Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Promotion

Having not had a chance to write in several weeks, I'm writing now to justify my absence. Lately work has been quite hectic with my various responsibilities, and I can't say that I'm complaining - I feel like I've finally gotten to a point with my group of guys at which they know what I'm capable of, and now expect more of me. I have to say that I most definitely prefer this to the way things were working before now - which basically consisted of looking for any kind of work in which i felt i could contribute and forcefully inserting myself into the mix. That said, my main responsibility right now is to promote the recently formed Coffee Cooperative that was initially an objective of the NGO to which I was assigned by Peace Corps. To calrify a little, a coffe coop in Guatemala is an organization that allows producers to unite, sell their products at a higher price in larger quantities while reinvesting the profits in the community. Now, with the departure of SID (the NGO that is currently my host country agency)in sight, we are analzying the uncertain future of the Cooperative, based on several factors (to mention a few; competition with another funded organization, history of violence against coops during the armed conflict and lack of trust in organizations on the part of the local coffee growers). So, in order to secure the future of our Co-op, we've taken the steps to initiate a promotion project, which is very fortunately right up my alley. To put it in my own words, I am totally psyched to be doing this because it is the first project where I can say that i have experience in the matter and can offer appropriate analysis and useful insight.

So, in line with this promotion plan we've entered several channels of publicity, one of which has taken the form of a presentation given directly to small groups of the NGO's participants by yours truly. While this method presents several obstacles, it offers one main benefit in that they all grow coffee and are more or less all familiar with the practices the NGO teaches to producers. These groups have ranged from 4 to 30 so far, and each one has been distinct from the last. Having met with about 15 groups so far, we've gotten together in classrooms, patios, offices, bedrooms and even under make shift standings when it's been raining - basically anywhere we can make it happen. Aside from one presentation I gave to the group of trainees that recently arrived, they've all been in the villages and far reaching small communities of our town - in spanish, aldeas.

One thing about the groups in the aldeas of our town is that their average level of Spanish is generally lower due to restricted access, and in general people are much more comfortable speaking Kaqchikel. So, keeping this in mind I've been taking more Kaqchikel class and tailoring class to specific vocabulary that is applicable to my presentation. This has been succesful to a certain extent, in that the participants realize that I'm trying very hard to connect with them on a more personal level, but at other times it makes little difference. I'd like to share my experience with one group that represents some of the obstacles we're facing not only in the promotion, but in working in the aldeas and with local farmers in general.

My very first presentation was given in a community called Patoquer to a group of participants registered to recieve the practices promoted by SID. We arrived a little late, but the participants had not all arived yet, so we ended up waiting for another 45 minutes and started about an hour late, which is not too far off from the standard delay ("Hora Chapina," or the Guatemalan phenomenon of consistent tardiness clears this up neatly). Once we got everyone situated in the family's kitchen, I began my presentation - which generally lasts about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the level of participation and number of questions and the extent of translation (Luckily all of the promoters which accopmany me to the group meetings are from the aldeas themselves and are readily available to translate if need be). It consists of several parts; individual introductions, a game that teaches the importance of teamwork, information on what a cooperative does and what it means to be part of our organization (CIACEP RL - or Cooperative Integral Agricola Cafe Especial Poaquileno - by the way, i was not present at the naming). At this particular training, about 15 people showed up and were actively participating up until the point in the presentation when i get around to the punchline of the presentation. There I was, flaling about in my enthusiasm for the idea of coopertivism and moments before sharing the crucial information about our organizaiton the women in the group (there were about 15 of them)slowly start to sneak out of the room, one by one. Then groups of three and four and before i knew it I was left with only my coworker, a talkative gentleman who wasn't particularly in favor of the idea and one older lady who looked like she would've left too if she'd have had in it in her to get up. I went from having a lively group of 17 possible associates to three unlikely candidates and was wondering what could've gone wrong to cause this. Well my answer wasn't hard to find - after finishing my presentation, trying to conceal my hurt pride, i found out that a meeting in the house a few doors down had been giving away one pound bags of rice in exhancge for attendance. When your target audience lives from hand to mouth, this is hard to compete with.

I could go on forever about this, but I'll save you the time and just leave it at this; there are significant obstacles to our work everyday that are only being exacerbated by the practices of other organizations. My organization has to deal with this concept of paternalism on a daily basis. Although we work parallel to these organizations who still practice it (by giving away coffee plants or paying their administrative bodies etc.) we can't compete, and when it comes down to loyalty, we've found that it's hard to secure friends when your pockets are empty.

However, despite all this I remain optimistic for the future of our Cooperative because we have a few driven and truly inspirational individuals who are genuinely interested in the greater good of the community. As long as they are around I will be, committed to working hard to cement the Cooperatives foundation in the community with whatever I can contribute.

Until next time...

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