Lasting Impressions from Adelante Women

The changes that I’ve witnessed at Adelante since I arrived in 2012 have been astounding: our loan portfolio has diversified to include new products, new zones have been opened, and we’ve continued to strengthen our commitment to social performance. More importantly, I’ve witnessed so many women’s businesses grow and homes evolve; successful clients graduating to more advanced loans and nervous new clients making their first investments.

Leaving a place is never easy, and in my last few weeks in La Ceiba, the same quote kept racing through my head:

“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place, I told him, like you’ll not only miss the people you loved but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way again.” – Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi

The impact that the women we work with has had on me is immense, and the experiences I have shared with them have formed part of who I am now. The time that I’ve spent in the field with these women shaped such a huge part of who I have become while living in Honduras. And while Nafisi may be accurate in stating that we’ll never be exactly that way again after leaving, the experiences, time and people that I’ve encountered while working in Honduras have left a permanent mark on me. The women that I’ve met throughout Honduras represent the perseverance, determination and affection that drive the human spirit.

The inspiration that these women offer goes far beyond me; they are the primary source of innovation for Adelante’s model. The changes that Adelante has undergone are strongly rooted in the feedback and expressed needs of the women we work with, keeping our clients at the heart of our work. As April continues to unfold, this client focus fits perfectly with what the Month of Microfinance is all about, and it makes me proud to have been part of the Adelante family.