In January the Community Library Rija’tzuul Na’ooj in San Juan la Laguna, Guatemala, inaugurated their business center thanks to funding from the BFB Foundation. This space is now providing the opportunity to local producers, such as weavers and artisans, to access technology and use it to improve their sales and promotion activities. Also in this space they will be participating in different technology and marketing seminars, as well as sharing experiences with each other. Right now the women weavers are learning how to use internet, create their email accounts and soon they will have their own blogs to promote their products. Juana, who participated in the Beyond Access Conference last year, is coordinating the business center and working with groups of weavers.
So far there is an average of 12 users per day. They have to take turns to use the computers because now the center only has three. Most of the women using the facility have never gone to school and they are learning how to use a computer and internet. Besides learning to use technology, so far they have received a seminar on “customer service”, with the attendance of 28 women and people from the local government, and have put together a grant application, with the guidance of the business center coordinator, to get seed funding for developing new products. The business center opened just a few months ago and great things are happening and more are yet to come!
Our own Romeo Rodriguez, Development Director, was recently featured on the blog of Beyond Access talking about the new business center.
Inauguration of the Business Center January 2013
Trying out a mouse for the first time.
And away they go!