Focus on Un Techo para mi Pais
Microcredit to empower families in difficulties to build self-reliance.
Ruben Villicana, Director of Human Resources, Accor Mexico.
Jean-Philippe Claret, Vice-President of Operations and Development, Accor Mexico.
Un Techo para mi Pais operates in 15 Latin American countries including Mexico. Established in 1995, the NGO aims to improve living conditions for marginalised groups through access to education, health and microcredit.
The Accor Foundation has been supporting this NGO since 2008 and has already run two projects with it.
The first project started in 2008 and, in June 2009, 50 Accor employees built 10 “bricks-and-mortar” houses with the 10 families who are living in them now, in one weekend. These new homes were the first step towards social reintegration.
The project shifted up a gear in 2009/2010 with microcredit loans to allow these families to live self-reliantly. These loans are by definition tiny, and tailored to handpicked situations (starting a business or, in certain cases, improving or maintaining people’s living standards).
There are two steps in this project:
- building a community centre in each community to house the education and microcredit-related activities;
- the microcredit programme proper for 18 people (loan awards are contingent on people attending training courses, NGO assessments and the enterprising plan).
There are several other plans to stretch the microcredit programme in 2011.
- A community plan will involve working on projects to improve families’ living conditions in two new shanty towns.
- A vocational training plan to equip people in difficulties in essential enterprising skills and professional tools, to help them to start viable businesses and make their way back into the job market.
- A business plan supports the creation and the management of these microenterprises.
This project has already kick-started about 10 microenterprises, which keep 30 people in paid jobs (selling groceries and carnations, and hand-making building bricks).
