While it’s easy to take the women on city streets hawking salteñas or cigarettes for granted,there’s a good chance that they’ve been given a leg up in the world by micro financing. With loans as small as US$40, these women have been able to participate in Bolivia’s economy.

Bolivia has seen a recent upswing in its economic fortunes; however, Bolivian women are disproportionately under represented in the marketplace. Lack of education and, in some areas, outright discrimination against female job applicants leave many women confined to poverty without any chance of improving their slate in life. One way of combating this issue is through the practice of micro financing, the doling out of small loans amongst groups of women.

Margott Elena Fernandez-Guzman knows first hand the effect micro-loan organizations can have in supporting women business owners. Originally selling clothes she designs without financial support, she started receiving loans from the women’s development and micro finance organization Pro Mujer. This allowed Fernandez-Guzman to expand her business. She says that she was much happier working with organizations such as Pro Mujer as opposed to private banks. ‘There is machismo – the banks have to get the husband’s signature to use a credit card and need the husband to give his permission for a woman to take out a loan . . . Conversely, Pro Mujer will give you credit simply because you are a woman.’

Originally founded 22 years ago, Pro Mujer was successful long before micro finance became a hot topic in the world of philanthropy. Based in La Paz, it has now expanded its programs to Mexico , Argentina and Peru. The group is highly rated, garnering five ‘diamonds’ from MIX Market, a non profit micro financing ranking organization. In 2011, Pro Mujer had a loan portfolio of US$43.6 million and a total of 100,988 borrowers. Pro Mujer’s general manager in Bolivia, Gonzalo Alaiza Alborta, says that Pro Mujer’s work is absolutely necessary. ‘Most [of Pro Mujer’s clients] are illiterate and unable to read and write; most are married with various children. Their quality of life has improved because they have access to basic resources.’

As opposed to simply lending money out, Pro Mujer invests in community-style financial and health services to help women avoid problems that keep them impoverished. A group of women pool their resources together and dole out loans as needed to members of the group. Alborta explains that ‘the group judges by the communal bank how important the service is’, which gives the loans a community value, as opposed to the often-faceless anonymity of commercial banks.

Fernandez-Guzman is a leader in the communal bank herself, and she appreciates the responsibility she has within her community. She says the group works together to decide which loans will best serve the women, tending to invest in small business loans to purchase produce for sale, provide vendor support and, occasionally, pay medical bills. The women are responsible to their peers, which gives borrowers a more tangible link to their lenders and ensures that all participants commit their fair share.

Micro financing has become somewhat of a buzzword over the last few years, in both positive and negative terms. In 2006, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in instituting micro finance organizations, and the practice has been championed by no less than the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a sustainable method for fighting poverty while improving women’s rights. Recently however, unsavoury practices by micro financing organizations – especially in India, where for profit micro financing schemes have resulted in large debt loads for impoverished borrowers – have lowered confidence in this form of investment.

Elisabeth Rhyne, the managing director at the Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION International, feels that the Bolivian market is stable enough as of late to avoid a situation such as what occurred in India, though there may be somewhat of a ripple effect in how investors and donors view the feasibility of the practice, as what happened ‘does affect the reputation of micro finance in the first world, and that matters because investors are now somewhat more wary about investing in micro finance.’ Although stable at the moment, Bolivian micro finance has seen its share of strife in the past. Bolivia was one of the earliest nations to embrace the practice of micro loans to impoverished communities. Many commercial banks saw that there was relatively easy money to be made,and reckless loans became more prevalent in the micro finance marketplace. In the late ’90s the problem ballooned out of control, and many poor recipients of loans, from both traditional banks and micro finance organizations, organized in protest and refused to pay back their outstanding debts. One of the main issues during that time period, and one that still exists today, though not as dramatically, was the difficulty borrowers had in telling the difference between micro finance organizations and consumer lenders.

‘Since then, the micro finance sector has been able to recover and regain momentum. The difficulties were not caused by private for profits in opposition to non profits’, says Rhyne. ‘Most of the bigger micro finance organizations were then and today for profits. The dividing line was between micro enterprise finance and consumer lenders.’

Rhyne, who authored a book on the crisis and the future of micro finance, thinks that lessons have been learned from the mistakes of almost a decade ago. The current populist government has been relatively tolerant toward micro financing, although Rhyne recalls there were some grumblings at first by the Morales administration over non government organizations; however, the relationship between micro financing organizations and the government has become relatively stable.

To some, micro financing may appear to be a passing, altruistic trend, but despite its controversies it’s provided many women with better lives, in a society where women have traditionally had a hard time getting a leg up.

‘Bolivia is very conservative, machista society. People are used to women staying at home, looking after kids, not making decisions’, Pro Mujer’s Alborta says. ‘Few women work. But I think society is evolving, and empowered and working women are becoming more accepted.’ Fernandez-Guzman, who has benefited from micro loans directly, says, ‘It’s really important for single women, who don’t have a husband to rely on. The opportunity to get a business allows them to go up in the world and makes life easier for them.’

Bolivian anarcho-feminism

Maria Galindo is instantly recognizable. With her long, black, lank hair, shaved on one side, and her piercing, kohllined eyes, she’s an icon of Bolivian feminism. She even dresses in the colours of her organisation, Mujeres Creando – red, white and black.

Her actions are equally striking. Once, Galindo stood in the street, dressed in a pollera and remera made of newspaper cuttings, to show how the media should be democratic, representative of everyone, not just a select few. On another occasion, she shared a bed with her female partner in the middle of the Prado to confront the stigma against homosexuality.

I arrive fi ve minutes early to my scheduled interview with Galindo. Soon enough, she strolls in and loudly greets her coterie. She compliments her fellow lindas feminists and orders a cafecito. Sadly, she has less time for me. After being reminded of our interview, she announces that she is too busy today, cannot reschedule, and hands me over to her colleague.

Thankfully, feminist No. 2, Helen Alvarez Virriera, has time to talk about Mujeres Creando, Bolivia’s anarcho- feminist organization. Thanks to Galindo’s high-profile media presence, Mujeres Creando is very well known. One of the group’s most controversial productions is its weekly ‘shame list’, on Radio Deseo, the organization’s radio station, which outs men, sometimes with insufficient evidence, who spend their money on booze rather than their families. Alvarez claims that the ‘shame list’ helps women by providing them with ammunition to bully their husbands into being more responsible.

Other radio programmes on Radio Deseo are somewhat less radical. The majority of airtime goes to human rights groups or workers’ unions. Currently, the TIPNIS debate is a hot topic, and the indigenous women who are involved in the protest gain a voice over the airwaves that they cannot fi nd elsewhere due to racism and machismo.

The feminists in Mujeres Creando have no such fear: they work to empower women and provide a sanctuary for them. They have a crèche for working mothers and run a cheap hostel for women seeking refuge from domestic violence. The organization also has a popular café, the proceeds of which go exclusively to feminist campaigns.

Additionally, Mujeres Creando runs weekly radio workshops to help minorities fi nd their voices. Alvarez estimates that nearly 300 people have attended the workshop over its fouryear history. Its most successful story is the ¡Soy Marica y Que! programme, which is dedicated to gay men and women. Although the word ‘marica’ is traditionally pejorative, the show reappropriates it and rebrands it in a positive way. In this way, language empowers. As Galindo says, ‘There is no fi ght without proper words.’ Mujeres Creando was hence created as space where people can express themselves, externalize feelings of grief and anger and connect with other women, regardless of their backgrounds.

For Alvarez, feminism is contradictory in its political stance. It is political in the sense that it raises awareness about women’s rights and promotes social change. But by using anarchy to challenge political norms, it is simultaneously apolitical. Anarchofeminism is sceptical of traditional power structures and has no qualms about breaking the law or contradicting the government. For example, Galindo and her group parodied President Morales’s coplas de carnaval, which contained some sexist lyrics. She was also arrested when she protested against an indigenous wedding (because marriage is ‘institutional’ and ‘patriarchal’, and thereby degrading). Galindo’s also served time for scrawling militant feminist graffi ti that can be found all over La Paz, including a poster for her anti–Miss Universe campaign that features an image of a model saying, ’I am not a person, just a body.’ Two leering men – one with President Morales’s face – lie beneath her, masturbating.

Although there are plenty of women politicians in Bolivian, Alvarez dismisses them as puppets of a patriarchal government. Mujeres Creando regards all rules as repressive. Even laws that seem to support women, such as the child benefits policy, are seen as demeaning. According to Mujeres Creando, financial remuneration is no compensation for paternal negligence.

Through its protests, literature, radio programmes, images, graffiti and even poetry, Mujeres Creando encourages women to express themselves and stand up against machismo and homophobia. Galindo says that the capacity to create language and direct communication is the key to a social movement, and the overwhelming media attention she receives is a testament to her charisma and determination. Her bold behaviour can come across as petulant, or even rude. Nevertheless, shock and offence draw attention to her cause. Behind her garish façade is a proactive role model who will sacrifice anything, including her freedom, in the name of feminism.

Mujeres Creando is located on Avenida 20 de Octubre. Tune into Radio Deseo online at www.radiodeseo.com or at 103.3FM.

Walking through the many barrios of La Paz, any passerby is bound to be taken aback by the multitude of smells that fi ll the air. Familiar odors of exhaust from minibuses and cabs and the smells of the flowers lining the Prado are commonplace, yet perhaps the most exotic and captivating smells waft from the food stalls lining the streets throughout the city. La Paz has a seemingly inexhaustible offering of delicious foods available on the streets, from Western offerings such as hamburgers and hotdogs to the more traditional Bolivian delicacies of anticucho, salteñas and choripan. And the people cooking these traditional foodstuffs are frequently women. A señora who sells her salteñas during the week in Sopocachi says, ‘In Bolivia, women and food are closely related. Within the household, a woman cooks, and on the streets we cook as well.’ With child in tow, she talks about the benefits of working her own schedule and providing for her family, preparing her salteñas and empanadas at home and selling them morning and afternoon from her bright-yellow cart.

From early morning to late at night, the rotation of food stands provides passersby a plethora of food options to satisfy hunger. In the mornings, salteñas are served, and from Thursday to Saturday, after night falls, anticuchos are available for the drinking crowd. A skewer of marinated beef heart with potatoes, the anticucho is the city’s favorite nighttime snack. Women vendors skillfully juggle the tender meat and potatoes and count change in front of throngs of hungry paceños readying themselves for a night of partying. Near Plaza Avaroa, a woman selling choripan praises her job as a way of promoting Bolivian culture through food. She says that in addition to the financial autonomy the job provides, she’s also a caretaker of Bolivian cuisine. The importance of women in the world of street food demonstrates a Bolivian pride in dishes that not only provides tasty treats to the general public but also gives a glimpse into the heritage of food in this Andean country.

While street food is a unique part of the paceño culinary scene, women have a larger part in the food industry. Females have risen to important positions within restaurants and culinary schools in La Paz. Chef Vanessa Marca Rios says that cooking can serve as a way to empower women in the workplace and provide strong moral values. Marca teaches at the CEFIM Institute, where young women learn practical skills such as hotel management and cooking. As a professor of cooking at CEFIM, she wants to instill important lessons in women who come to study and further their career opportunities. Marca views food as a way to bring people together to share experiences, and she believes that cleaning, preparation and service can teach the necessary educational background to succeed in the job market. She notes a larger presence of women in restaurants, and sees a trend in which the belief that men are more effective in the kitchen is being phased out. ‘Cooking is giving love’, she states as a reason for women being a fundamental part in the way humans interact with food from a young age in the household. Women are not only making strides as chefs in the food industry. At one of the most respected restaurants in La Paz, the Chalet La Suisse, service manager Gema Rada deals with day-to-day staff functions and assures quality of service. Maintaining a high level of excellence is the key to creating a name such as the Chalet la Suisse, Rada says, and she employs older women on her wait staff in order to assure a first-class level of professionalism. Rada reveals that only women have held her position at the Chalet La Suisse, and she believes it is because they are effective at managing and administering the staff while giving the necessary attention to patrons. Rada says that women can create a positive atmosphere for the owner, staff and patrons of the restaurant, and she believes that human relations are the cornerstone to making a meal into something more than just sustenance.

Women can be found in many different positions within the food industry, but there are common ideas shared amongst these workers. Rada notes that human interaction and the instinctual quality to create a positive experience are what give women an edge in the food service industry and allow them to create a unique and fun experience for the customer. The sense of providing a service through food is a common thought amongst these women, and they enjoy catering to the needs of their clients. ‘We can gain respect and fight on’ through cooking, says Marco, reflecting the clear sentiment that food serves as a pillar for women to care for others and advance their personal goals both in the household and through their careers.