My second trip to San Miguel Escobar, Guatemala was even better than the first. I was able to spend time with my host family from my previous stay–it was great to see what they have been able to accomplish in the last year.  The most exciting achievement was putting an addition on their home.  For most of their lives they had lived in a makeshift room made of corn stalks, but were able to build a permanent structure to keep them dry and out of the elements. They expressed that it was difficult to adjust but they no longer ran into problems such as cold nights and the rain leaking through the corn stalk walls. They also thanked me greatly for everything that the OSU SIFE has done for their village.

I was also able to see the entrepreneurs that we interviewed last year and personally speak with them in Spanish about how the positive impact our micro loans had on their business.   It was very humbling to see how much impact just a few hundred dollars could have on their lives and their livelihoods.