• Overview
• Objective
• FPSC and Condoray
• Summary
• American Initiatives’ Involvement: How Your Donations Help
• Where We Want to End Up
• Photos
• Videos

Country/ Geographic Area:

Peru / Latin America

Local Partner:

Center for Business Training for Women in Condoray

Project Duration: 24 months

Overview
 Peru is one of the most economically distressed countries in South America. But it is made up of good, honest, hardworking people looking for opportunities to become self-sufficient which is why we are working with the Center for Business Training for Women in Condoray to develop the business skills of rural women in Cañete, Peru.
Peruvian women are talented weavers and craft makers, so this project works to educate those women about how to make the most of those talents, and strike out into exciting entrepreneurial efforts to support themselves and their communities.

Objective

To develop the business skills of poor rural women in Cañete, Peru, and foster an entrepreneurial attitude among them through business training programs in Condoray's Center for Business Training for Women (CEFEM). 39.3% of Peru's total population lives in poverty with 13.7% living in extremely poor conditions. Rural women in Peru today have only basic skills such as weaving, embroidering, sewing, etc., and they sell their arts and crafts as a means of earning an income. These women do not have the knowledge or capacity to produce in large quantities, and some of their products are of poor quality.

Poor Peruvian women are also not perceived as "business oriented," which could be seen as an obstacle in properly developing their business skills. This project combats the following structural problems of the poor women in Cañete:

• Low education level and poor business knowledge: According to the Institute of Statistic and Computer Science INEI, the low level of education has a serious gender gap - 43.5% of the male population younger than 45 years of age have not finished their basic studies, with 50.4% of women in the same situation

• Low productivity of economic units:
  •  Results in minimal profits
  • At a technological level, the tools used are basic and outdated
  • Access to loans to start a business is limited

• Low self-esteem and conformity: Poor environmental conditions, a feeling of powerlessness and apathy to change one's circumstances impacts the women's productivity

FPSC and Condoray

Since 1963, Condoray has implemented various rural development and training programs in order to promote the integral development of women and to contribute to the socio-economic development of families of the Valle de Cañete. In 2005 it designed a strategic line of intervention by creating the Center for Business Training for Women (CEFEM), a new program specifically designed to train women entrepreneurs and to facilitate the creation of small and medium-sized companies. This program incorporates the previous experiences in the vocational training with modern methods of work implemented successfully throughout Latin America.

CEFEM started its activity with the building of the new classrooms and workshops to the training of woman micro-entrepreneurs. To date, CEFEM has trained more than 1753 women, advised 74 companies in the training and employment of women managers, and granted 630 training loans and 15 loans for capital work and fixed assets.

The relationship between Fundación Promoción Social de la Cultura (FPSC) and Condoray dates back to 1992. Together they have carried out projects aimed at training and professional development of rural women from Cañete. From 2006 to 2007, FPSC and Condoray developed a very popular program for women interested in receiving assistance to start their own companies.

Summary

Thanks to this intervention, it will be possible to contribute effectively in the fight against poverty in Cañete, turning women into agents of their own development. The workers of the area will finally have the opportunity to receive comprehensive business development services: technical training, business management training, expert advice for start-ups, financial services and marketing support. As a result 270 poor women of Cañete can discover and develop their potential and in turn improve the quality of life for their families.

American Initiatives’ Involvement: How Your Donations Help

The present project will complement the work already done, through the building of new areas (offices and meeting room) in the central office of Condoray, as well as purchasing new equipment and furniture to be used in the technical courses. The project's goals also include the refurbishment and replacement of furniture and equipment for three of Condoray's rural community premises, where they will operate the project activities designed to facilitate the business efforts of area women. Finally, the project will improve the skills of local workers and teachers through technical training in the trades of both food processing and management consulting.
Through this project more women will receive microloans, business skills and personal support to improve their standard of living. DONATE

Where We Want to End Up

Our desired results for this project's completion:

• Condoray's offices are expanded and equipment is up to date
• All 270 women currently participating in the business training program successfully finish
• 100 women with their own businesses will have received business assistance through access to the CEFEM and 60% of these women improve the productivity of their businesses
• 20% of the women who attended the business training program also participate in the business start-up program
• 25% of the women who attended the start-up program launch their own micro-enterprises
• 48 business loans are granted
• 20 job marketing events held where 90% of the women involved have more confidence in introducing their products into the business market