The first of goodbyes.

Since I arrived to Arenillas, I have been collaborating in a little community on the other side of the river called El Cisne. The moms and I have done small business workshops, exercise groups, cooking/health lessons, and started the community bank El Bankito El Cisne. The community bank has been an extremely successful project for this community, it started its first year with 85 members, each giving $0.50 a week. With the money they had in the box each week they could take out small loans for a one month time period at 10% interest. Many of the women started income generation activities that year with their loans, one lady bought a printer and started making copies for neighbors from her house, another sells humitas every Sunday, another bought a grill and sells grilled meat skewers at night. After one year, the bank liquidated and each member got $38 in return (a $14 interest gain). We then restarted the bank for a second year with 122 members, and a weekly contribution of $1, so they now can take loans of up to $100. Almost every week for the last two years I’ve been present in the weekly bank meeting, more so to socialize with the moms, since they run the bank completely on their own.
This past week the moms told me that the community bank meeting was changed to Friday because of the festivals. Little did I know their real motive was to throw me a little goodbye party. The community members had a big surprise for me, they presented me with this beautiful plaque, it even has both the American flag and the Arenillas flag.
The plaque says roughly this in English: The community bank of El Cisne presents this to Sarah Ashley Edwards, Volunteer of Peace Corps, for her unconditional help in converting this grand dream into a reality, she will be remembered in the hears of each one of the members of the community, we thank this precious volunteer that served with integrity, sacrifice, and deep care for the collective community. We will always be sincerely grateful.
I couldn’t believe they were presenting me with this, it definitely caught me by surprise. It made me realize how much having worked with them over these past two years meant for each of the community bank members. Every day I pour my heart into all of my projects here in my site, but I never really take the time to reflect on what I’m doing and the impacts it has had on community members. Hearing the community bank members at that moment, made me realize just how much it has meant to them and that in this community I have made a difference, a community bank gives them the chance to take out small loans, to make investments, to take part in income generating activities, and try to better their situations. I had to hold back tears when I was presented with the plaque, and they may never know how much it means to me, but I am sure I will remember that moment forever.