Adelante is grateful to the American Jewish World Service for its multiyear financial support of the education program. We are also indebted to the Palma Government of Spain for making it possible to launch the new community educator program. (Pictured above)

Credit alone is not enough.
When providing credit to the extreme poor in rural areas, credit alone is not enough. Our borrowers need basic business training to insure that they are as informed as possible as to how to maintain their businesses.

Forms of Education
Integrated within our program are three forms of education: business, health and human rights. We have developed different health workshops addressing topics such as nutrition, malaria prevention, domestic violence, AIDS, tuberculosis, and a wide array of women's health issues.

Peer-to-Peer Education Model
Adelante uses a peer-to-peer education model in which assemblies elect a “Community Educator,” a client within the village who is selected to receive monthly trainings at the Adelante branch office regarding how to teach that month’s lessons. She then returns to her village to teach the lessons to her assembly and serve as a resource for her community.

Benefits of the Model
The benefit of this methodology is that the educators become experts who are available as a resource for her whole village, and the education that Adelante provides does not have to stop when the assembly meeting stops. Additionally, it provides the elected Community Educator with a valuable leadership experience and allows Adelante to reach thousands of borrowers in a cost-effective manner.

Training Materials
All of Adelante’s training materials are presented in visual form on brightly colored laminated posters, drawn by Adelante's in-house artists, in order that all of our clients, including those who cannot read, can understand the content of the presentation. Click here to see examples.

Typical lessons are listed below:

Business Lessons		Health Lessons		Human Rights Lessons
	Developing Solidarity		Self Esteem		Women’s Rights
	Goal Setting		Human Reproduction		Children’s Rights
	Successful Planning		Maternal Mortality		Senior Citizen Rights
	Business Admin. 1–6		Nutrition for Infants		Work Place Rights
	Customer Service 1 & 2		Nursing Mothers		Sexual Rights
	How to lose clients				Domestic Violence

Click here to see a list of all 102 themes used by the Adelante Education Department for training.