
them, love them, start with
what they know, and deal with what

502
00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:07.519
they have with the best leaders.
When the work is done and the task

503
00:48:07.599 --> 00:48:15.119
accomplished, that people will say we
have done these ourselves. I would like

504
00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:22.880
to Menisa, Bob well, thanks
for this opportunity to share our program with

505
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:29.199
your viewers and listeners. I would
close with an invitation to that audience do

506
00:48:29.400 --> 00:48:36.239
something by doing something for others.
And Gandhi said, whatever you do in

507
00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:42.599
life will be insignificant, but it's
very important that you do it because you

508
00:48:42.639 --> 00:48:49.079
can't ever really know the purpose of
your life. So we will welcome your

509
00:48:49.119 --> 00:48:53.440
interest in joining with no mistay and
doing something. But this invitation is not

510
00:48:53.599 --> 00:49:00.039
just about no mistake. It is
about any cause that you deem worthy,

511
00:49:00.079 --> 00:49:08.119
exciting, or compelling. Just do
it. I completely agree. Thank you

512
00:49:08.159 --> 00:49:10.639
Bob and you Henny you so much
for sharing your hearts, your souls,

513
00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:14.280
and your mission with us. I
know that our listener is going to be

514
00:49:14.320 --> 00:49:16.039
inspired and want to be involved,
so thank you very much for joining me

515
00:49:19.000 --> 00:49:22.079
you listeners. You're welcome listeners,
viewers if you want to learn more about

516
00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:27.559
this organization as you've already known.
I'm I've happily joined the board here,

517
00:49:27.559 --> 00:49:30.920
so you clearly know that I'm invested
in and I and I'm excited about it.

518
00:49:30.039 --> 00:49:32.599
But you want to learn more about
Bob Graham, Eugenie Duran and the

519
00:49:32.639 --> 00:49:37.199
work they're doing and Nama Stay Director
and Amos day Gudemaya, start by visiting

520
00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:43.599
namastadirect dot org. So it's Namas
day n A m a ste direct dot

521
00:49:43.719 --> 00:49:46.440
org. And thanks again to our
partnering sponsor work Proud, which helps companies

522
00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:50.840
build a platform where your workforce receives
meaningful feedback. And thanks for the work

523
00:49:50.840 --> 00:49:53.360
from people across your company. Last
week. If you missed the live show,

524
00:49:53.360 --> 00:49:57.119
you can always catch it be a
recorded podcast. We were on the

525
00:49:57.159 --> 00:50:00.039
Year with Frank Coloroni, who is
the chairman and CEO and a Plan and

526
00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:06.199
the author of Upstanding, How Company
character catalyzes loyalty, agility and hypergrowth and

527
00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:08.760
what she argues that a company led
culture is not just good for reputation,

528
00:50:09.079 --> 00:50:14.280
but integral to the strategy of every
winning company. Next week we'll be on

529
00:50:14.320 --> 00:50:17.239
there with Susan Lucci talking about her
work as a purpose guide helping presence purpose

530
00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:21.280
in the world see you there.
Remember that work is at least of their

531
00:50:21.320 --> 00:50:30.119
her life. So let's work on
purpose. We hope you've enjoyed this week's

532
00:50:30.159 --> 00:50:34.440
program. Be sure to tune in
to Working on Purpose, featuring your host,

533
00:50:34.480 --> 00:50:38.840
doctor Elise Cortes, each week on
the Voice America Empowerment Channel. Together,

534
00:50:39.159 --> 00:50:45.559
we'll create a world where business operates
conscientiously. Leadership inspires impassioned performance,

535
00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:51.400
and employees are fulfilled in work that
provides the meaning and purpose they crave.

536
00:50:52.119 --> 00:50:53.719
See you there, Let's work on
Purpose.