An internship in micro finance: an interview with three high school interns

Ever pondered over what it would be like to intern in the field of micro finance? Well, ponder no more! Three fantastic interns from Germany finished their time with us a few weeks ago and kindly spent a few minutes sharing their experiences with us! They spent four weeks working and living in a very rural community in the village of Solola in Guatemala and here they tell us what it was like!

Hello! Welcome back to Santa Lucia! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! First up, what was it like?

Emely: It was amazing! Best experience ever!

Mortiz: Yes! I agree!

What made you join our program?

Emely: Our school offers a study abroad program and although there are options all over the world, we chose Guatemala to learn Spanish and experience a different culture.

Moritz: And we certainly did!

Ole: The micro finance program really interested us as well, so, it was the perfect fit!

Ahh, that’s great! Can you tell me what your average day was like?

Moritz: Well, we would get up at 7am…well Ole and I would…Emely…a little later than that… Breakfast was at 7.30am, a tasty meal of beans, eggs and tortillas generally, sometimes cereal, sometimes something else.

Emely: After that we would go to the project, around 8am and be there until 5pm. There we would hike up to see customers, read business and marketing plans or listen to their stories and problems. We learnt so much! At 5pm we would head home for dinner, some time relaxing and then to bed!

What businesses did they locals have?

Moritz: Lots of tortillarias (tortilla shops), textiles, artisans, shops, farms and sewing businesses.

Were there things to do in the village?

Moritz: No, but we would be so tired we would go to bed at 8.30pm!

Emely: One night we found a little café so we went there a few times. We would play cards with the kids, they loved that, play football or basketball and cook dinner with the family.

Ole: On the weekends we visited Panajachel a few times where we stayed with another family that INLEXCA recommended. We also went to Xela, Chichicastenango and we went to some villages on Lake Atitlan.

Emely: We also went to church one weekend too. In the afternoon for three hours!

What was the family like?

Mortiz: The dad worked really hard, he left at 4am and came home at 9pm. The Mum worked as well but she was home by 6pm to be with us and her family.

Ole: The kids were great! We played with them a lot, which was fun.

Emely: The family were so kind and accommodating, they always helped us with everything! The kids hated vegetables!

What was the one thing that made you think ‘Yeah, I’m not in Germany now!’

Mortiz: One night when we were hanging out our clothes to dry on the roof of the house and someone set off fireworks close by, the embers were landing on the roof, right by us!

Emely: Climbing an active volcano, I just thought, wow, I am definitely not in Germany now!

Ole: Washing our own clothes by hand, I haven’t done that before! Oh and a bucket shower in Santo Tomas! We had to warn them the night before if we wanted a shower and they would heat the water for us over the stove!

Moritz: The buses! In Germany everything is scheduled down to the minute but here, you just get on any bus you are pushed onto, there is no schedule, you just get on and hope it goes where you want to go! The crazy thing was it always worked! It looks so disorganised but they always got us there!

Ole: The carbs! Eating pasta and tortillas in the same meal was wild!

What was your highlight?

Mortiz: Everything! It was such a great experience! I wouldn’t change anything. Baking without any utensils was fun as well, and an experience!

Emely: Yeah, everything but I loved Pacaya, that was amazing. And the friendliness of the people in the village and Panajachel! We sat in a coffee shop once for three hours just chatting to people!

Ole: The trip to Xela was great! Going to hot springs..really nice!

Mortiz: On the last day we made a German cake for everyone at the project to say thank you! Just before we were going to serve it, they called us in and they had arranged pizza party, they gave us gifts, just to say thank you.

What will you miss?

Emely: The people. We have no way of keeping in contact with the people and they were all so wonderful.

If you are interested in interning with us in Guatemala, Costa Rica or Nicaragua, please follow this link.