Hello, All! On Friday, to better prepare for our project in Chiapas, we made the trip to the community commercial kitchen at Hacienda CDC to chat with a couple of the "Tamale Chefs" of Micro-Mercantes. Our host, program manager Jorge Alvarado, introduced us to Lourdes Hernandez and Luz Maria Gastelum, both of whom are participants in the program. The Tamale Chefs, or Las Señoras (as they are also warmly called), were kind enough to take some time out of their day and talk with us as Lourdes prepared tamales for the next day.
Micro-Mercantes is a microenterprise program that launched in 2005 and is comprised of twenty Hispanic women, often with limited English skills and of very low-income backgrounds. All of the Tamale Chefs are residents of Hacienda CDC's affordable rental housing communities and, with the help of Hacienda, began working with Micro-Mercantes to "promote the economic well-being and independence of the low-income immigrant participants, and also to increase their skills as small business owners."
Micro-Mercantes is an example of how microenterprise can develop and thrive within our local community. With family income increases of approximately 40%, Micro-Mercantes not only increased their income by $15,000 annually but also improved the self-esteem of the women enrolled in the program. In an interview from the Micro-Mercantes website, Lourdes says, "This helps me a lot. I feel useful. I have opened up to people and socialize more." Programs like this serve to build strong community ties and to strengthen those that already exist through hard-work, Latino women empowerment and quality authentic foods. Hacienda holds business strategy meetings with the women participating in the program, aids their efforts to learn English and holds computer classes to help them manage their small businesses effectively. Hacienda has even set up a partnership with the Mexican Consul, in which diplomas can be received for life experience and education gained in the U.S. With the skills and education gained in Micro-Mercantes, the women can go on to set up small businesses of their own, and the empowerment will continue to spread throughout the the Latino community.
Micro-Mercantes is an example of how microenterprise can develop and thrive within our local community. With family income increases of approximately 40%, Micro-Mercantes not only increased their income by $15,000 annually but also improved the self-esteem of the women enrolled in the program. In an interview from the Micro-Mercantes website, Lourdes says, "This helps me a lot. I feel useful. I have opened up to people and socialize more." Programs like this serve to build strong community ties and to strengthen those that already exist through hard-work, Latino women empowerment and quality authentic foods. Hacienda holds business strategy meetings with the women participating in the program, aids their efforts to learn English and holds computer classes to help them manage their small businesses effectively. Hacienda has even set up a partnership with the Mexican Consul, in which diplomas can be received for life experience and education gained in the U.S. With the skills and education gained in Micro-Mercantes, the women can go on to set up small businesses of their own, and the empowerment will continue to spread throughout the the Latino community.
There were some challenges start
ing Micro-Mercantes. Potential retailers, all of which are farmer's markets in the Portland area, weren't familiar with tamales or already had too many food vendor booths at their markets. With the success of their business strategy and popularity of their tamales, Micro-Mercantes has grown from one market to twelve, and they are even catering events and fulfilling special orders. There were also communication challenges, due to language barriers or education, which were examined and overcome within the group and with the help of Hacienda. The reversal of financial head of household created tensions in some homes of the Tamales Chefs, but tended to be smoothed out with an increase in family income. Micro-Mercantes has been so successful in overcoming these challenges that they are working toward establishing themselves as an independent cooperative, hopefully within the next year.
Each of the women within Micro-Mercantes specializes in their own recipes. During our visit, Lourdes Hernandez, whose specialty is pork tamales with a special green salsa, was kind enough to give us a sampling of her freshly made and incredibly delicious tamales. Though a labor of love, the process of making tamales takes many hours in the community kitchen that is often loud and hot. It highlighted the fact that, though Micro-Mercantes is a stepping stone toward personal and financial success, it requires hard work and dedication from every participant involved.
ing Micro-Mercantes. Potential retailers, all of which are farmer's markets in the Portland area, weren't familiar with tamales or already had too many food vendor booths at their markets. With the success of their business strategy and popularity of their tamales, Micro-Mercantes has grown from one market to twelve, and they are even catering events and fulfilling special orders. There were also communication challenges, due to language barriers or education, which were examined and overcome within the group and with the help of Hacienda. The reversal of financial head of household created tensions in some homes of the Tamales Chefs, but tended to be smoothed out with an increase in family income. Micro-Mercantes has been so successful in overcoming these challenges that they are working toward establishing themselves as an independent cooperative, hopefully within the next year.Each of the women within Micro-Mercantes specializes in their own recipes. During our visit, Lourdes Hernandez, whose specialty is pork tamales with a special green salsa, was kind enough to give us a sampling of her freshly made and incredibly delicious tamales. Though a labor of love, the process of making tamales takes many hours in the community kitchen that is often loud and hot. It highlighted the fact that, though Micro-Mercantes is a stepping stone toward personal and financial success, it requires hard work and dedication from every participant involved.
Several of the NGOs we will be participating with in Chiapas follow a similar strategy of empowering women and strengthening community, have faced similar obstacles, and attained similar success. We greatly appreciated the time Jorge, Lourdes, Rogelio and Luz Maria spent with us, allowing us to better understand a venture that has empowered women, strengthened communities and created pride right here in Portland, Oregon. We look forward to the continued success and growth of their enterprise and to sharing in their delicious tamales for years to come.
If you would like to visit Micro-Mercantes, you can find a list of their scheduled appearances here. You can order tamales from their online marketplace here. For further reading, here are the links to both Hacienda CDC and Micro-Mercantes. See more of our photos from our visit with Micro-Mercantes in our gallery here.
Great job, Angie plus help from Kathe and Andrea photos. Thanks, Pat
ReplyDeleteHey Angie, I didn't know you were doing this! Good work and interesting blog. I stumbled upon this in looking at a volunteer opportunity for Hacienda. I'd love to hear how the trip goes!
ReplyDelete-Betsy