Flowers of Hope: Trinidad's Transformation and the Digital Revolution in Rural Guatemala
Trinidad, 54 years old, lives in a hilly, rural area of Guatemala. “I used to be a tree cutter, but then there were no more trees in the area, so I needed to find another job to support my family. When I was out of work, it was a very difficult time and I felt like I didn’t have anything. I really struggled. Then we got together as a family and decided what to do – and together, we decided to start this flower farm. I owe all my success to my family and their support.”
After working on his flower farm for several years, Trinidad needed more capital to purchase seeds and plastic sheeting to cover his planting area to protect his flowers from the weather. The weather can be brutal on the delicate flowers and can easily damage a crop. So, 10 years ago, Trinidad used his first loan for seeds and plastic covering – which has really helped the business grow.
Because Trinidad has been a long-term client, he has also been part of the digital transformation taking place with VisionFund Guatemala. Before, for each loan, clients used to have to fill out a 20–25-page form (which included things like their business plan, social impact survey, photo of the business and client, guarantee and references, among other things). Then it would take 12-15 days to process the loan. Now, the loan officer works with the client to input the data on their phone and it only takes 2-3 days for the client to receive their loan, allowing them to more quickly put that capital to use growing their income.
Trinidad said, “For me, the process is faster, and I only have one visit by Rigoberto, my loan officer, and I don’t have to travel to the branch multiple times. Also, within 2-3 days, Rigoberto will call me to tell me the check is ready.” Trinidad said that he recently had an emergency where the wind and hail took down some of his plastic sheeting and he needed funding quickly to buy more plastic sheeting. With the digital process, it was so much faster and allowed him to save his crops from extensive damage.
For his part, Rigoberto, like Trinidad, says that the digital process saves time, and all his documents are saved in the cloud, so none are ever lost (which could happen with the paper forms). The time savings allows him to do financial education training for clients, develop stronger relationships with them, and do more promotion work to sign up new clients.
It is so evident that Trinidad loves his work, and loves working with his family. He says, “I will keep working until I am 100! I love working with my family and being able to provide food and a home for my family.”