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More than Dollars and Cents - Women's Village Banking
That evening, we drove to Lake Titicaca -- the world's highest navigable lake -- to spend the night in anticipation of a visit to the Altiplano Women's Credit and Savings projectthe next morning. We passed houses of hand-packed and sun-dried mud bricks, dotting the vast terrain. The sun was setting as we drove, and the open sky made for a magical movie screen of giant proportions, drenched in vivid purple, orange and yellow. And though the sky wore such warmth in its colors, it only got colder as the sky faded first to deep blue, then black. I could see faint traces of my breath in the jeep.
Sacha, our interpreter, served as Victor Ricco's voice as he drove. "Poverty here, though set on a very different landscape than Yungas and even El Alto, is much like poverty there. The effects still harm, even kill. You may find this shocking, but when one becomes sick here, it is not uncommon to have to decide whether medical treatment would be less expensive than a burial. If it is not, then treatment is foregone. Quite often a burial wins out as the least expensive option. It is very, very sad."
 Small Loans: They're About Freedom
A single lightbulb hangs from the ceiling in CARE's tiny micro-credit office in Ancoraimes, Bolivia. Almost four hours from La Paz, this tiny fishing village boasts a successful women's small credit project that began in 1996.
Josefad shook my hand enthusiastically. "You are going to write about Ancoraimes? You will put us on the map!" he said. He pointed to chairs that lined the wall, motioning for us to take a seat while he proudly explained the program.
"The credit process is about more than just money. It's an educational process. It is a program that instills  confidence in the women who participate in it. It is about freedom -- freedom to do more in a day, to do more in life."
Since it's earliest days, some 71 women's groups have taken part in the small loans program. Offering small, low-interest loans (rates are some 8 to 24 percent below market), the groups allow women the opportunity to begin or expand small money-making ventures. Selling livestock is the most popular choice.
"The women use the money for commercialization of fishing products, for feeding cattle, for buying tools for fishing and for buying and selling staples like corn, cheese and eggs. The loans start at about $150 at first. They can gradually increase upon payback. The idea here is that the women will over time learn how to manage the money through practice, not over night. Keep in mind, many of these women have never had more than one dollar at a time in their entire life. This is a big responsibility and a great opportunity."
 A woman with a baby strapped to her back stood in the doorway. Josefad stopped mid-sentence to introduce her. "This is Isabel Quispe de Choque and baby Christian. She is a member of the Samkay Pamkaras Chicata women's banking group. She can tell you about this program better than I!"
The name of the group, Samkay Pamkaras Chicata is Aymara for "flower of the cactus." It is a thing of beauty that grows surprisingly well in unlikely, harsh conditions. Like the Samkay Pamkaras Chicata, Isabel's banking group has flourished  despite the rural poverty that plagues this vast expanse of Bolivia.
"I remember the first day our group me" Isabel began. " The date was December 5, 1995. I can't forget that day! Before CARE, we were unable to get true loans here. We would have to borrow from others who would ask us to pay back what we borrowed very quickly and with interest so high it seemed impossible. It felt like begging, and our things never felt like ours. It felt like we were borrowing from someone else. My husband and I felt ashamed about it.
 "And just before the bank group began, El Niņo had ruined our crops. The potato seeds we planted grew nothing. Also, our animals had died. It was very troubling.
"With CARE, I was able to get a loan, buy pigs and also buy rice, pasta and chickens for my family. The credit really came at a good time for our family."
Sacha, our interpreter, leaned in to tell me quietly, "When you have very little, it is an even greater honor to pay it back, you know? That is really what she is telling you, Andrea."
The Mercado
About a mile and a half from Ancoraimes was an active market or mercado where Josefad suspected we would see some of the women bankers in action.
The mercadois where livestock or produce is bought and sold to middlemen and for family consumption as well. The women that Josefad hoped we would meet were new merchants here thanks to the CARE small loan program. It didn't take long before we happened on two women with hip-high sacks of rice and corn sitting on a blanket. They held plastic cups in their hands, to measure quantities of rice for their customers. They were shy and very surprised to be interviewed and were reluctant to have their photograph taken.
"Josefad, I need to make a payment. I want to give it to you here," one of the women said. She pulled a meticulously ordered little sack of money from under her shawl, tied tight with a drawstring. She counted back to him, "… 786 Bolivianos," she beamed, and then quickly turned her head to the ground, embarrassed.
The last stop of the day was at a contract signing, farther down the road. Twelve women were awaiting our arrival, sitting in a bare, dirt courtyard surrounded by sundried brick, shoulder high. All of the women wore traditional Aymara dress -- layered petticoats in radiant colors, with shawls pinned at the neck and heads topped with bowler hats. They sat on the ground in what had become to our eyes a familiar posture, their skirts making a circle around them.
"My name is Cecilia. I have been elected treasurer of this group. I will collect the interest from everyone."
I asked her what she hoped to do with her loan. "I have two children. I'd like to help my kids have more food by starting a small store where I will sell potatoes, beer and pigs."
Another woman interjected. "You need money for anything. Now that we will have credit, our kids and families will benefit." The first woman walked away to breast-feed her baby. "I will buy a net so that I can catch more fish in the lake. With this money I can make a little bit more money, and then my kids can go to school."
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