My apprentenship has been working with with a credit union called ¨Buscando Un Amigo¨ or Looking for A Friend in English. The office is located in the city of Ibarra, in mercado Amazonas. My work day consist of working from 8am to 12pm, Monday through Friday. However, I must wake up at 6:40 a.m. to eat breakfast and get ready for the bus which leaves San Clemente (my host community up in the mountain) at 7:30 am and usually takes 25 minutes to get to the city. From there, I get to the bus terminal, and it is about a five minute walk to the office.
Buscando Un Amigo started operations four years ago, with 25 members, and a total capital of 500 dollars. It was designed to help single mothers in the market push forward and live a better live for them and their kids. To this day, there are 240 members with a total capital of 72,000 dollars.
After talking with the manager, Sra. Denys, I came to the conclusion that she wants Buscando Un Amigo to grow and help a lot more people and to be recognized nationally by the government.
My job recently has been doing encuestas de satisfación (services satisfaction evaluations) in the market, to better the organization, and get feedback on how to improve. I simply get a stack of surveys, go around the market asking questions, and write down everything members say. The reason why I enjoy doing this is because I get to hear what the vendors say from their heart and get some great quotes. I love my job and I wake up excited about it everyday!
