In a squatter’s village with no electricity or running water, unemployed residents have started a catering business. In another impoverished neighborhood in the capital of Lima, women with no educational or job opportunities are earning money for the first time in their lives by selling fish from rented booths.

Sandra Reategui, a graduate student in economics, started a nonprofit organization in her native country of Peru to help families break out of a never-ending, intergenerational cycle of poverty. She grew up in a poor neighborhood herself. Her father does not have a job, and her mother teaches to support the family. Reategui was a track star in high school, and her undergraduate and graduate education at USU was financed by an athletics scholarship. At age 16 she broke the South American record in the 100 meters and has been a national record holder in the 100, 200 and 400 meters several times.

Most women in Reategui’s social class in Peru have no access to education or credit. The founding of her non-profit organization is an attempt to change that situation. The organization provides microloans of $100 to women who want to start their own businesses and helps them formulate effective business plans. Microloans have become recognized worldwide as an effective tool for sustainable economic development. Loaning even a small amount of money enables an entrepreneur to start her own business. Because of the modest size of the loan, it can be repaid quickly and easily. Although men are eligible and sometimes volunteer their services, Reategui believes investing in women is an even better bet. “When you help women, you help families. They have the drive, the commitment to their communities, and their kids come first. If they’re stuck in an abusive relationship, financial independence makes it possible for them to leave.”

Reategui traveled to coastal Peru this past summer with two professors and 14 other students from various universities. During the trip the group applied an economic strategy they had learned in the classroom—using community assets to create economic growth from within. 

In a village above Huanchaco, they met with community leaders and residents and surveyed their skills. As the conversations progressed and enthusiasm mounted, the villagers decided to start a restaurant. Some of them supplied eggs from their chickens, others donated a pig or a cow, and many of the women offered their cooking and cleaning skills. Families invested in the project by donating the equivalent of one American dollar. There wasn’t enough money to rent a space so they prepared the food in their own kitchens.

The food was sold at cost to accommodate the many poor people in the community. Profit was generated with catering services for construction workers in the booming beach town of Huanchaco down the hill, thereby keeping the revenue within the local economy.

"We took them the first, small step,” says Reategui, “and this generated a sense of purpose and direction that drove them the rest of the way. Once given the opportunity, the women found skills they never even knew they had. Many of them felt like it redefined who they were because they were now able providers.”

Reategui is in the process of redefining some of her goals. Last winter her right leg was badly injured in a snowmobile rollover accident. With no insurance to cover the cost of surgery, she went without. Nine months later she was well enough to begin running again. It is too soon to know if she will be able to compete at the same level again.

No matter what happens, she plans on returning to Peru this summer to resume where she left off. After she finishes her degree, she hopes to continue working with international nonprofit organizations, preferably in Latin America. —Leisa Meadows