A special thanks to our Cada Mes Club – Friendship Bridge’s monthly donors – for supporting our clients on their monthly journeys.

Zoila says that the topic of solidarity guarantee is very important within the trust bank. This allows the women to create bonds of trust by getting to know each other and their businesses better. Trust is key to practice solidarity during payments and to support groupmates in difficult circumstances. Each woman understands that to be a part of a successful trust bank, she must have the commitment and responsibility of payment.

Each month the members of every Trust Bank travel, most likely by foot, to their designated meeting places to make payments on their loans and receive a Non-Formal Education lesson in their native languages on one of the four pillars – women, family, business, and health. During the below three education sessions, building group structure and trust are key components to a healthy support system and Trust Bank.

October – Board Responsibilities

The Trust Bank’s elected President, Secretary, and Treasurer face the group and kick off the meeting! They are the topic of discussion this month. To get the women thinking about leadership, they are asked to recall a leader they admire greatly and to come up with some characteristics that describe that person. Next they are read the story of a perfectly run, fictional Trust Bank, whose board does everything required in a friendly, respectful manner. The meeting ends with each board member reading a pledge of the duties she commits to perform during her term.

November – The Solidarity Guarantee

Each member of a Trust Bank commits to paying the entire loan even when one member defaults. This is called the solidarity guarantee. The concept of solidarity is made real to the women when they are asked to visualize how they feel and what they do when they learn a member of their community has experienced a birth or a death. Reciprocity, responsibility, empathy, respect, and common experience are ideas that come to mind. Since those feelings are made stronger the better known the affected individual is, the women are reminded of the importance of getting to know one another. As a final application of the concept, the women are asked at the end of the meeting to produce 20Q of their own money. Of course, not everyone will have it. The lack or possession of the money produces a set of feelings towards themselves and one another that should give them something to reflect on.

December – The Facilitator’s Role

A Facilitator at Friendship Bridge has a very big job. They assist in the formation of new Trust Banks, prepare for and teach a new lesson each month to dozens of existing groups, travel, often by foot, to remote areas to meet with clients, and they do all this in the rain or shine! This month the Trust Bank members are asked to describe their experiences meeting their Facilitator for the first time. At the end of the meeting, they discuss among themselves what medal they will award their Facilitator… gold, silver, or bronze… and why he/she deserves the medal received. It is intended to be an opportunity for the Facilitator to gain feedback on the important work they do.