Watching the film He is not that into you left me with a whilrpool of emotions. (yes, it´s ironic how a cliche film can provoke that) The movie brought me back to a few years of my life of intense dating in New York City. Even though most of those romances were ephemeral, something about their intensity left a mark on me: dating makes you incredibly vulnerable as you expose yourself to absolute strangers, with some hidden hope that he may be the one.
Even though dating can be superficial, I definitely vividly remember getting my feelings involved and getting really hurt but also hurting guys without thinking twice about it. I will never forget how awful and small and devastated I felt when I realized that an argentinian musician who had composed a song for me was JUST NOT THAT INTO ME. I also remember ignoring many phone calls instead of facing up to unwanted suitors with the unattractive truth. The thing about dating that marked me the most is constantly feeling compared to others. I can accept that a guy is just not that into me because I know that there is always someone prettier, smarter or sexier.
The worst part about this idea that he is just not that into you is that if you really accept it and let it get under your skin, you can ruin something real and meaningful when it comes around. I have questioned many relationships and doubted many sincere guys because i feel like, there is no way he can be that into me. Plus it really irks me how much power men have: men decide when to call and when to ask us out which makes women submissive and passive recipients of male affection.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Mexico's social development
Mexico´s slow yet solid democratic transition coupled with unprecedented economic growth did not ameliorate the high level of poverty and social inequality.
So what are the poverty and social inequality indicators?
Poverty: (CONEVAL 2007)
In a country of 107 million people:
13.2% of the population lives in extreme poverty, which means that they do not have sufficient resources to obtain a basic food basket.
20.7% of the population lives in poverty of capacities which means that they can afford to buy a basic food basket but do not have sufficient resources to invest in health or education.
42.6% of the population lives in general poverty, which means that they have access to a basic food basket, education and health but do not have a minimally aceptable standard of living such as adequate clothing and transport for all members of the household.
Social inequality: (CONEVAL 2007)
Mexico has the highest income inequality out of all countries in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The médium income of the poorest 10% of the population is 1,000 dollars which is lowest than in any other developed country.
10% of the richest population holds 39.3% of nation´s wealth
Welcome to Mexico!
México Lindo y Querido (Ana Gabriel)
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México, lindo y querido
Si muero lejos de ti
Voz de la guitarra mía,
al despertar la mañana
quiere cantar su alegría
a mi tierra mexicana
Yo le canto a sus volcanes
a sus praderas y flores
que son como talismanes
del amor de mis amores
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
Que digan que estoy dormido
y que me traigan aquí
México Lindo y Querido
si muero lejos de ti
I chose to move to Mexico to work for a capacity building non-profit because I wanted to contribute and learn from the incipient but growing non-profit sector in a country undergoing democratic consolidation. I wanted to explore the diversity of civil society organizations and explore the role of social entrepreneurs in breaking away from the norm to create systemic change.
In my humble exposure to Mexico through my one week consulting experience for a local government and one semester research project about social entrepreneurs in the arena of education and health, I knew that there is much more to Mexico than the sensational news headlines: illegal immigration, drug trafficking and constant kidnappings!
As I celebrate my six month anniversary of living in Mexico, I decided to revive my blog and share some reflections on my experiences thus far.
#1 Even though I have never been to Cancun or Playa de Carmen, there is a perception in the US that Mexico are its beaches and nothing else. I had travelled a few times in Mexico and had gotten a small glimpse of Mexico's geographic diversity:mountains, beaches, forests, colonial cities, megametropolis, etc. But living here has opened up my eyes even more to the immense cultural diversity of this country. Many Mexicans will tell you that they feel that there are many Mexicos due to the vast cultural differences. Interviewing Judith Santoprieto, founder of Revista Iguanazul which promote indigenous languages, I was amazed by the existence and use of 64 different languages and over 300 linguistic variations, within Mexico. Mexico is immensely diverse in culture and history and I feel that I can learn something new every day.
#2 In comparison to other places where i have spent significant amount of time, Chile, India, Bolivia, I feel very at home in Mexico. I do not feel like an outsider here.
#3 While the increase in drug related violence is noticeable and is part of the headlines in the news, I feel that the much less talked about issue is delinquency and petty crimes, which affect every day lives of ordinary people much more than narcoviolence. When someone really close to me was violently attacked and the aggressors went free due to corruption, I felt outraged at the lack of justice.
#4 Having spent a lot of time in South America where most people perceive the US as a distant paradise with money growing on trees, I am still getting used to the close relationship between US and Mexico. Every Mexican has a relative or knows someone who lives in the US which makes it less likely that they idealize the United States. The proximity of the border, free trade agreement, and history create a unique relationship between Mexico and the US.
#5 In this economic crisis where Americans are suffering in the decline of their standard of living, Mexicans constantly comment how they are used to living in economic crises. One friend said, We know how to be happy, in spite of what is happening since we have survived two major crises thus far.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Travels in Bolivia
I spent a week and a half travelling all over Bolivia- an amazingly diverse country! Initially I travelled with Edith and Roberto and met a lot of their family members which is always a great way to get know a country from the inside. After 5 days of travelling with them, I travelled on my own for another 5 days! I spent many hours on unpaved rural roads in Bolivia along with farmers who would travel to different cities to sell their crops. . Here are some of my memorable moments during the trip.1. Meeting the Prefecto de Santa Cruz, Ruben Costa, and celebrating Camiri´s founding. Although I am not a big fan of his, it was still exciting to meet the man who is at the center of autonomy debate in Bolivia.
2. Going through the mountains where Che fought!
3. Visiting Sucre, Bolivia´s ONLY capital, as the tour guide in a museum told me
4. Visting mine Morena en Cerro Rico in Potosi (mining has to be one of the most depressing and harsh professions)
5. Visting the largest salt flats in the world, Salar de Uyuni (I have never seen this much salt before)
6. and of course Tarija, where Ceci´s family is from: a beautiful little town where everyone knows each other!!!!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Diverse perspectives on informal economy
Ceci, Berno and I were privileged to have interviewed some key officials on their perspectives on their informal economy. These interviews revealed a really diverse array of views on the informal economy and added significant depth to our research. The most polemic topic that emerged from the interviews was microcredit.
Javier Hurtado-El ministro de Producción y la Microempresa
The minister of production and microbusinesses is a socialist and made a statement which I will never forget. He said that Bolivia’s lack of development is a blessing because it provides an opportunity for development which maximizes national resources and does not create dependency on developed countries. Javier has a really interesting past. He was a Schwab social enterpreneur for being the founder and general manage of Irupana, which works with 1700 indigenous families to train them in organic farming and to empower them by providing real ownership of the company. (http://www.schwabfound.org/schwabentrepreneurs_sp.htm?schwabid=715) He didn’t address street vendors specifically but talked about general measures that the government is taking to stimulate productivity among microentepreneurs such as breadmakers or tailors who make uniforms. He talked about helping farmers with no interest loans. Javier made a powerful statement about microfinance: He believes it is immoral because microfinance institutions started out as NGos dependent on donations and now have become private property, whose profits depend on poor people, charging exhorbitant interest rates.
Juan del Granado-Mayor of La Paz
The eloquent mayor of La Paz spoke candidly about the city’s efforts to improve the lives of street vendors. The main municipal policy he mentioned was reordenamiento: relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets. He did admit that the relocation wasn´t always successful. Even though the city constructed a beutiful and clean market in Marina Nunez, Pacenos didn´t want to go there. He admitted that one problem is that Pacenos are used to getting what they need on the street when they walk to work and do not want to make an effort to go to a market. He also mentioned an attempt at providing social protection which failed. He recounted an anecdote, how unión leaders march on the streets demanding his death and he always tells them when they meet with him, why they make his poor mother worry so much. The main conclusión I took away from this interview was that the main municipal policy towards street vendors is relocation to markets, even though they have dubious success. (In the meantime, all street vendors are registered with the Unidad de Mercados en Via Publica and are constantly monitored for their work schedule, the product they are selling and the size of their stall.)
Rosa Talavera-oficial Mayor de Promoción Económica
Rosa was the least receptive to the idea of street vendors and expressed her doubts about our research trying to put a human face to the problem. I can tell that she felt that we were viewing the street vendors through a rose colored lens instead of in practical terms. She recounted all of the measures that her office has taken to convert street vendors into other professions such as gardners but felt frustrated when no street vendor signed up for the gardening course. She spoke a lot about the diversity of street vendors and the importance of dividing street vendors into different categories in order to put in place effective policies. She did admit that the municipality lacked a pro active policy for economic growth and that she felt overwhelmed by the constantly growing problem of street vendors (and she does view them as a problem) She felt frustrated at the fact that street vendors seem resistant to training courses and seem adamant about remaining on the streets.
Julio Patino-Dirigente de Agrupacion de gremiales
This street vendor unión leader painted a story of how street vendors are a solution to safety on the streets: if they were not selling on the streets, they would be delinquents. He talked about how he represents thousandths of street vendors in La Paz and how they constantly pressure the government to provide social protection and legal protection for street vendors. Interesting fact: he has never been a street vendor. Another interesting fact: more than half of all street vendors are women but all of the unión leaders are men. He talked about how companeras live indebted and work only to pay the bank since plethora of microfinance institutions come to offer loans to them. He made a really solid point: how can street vendors take out loans when they have no job security. Until they can have job security, they should not be taking out such huge loans which lead them to live indebted. He also talked about the payment that street vendors make to the municipality to be able to sell and how this year all of the 45,000 street vendors will be officially registered with the municipality.
Kurt Koeningfest-Gerente General de Banco Sol
This was my favorite interview because Kurt is incredibly eloquent and persuasive and his institution is the center of debate in all of the other interviews. The key points that I took away from this interview were that the success of microfinance and the insane growth of microfinance institutions shows the true dimensión of the informal economy, which noone has been able to accurately measure. The other main point Kurt made was that everyone blames the bank when a poor person cannot make the payments and his property is confiscated but noone looks at the other side of the story. When peple dont pay their loans, they are hurting those who deposited their money with the bank since that is where the resources for loans origínate. He talked about how it is much easier to sell the story of a bad banker who robs the poor than a person who actively solicited a loan, made a bad investment and then has no money to pay back.
The main feature of working in the informal economy is the lack of social protection, social security and health insurance. Sra. Julia stated adamantly in her interviews that she would be willing to contribute for social protection. It seems that neither municipality nor federal government seem to want to take on the challenge. Yes, Juan mentioned it and Javier mentioned different health care options which would be affordable to the poor. But there are no concrete projects in place and it did not seem like a priority. (or something that could become reality within the next few years.)
Javier Hurtado-El ministro de Producción y la MicroempresaThe minister of production and microbusinesses is a socialist and made a statement which I will never forget. He said that Bolivia’s lack of development is a blessing because it provides an opportunity for development which maximizes national resources and does not create dependency on developed countries. Javier has a really interesting past. He was a Schwab social enterpreneur for being the founder and general manage of Irupana, which works with 1700 indigenous families to train them in organic farming and to empower them by providing real ownership of the company. (http://www.schwabfound.org/schwabentrepreneurs_sp.htm?schwabid=715) He didn’t address street vendors specifically but talked about general measures that the government is taking to stimulate productivity among microentepreneurs such as breadmakers or tailors who make uniforms. He talked about helping farmers with no interest loans. Javier made a powerful statement about microfinance: He believes it is immoral because microfinance institutions started out as NGos dependent on donations and now have become private property, whose profits depend on poor people, charging exhorbitant interest rates.
Juan del Granado-Mayor of La PazThe eloquent mayor of La Paz spoke candidly about the city’s efforts to improve the lives of street vendors. The main municipal policy he mentioned was reordenamiento: relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets. He did admit that the relocation wasn´t always successful. Even though the city constructed a beutiful and clean market in Marina Nunez, Pacenos didn´t want to go there. He admitted that one problem is that Pacenos are used to getting what they need on the street when they walk to work and do not want to make an effort to go to a market. He also mentioned an attempt at providing social protection which failed. He recounted an anecdote, how unión leaders march on the streets demanding his death and he always tells them when they meet with him, why they make his poor mother worry so much. The main conclusión I took away from this interview was that the main municipal policy towards street vendors is relocation to markets, even though they have dubious success. (In the meantime, all street vendors are registered with the Unidad de Mercados en Via Publica and are constantly monitored for their work schedule, the product they are selling and the size of their stall.)
Rosa Talavera-oficial Mayor de Promoción Económica
Rosa was the least receptive to the idea of street vendors and expressed her doubts about our research trying to put a human face to the problem. I can tell that she felt that we were viewing the street vendors through a rose colored lens instead of in practical terms. She recounted all of the measures that her office has taken to convert street vendors into other professions such as gardners but felt frustrated when no street vendor signed up for the gardening course. She spoke a lot about the diversity of street vendors and the importance of dividing street vendors into different categories in order to put in place effective policies. She did admit that the municipality lacked a pro active policy for economic growth and that she felt overwhelmed by the constantly growing problem of street vendors (and she does view them as a problem) She felt frustrated at the fact that street vendors seem resistant to training courses and seem adamant about remaining on the streets.
Julio Patino-Dirigente de Agrupacion de gremiales
This street vendor unión leader painted a story of how street vendors are a solution to safety on the streets: if they were not selling on the streets, they would be delinquents. He talked about how he represents thousandths of street vendors in La Paz and how they constantly pressure the government to provide social protection and legal protection for street vendors. Interesting fact: he has never been a street vendor. Another interesting fact: more than half of all street vendors are women but all of the unión leaders are men. He talked about how companeras live indebted and work only to pay the bank since plethora of microfinance institutions come to offer loans to them. He made a really solid point: how can street vendors take out loans when they have no job security. Until they can have job security, they should not be taking out such huge loans which lead them to live indebted. He also talked about the payment that street vendors make to the municipality to be able to sell and how this year all of the 45,000 street vendors will be officially registered with the municipality.
Kurt Koeningfest-Gerente General de Banco Sol
This was my favorite interview because Kurt is incredibly eloquent and persuasive and his institution is the center of debate in all of the other interviews. The key points that I took away from this interview were that the success of microfinance and the insane growth of microfinance institutions shows the true dimensión of the informal economy, which noone has been able to accurately measure. The other main point Kurt made was that everyone blames the bank when a poor person cannot make the payments and his property is confiscated but noone looks at the other side of the story. When peple dont pay their loans, they are hurting those who deposited their money with the bank since that is where the resources for loans origínate. He talked about how it is much easier to sell the story of a bad banker who robs the poor than a person who actively solicited a loan, made a bad investment and then has no money to pay back.The main feature of working in the informal economy is the lack of social protection, social security and health insurance. Sra. Julia stated adamantly in her interviews that she would be willing to contribute for social protection. It seems that neither municipality nor federal government seem to want to take on the challenge. Yes, Juan mentioned it and Javier mentioned different health care options which would be affordable to the poor. But there are no concrete projects in place and it did not seem like a priority. (or something that could become reality within the next few years.)
Human face of the informal economy
m
The objective of the research that Ceci, Bernardo and I embarked on is to show the human face of the informal economy.
There are many statistics about the informal economy:
-Informal employment comprises one half to three quarters of non-agricultural employment in developing countries. In Latin America, 51%!
-In developing countries, self employment comprises a greater share of informal employment outside of agriculture than wage employment. In Latin America, within that 51%, 60% are self employed.
-Home based workers and street vendors are two of the largest subgroups of informal workfroce: more home based workers but street vendors are more visible.
-Informal economy is a larger source of employment for women than men. In Latin America, 58 per cent of women workers are in informal economy in comparison to 48 per cent of men.
Bolivian context: Bolivia has the highest urban population employed in the informal economy , 59.5% according to Economic Commission for Latin America. There are 45,000 street vendors in La Paz, according to the Municipality which has devised a system that registers street vendors who pay for a license to sell on a clearly defined part of the side walk, for 40 bolivianos (approximately USD 6) per year
But statistics do not convey the complexities of the informal economy. Statistics are a great way to understand the immense dimension of this phenomenon but not enough to provide a deep understanding of the reality of the informal economy. So we wanted to show the human face of the informal economy, which doesn't mean looking at the reality through an idealistic lens. The goal of our research was not to show the suffering of street vendors in La Paz so we can feel collective pity for these workers. But the real goal is to show that the informal economy does not revolve only around the street vendor but we are all connected to it: as consumers, pedestrians, local and global citizens. We also wanted to show the full dimension of the lives of street vendors that go beyond their economic activity: where they live, how they live, what their families are like, how they interact with their neighbors. By looking at these street vendors not solely as economic agents who are evading taxes or blocking our streets, but as human beings with all of the problems that human beings face universally, we can begin to move away from the typical debate about formalizing the informal economy and into much more complex but sustainable cross sectoral solutions which go to the heart of the problem.
Ceci, Bernardo and I lived with three different women with completely different stories and conflicts. The diversity of experiences and daily realities among Sra Nancy, Sra Hortensia and Sra Julia reflect the true diversity of the informal economy. While their lives diverge on many points, they also share commonalities such as lack of social protection such as access to health care and pension funds. I will write really briefly the main conflict of each street vendor and then share some of the pertinent themes that emerged.
Sra. Julia:
-became a street vendor after the 1985 crisis, which was caused by "fall of the international prices of minerals in 1985, especially tin, pushing the government to the implementation of an austerity program which led to an estimated unemployment rate of 21.5 percent by 1987. The social impact of these reforms was the configuration of a “new” class of informal labor called “relocalizados”, a new army of unemployed or underemployed citizens. "(Cecilia Barja Chamas, Bolivian Trend) She is a single mother of two children from two different fathers and often refers to her stall as her husband, because the stall provides food for her to eat and resources to survive.
-She often says "Si no salgo a vender, no tengo que comer." (If I don't go to sell one day, I dont have anything to eat." This statement is a powerful reminder of how vulnerable street vendors are and how they lack cushion that formal employment offers. She has no savings, no financial safety net. She needs this money to feed herself and also help her children and grandchildren.
-The main conflict right now in her life is rebuilding her house with a loan of 100,000 Bolivianos (approx 14,000 USD) which means monthly payments of $425 USD.
-She owns a three story house which was in really bad shape so she demolished most of it and is now rebuilding. She borrowed this huge loan to rebuild her house at an interest rate of 21%. The mistake she made was to borrow a commercial loan instead of a housing loan.
-She owns two stalls that are right next to each other and has legal papers from the municipality to sell (patente). One of the stalls has stationary items such as cds, disks, folders, etc. The other stall which is much more demanded sells sweets, soda, water and cookies.
Sra Hortensia:
-is married with a husband who is a professional and has three children, who all have higher education and are working professionals
-she owns a plot of land in Caranavi where she produces oranges and other fruits so she considers herself not as a gremial but as a productora.
-she sells oranges and bananas along with 5 other people in a very popular spot near the General Cementary
-owns her house
-she employs: owns an additional stall in a different location where she hires someone to work all day
-manages her debt that it doesn't negatively impact her business
-her main conflict is that she does not have legal papers from the municipality to sell all week which creates many problems for her when municipal authorities come to do the routine checks on street vendors
Sra. Nancy ( you can read much more about her in my last blog entry)
-has a husband who works in a furniture workshop and has 7 children
-sells hats in Villa Fatima, with very little demand for hats and thus minimal profit
-has legal papers from the municipality to sell hats
-does not have any debt
-one of her main conflicts is the lack of profitability of her economic activity
-another main conflict is lack of papers documenting property ownership of her house which prevents her from expanding her house and causing her to live in substandard conditions
In examining the daily realities of these three street vendors, the following themes emerged:
1. Relationship between street vendor and municipality:
Does having legal right to sell on the street guarantee a better standard of living? Is there a correlation between legal right to sell and more profitable economic activity, thus leading to a higher standard of living?
2. Relationship between street vendor and microfinance
Does microfinance provide the badly needed access to credit or does it condemn street vendors to a life of debt, working solely for the bank?
3. Relationship between street vendor and their union leaders.
Do street vendor union leaders represent the needs and demands of street vendors or do they take advantage of this critical mass to propel their political careers?
4. General public policies towards informal economy and street vendors:
-conversion from commercial to productive activity
-relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets
-social protection policies to cover informal economy workers
There are many statistics about the informal economy:
-Informal employment comprises one half to three quarters of non-agricultural employment in developing countries. In Latin America, 51%!
-In developing countries, self employment comprises a greater share of informal employment outside of agriculture than wage employment. In Latin America, within that 51%, 60% are self employed.
-Home based workers and street vendors are two of the largest subgroups of informal workfroce: more home based workers but street vendors are more visible.
-Informal economy is a larger source of employment for women than men. In Latin America, 58 per cent of women workers are in informal economy in comparison to 48 per cent of men.
Bolivian context: Bolivia has the highest urban population employed in the informal economy , 59.5% according to Economic Commission for Latin America. There are 45,000 street vendors in La Paz, according to the Municipality which has devised a system that registers street vendors who pay for a license to sell on a clearly defined part of the side walk, for 40 bolivianos (approximately USD 6) per year
But statistics do not convey the complexities of the informal economy. Statistics are a great way to understand the immense dimension of this phenomenon but not enough to provide a deep understanding of the reality of the informal economy. So we wanted to show the human face of the informal economy, which doesn't mean looking at the reality through an idealistic lens. The goal of our research was not to show the suffering of street vendors in La Paz so we can feel collective pity for these workers. But the real goal is to show that the informal economy does not revolve only around the street vendor but we are all connected to it: as consumers, pedestrians, local and global citizens. We also wanted to show the full dimension of the lives of street vendors that go beyond their economic activity: where they live, how they live, what their families are like, how they interact with their neighbors. By looking at these street vendors not solely as economic agents who are evading taxes or blocking our streets, but as human beings with all of the problems that human beings face universally, we can begin to move away from the typical debate about formalizing the informal economy and into much more complex but sustainable cross sectoral solutions which go to the heart of the problem.
Ceci, Bernardo and I lived with three different women with completely different stories and conflicts. The diversity of experiences and daily realities among Sra Nancy, Sra Hortensia and Sra Julia reflect the true diversity of the informal economy. While their lives diverge on many points, they also share commonalities such as lack of social protection such as access to health care and pension funds. I will write really briefly the main conflict of each street vendor and then share some of the pertinent themes that emerged.
Sra. Julia:
-became a street vendor after the 1985 crisis, which was caused by "fall of the international prices of minerals in 1985, especially tin, pushing the government to the implementation of an austerity program which led to an estimated unemployment rate of 21.5 percent by 1987. The social impact of these reforms was the configuration of a “new” class of informal labor called “relocalizados”, a new army of unemployed or underemployed citizens. "(Cecilia Barja Chamas, Bolivian Trend) She is a single mother of two children from two different fathers and often refers to her stall as her husband, because the stall provides food for her to eat and resources to survive.
-She often says "Si no salgo a vender, no tengo que comer." (If I don't go to sell one day, I dont have anything to eat." This statement is a powerful reminder of how vulnerable street vendors are and how they lack cushion that formal employment offers. She has no savings, no financial safety net. She needs this money to feed herself and also help her children and grandchildren.
-The main conflict right now in her life is rebuilding her house with a loan of 100,000 Bolivianos (approx 14,000 USD) which means monthly payments of $425 USD.
-She owns a three story house which was in really bad shape so she demolished most of it and is now rebuilding. She borrowed this huge loan to rebuild her house at an interest rate of 21%. The mistake she made was to borrow a commercial loan instead of a housing loan.
-She owns two stalls that are right next to each other and has legal papers from the municipality to sell (patente). One of the stalls has stationary items such as cds, disks, folders, etc. The other stall which is much more demanded sells sweets, soda, water and cookies.
Sra Hortensia:
-is married with a husband who is a professional and has three children, who all have higher education and are working professionals
-she owns a plot of land in Caranavi where she produces oranges and other fruits so she considers herself not as a gremial but as a productora.
-she sells oranges and bananas along with 5 other people in a very popular spot near the General Cementary
-owns her house
-she employs: owns an additional stall in a different location where she hires someone to work all day
-manages her debt that it doesn't negatively impact her business
-her main conflict is that she does not have legal papers from the municipality to sell all week which creates many problems for her when municipal authorities come to do the routine checks on street vendors
Sra. Nancy ( you can read much more about her in my last blog entry)
-has a husband who works in a furniture workshop and has 7 children
-sells hats in Villa Fatima, with very little demand for hats and thus minimal profit
-has legal papers from the municipality to sell hats
-does not have any debt
-one of her main conflicts is the lack of profitability of her economic activity
-another main conflict is lack of papers documenting property ownership of her house which prevents her from expanding her house and causing her to live in substandard conditions
In examining the daily realities of these three street vendors, the following themes emerged:
1. Relationship between street vendor and municipality:
Does having legal right to sell on the street guarantee a better standard of living? Is there a correlation between legal right to sell and more profitable economic activity, thus leading to a higher standard of living?
2. Relationship between street vendor and microfinance
Does microfinance provide the badly needed access to credit or does it condemn street vendors to a life of debt, working solely for the bank?
3. Relationship between street vendor and their union leaders.
Do street vendor union leaders represent the needs and demands of street vendors or do they take advantage of this critical mass to propel their political careers?
4. General public policies towards informal economy and street vendors:
-conversion from commercial to productive activity
-relocation of street vendors from the street to official markets
-social protection policies to cover informal economy workers
Monday, June 30, 2008
Life of a street vendor
A friend asked me if there was anything that surprised me about the life of a street vendor and whether it fit with the image I had prior to beginning my research. Having spent one week living with a street vendor, Sra. Nancy, and her family, I know that I barely scratched the surface of what her life is really like. Crossing boundaries across cultures, countries and social classes is more difficult than it seems . Even though I think I have a “noble” goal, to really understand the life of a street vendor from the inside, Sra. Nancy wasn’t so convinced. Initially I seemed like a strange foreigner imposing on her life. Even though she tried to understand why I was doing this research, it still seemed a bit odd to her. Social immersion is a powerful research tool for a privileged educated outsider but it is both intrusive and imposing. My presence offered no concrete benefit or hope for improvement to Sra. Nancy and her family. I was definitely getting more out of this experience than Sra. Nancy. Of course my goal is to find small measures that Sra. Nancy can take to improve her sales and also her standard of living. But until then, I am grateful to Sra. Nancy and her beautiful family for putting up with me for a week. Sra. Nancy sells mainly hats, intermingled with gloves, scarves and household slippers. She travels to the center of La Paz twice a week to buy hats from a wholesale supplier who sells hats by the dozen. She usually buys two or three kinds of hats in threes since she cannot afford to buy a full dozen. She would love to buy all the merchandise in one trip but she cannot afford it. She tells me that it drives people away when there is scarce merchandise at her stand. Sra. Nancy’s day starts around 7 and she is home by about 4 or 5, depending on the sale and her health. Even though she has been selling in the same spot for more than ten years and around the same women street vendors, she usually keeps to herself and limits her interaction with other street vendors. She told me that there are lots of conflicts between street vendors and she prefers to keep to herself. Even though she shares food with some of her immediate neighbors and even helps them, she doesn’t fully trust them. She was very self conscious that my presence was attracting unnecessary attention and wanted me to keep as low profile as possible. She knew everyone would notice the presence of an outsider and start asking nosy questions. Since it is the end of the month, sales were slow and Sra. Nancy would spend hours sitting at her stand without any customers. Since she is in a place that doesn’t get any sun, it is always very cold and eventually she became very sick which caused her to stay at home for two days.
Sra. Nancy is married and has 7 children and lives in a humble house that is owned by her parents. Since she lacks official papers documenting property ownership, she has constant battles with her neighbors who infringe on her land and expand their houses at Sra. Nancy’s expense. The humble house has 5 small rooms distributed unevenly among Sra. Nancy´s family as well as her mother and three syblings. Sra. Nancy and her husband share a tiny room with their three daughters while the three boys share a separate room. After going on all soup diet for a few months, they finally saved enough money to build a tiny kitchen which fits a table and one chair. The rest of the family members sit on small benches while eating dinner. I spent many hours in the kitchen watching the daughters tirelessly cook and clean every day for the family. To my defense, they wouldn´t let me help them. Every time Sra. Nancy sat down in the kitchen, she would knit sweaters for her children. After Sra. Nancy would go to sleep, I would stay up with the girls giggling, chatting, telling ghost stories and all our supersticious beliefs. It was incredible to have so many sisters and brothers for one week. The four youngest kids I spent the most time with: Doris (19), Rolo (16), Lucy (14) and Ingrid (11) were the most curious and studious kids i have ever met. I gave them endless math problems and english words and they always wanted more. They also taught me about Bolivian culture and even went out of their way to prepare some really familiar meals such as Russian salad and some traditional meals such as Sahta. (spicy chicken, with dehydrated potatoes)
After watching Sra. Nancy sit in the cold for hours with very little hope of earning enough to cover her daily expenses, I thought a lot about why she decides to go sell hats. Between the cost of lunch, bus fare to buy merchandise, weekly dues to night guard and to the street vendor union, she doesn´t sell enough to cover her costs. She maybe earns $1 a day, maybe on better days she earns a few dollars. She was a housewife until she was 37 and then decided to start working to help cover the family´s expenses. If I think about entering the labor force at 37 without any prior experience or formal education, it seems incredibly daunting. Even though she is timid and didn´t share much with me, I get a sense that she wants to have a part of her life that is her own. Even though she may not have the closest relationships with fellow street vendors, the market is hers, the stall is hers and she gets to decide what merchandise she buys and how she sells it. I get a sense that she doesn´t have much agency over her life except as a street vendor. In the process of selling hats, she gets to socialize with others, be in the middle of a busy market and contribute, even if in a minute way, to the household.My two friends who lived with different street vendors had a completely different experience. One street vendor, Dona Julia, who sells in the center is very outgoing and personable. She sells all sorts of sweets, soda, water and phone calls. She depends heavily on loans to finance both her business and construction of her house. The other street vendor, Dona Hortensia, has a pretty high standard of living which comes from two businesses, producing oranges and bananas in a small village on a plot of land she owns and the other is sellings those fruits in a busy market. Dona Hortensia and Dona Julia are going to be stars of the documentary, a Day in the Life of a Street vendor, due to their willingness to share with complete strangers their lives as independent enterpreneurs.
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