The Solar Women of Totogalpa is a group of women with a vision.  They have been working together for several years to build a better future for themselves, their children and their community in northern Nicaragua, one of the most impoverished areas in the Western hemisphere. They have literally been constructing, with adobe bricks made with their own hands, the first buildings on their solar center grounds.  But along with the physical construction, the women are building strong bonds between former Sandinistas and Contras, and new economic and social models to further their development in a sustainable way.  One of their inspired programs is a revolving “nano” loan fund.

When a visitor comes to stay in the community, the family receives a modest sum for its efforts to house, feed, and care for the visitor. For families hosting long term volunteers, the monthly rent has already had a dramatic impact on their quality of life. Houses have grown in size and quality, children can pay for bus fares to school, and more fresh fruits and vegetables are now available at meal times.

The Nanoloan fund will ensure that these benefits will continue to spread throughout the community to the families that do not yet have the conditions necessary to house international volunteers who come to live in the community for months at a time, and the participants in the Solar Culture Courses that the Solar Women offer in conjunction with Grupo Fenix.

The revolving fund will continue to be replenished and thus should always be available to continue to improve conditions in the homes of the Solar Women. Loans of between $50 and $150 dollars are made from the fund to families that are interested in making improvements in their homes to be able to host a visitor. Some of the basic preparations a family can make include buying a bed, a mosquito net,  sheets and pillows, installing a door and/or windows, or in some cases, constructing a wall to create a separate room.

The fund was initiated with $800 and is designed to be sufficient to fund three or four families at a time, readying themselves for coming visitors. Once the first volunteer or Solar Course participant arrives to a newly improved home, the rent money is put directly back into the fund to repay the loan, replenishing it for the next family on the list. In this way one donation will continue to benefit the community for years to come, as each new family takes advantage of the fund. Once the family has paid back the loan, and continues to maintain the conditions necessary to house visitors, all future rent income is the family’s to keep. Thus, families continue to benefit from the original loan over time.