We put the ESCALA Business School online, allowing us to provide our curriculum and scale at an accelerated rate in spite of the pandemic and economic climate.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, it has left the world's poorest and most vulnerable people at greatest risk - including many of the entrepreneurs trained by SPI in Peru, Tanzania, Bulgaria, and Guatemala. However, thanks to your tremendous support for SPI’s COVID-19 Relief Fund, entrepreneurs and artisans now have the resources to step up as local leaders, keeping their families and communities safe.
Meet Filomena Pingo Tejada, one of the traditional weavers involved in SPI’s Chotuna-Chornancap project in Peru. Together with the Chotuna-Chornancap Site Museum and the Brüning National Museum, SPI is helping the artisans like Filomena develop their experience as weavers into a sustainable and profitable business which offers a real income and preserves the site in doing so.
We couldn’t have done any of it without you! With 2020 around the corner, we ask for your support once again so SPI can continue to elevate women and other marginalized entrepreneurs globally. If you make a gift by January 10th, your donation will be matched!
In Tanzania, our WAUMAKI Kisiwani women’s group is kick-starting their business near the ruins of one of East Africa’s greatest empires. In Peru, SPI hosted a launch event for our long-awaited ESCALA Business School. Local entrepreneurs and their families are enjoying a holiday season filled with joy thanks to new opportunities and sustainable income made possible by SPI projects and your support.
We are setting up mini-business schools all over Peru and Tanzania for small scale artisans and entrepreneurs. The first two will be at Pachacamac, Peru and Bagamoyo, Tanzania, sites of existing successful SPI projects. And that is only the beginning!
We are terribly sad to inform you that our friend and fellow board member Carlos Alberto Arrarte was killed in a car accident last week. He was on the way to a meeting about his great passion "Plan Wallata" a community development project for the town of Ollantaytambo, Peru.
