You know you are on a tiny plane when a) The pilot gives the safety instructions, and needs to lean over bc the cabin isn’t big enough; b) Ear plugs are provided and need to be used; c) You have to sit sideways in order to fit your legs behind the seat in front of you; and d) There is no bathroom on the plane.
Thankfully it only lasted 1.5 hours and I went to the bathroom beforehand!
Once we arrived we took a taxi from the airport to Andahuaylas, a drive of about 45 minutes on upaved roads, with several cow and pig crossings on the way. Andahuaylas is an agricultural region, and the small city doesn't attract many tourists. We were headed to Andahuaylas to meet with the people running Juntos, the Peruvian Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, and representatives of Banco de la Nacion (the state bank), where the CCT participants' accounts are housed. For some background: Juntos just started in Peru two years ago, and offers women (with children under age 14) cash payments (of about $35 US per month) for four years if their children attend school and make visits to the local health center. Women in the program are very low-income and the additional income can compensate for having their children work instead of attend school.
All of the women in the program already have a savings account, but many seem to use it solely to withdraw cash transfers from the bank. The Instituto de Estudios Peruanos (IEP) is coordinating a pilot program with Juntos and Banco de la Nacion to incentivize women to save in their existing accounts, become more financially literate and comfortable with using financial institutions, and build financial and social assets.
Coca Tea + Diamox (Acetazalomide) = prevention for altitude sickness!
The pilot is being conducted among women with positive savings balances who are from the small town of San Jeronimo, about an hour outside of the city, who travel to Banco de la Nacion in Andahuaylas during the week when their transfers are available (which is one week per month). The incentives to save so far are minimal: a lottery every few months where the women with positive balances are eligible to win a prize, like a basket of food and household goods (this time there were two baskets given out), but there are plans to add on more financial incentives like those provided in the Sierra Sur program (the program I visited in Chivay) -- such as a match on initial deposit and subisidized interest rate -- in the future.
So, are the women in the pilot saving intentionally? It’s not clear yet, but it’s possible that accountholders already have positive savings balances because they have not withdrawn their transfers due to lack of knowledge or disinterest in the program, or because they aren’t willing or can’t make the trip to the bank every month and so let the transfers accumulate a few months before withdrawing. Many of the women in the program believe that it is better to come to the bank the first day that transfers are available, because they are concerned that their money won’t be available later in the week. As a result, the first day there is a huge line of women waiting to enter the bank that stretches down and around the block:
Financial Education trainers from AgroRural (the Dept of Agriculture) meet with participants in groups to teach them about their account and the program, but this has only been going on for about two weeks so far. Before the bank day, we met with tellers at the bank to teach them about the program and make sure they do not discourage the women from saving a portion of their transfer or making other transactions.
Me, program participants, and Fernando (coordinator for Juntos) in the main plaza
Many of the women travel over an hour to get to the bank, and then wait in line for several hours to make their withdrawal. However, it is also one of the only opportunities they have to meet with their peers, spend time in the city, and interact with formal institutions like the bank.
This woman had just been to the bank and showed us her account receipt: she had just saved 100 soles (approx. $35) out of the 200 soles in her account.
The women were very excited about the lottery, and all gathered in front of the stage to see who the winners were. Several women who had gone to the bank earlier that morning showed us that they had purposefully saved a portion of their transfer in their accounts, and showed us their bank receipts. Below, the senoras waiting to hear the winners of the lottery (the prize is on the stage):
Presenting the lottery winners
After the lottery we went to lunch with the Juntos and Banco de la Nacion representatives – which included "cuy" (guinea pig) and "trucha naranja" (orange trout)! 
The next day I went to the Ruins of Sondor, which were built by the Chankas (before the Incas). At the top of the mountain, the Chankas used to do ritual human sacrifices. It is also the site were several people asked to have their photo taken with me….at first I thought they wanted me to take their photo, but nope. I think I was more of a tourist attraction for them than the ruins!
Check out all of my photos from the site visit in Andahuaylas at: http://picasaweb.google.com/barbrosen/AndahuaylasSiteVisit#
On Sunday before returning to Lima, I went to the Andahuaylas feria, which stretches for miles (literally) along the river in town. It was truly a visual feast: mountains of produce, flowers, colorful yarns...and on and on. And unlike farmers markets in the U.S., everything here was very inexpensive! I devoted an entire photo album to it, in fact: http://picasaweb.google.com/barbrosen/SundayMarketInAndahuaylas#
Beautiful, simply beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAll the very best,
Simone
Hi Barbara,
ReplyDeleteI am interested in doing research on savings-linked CCT programs. I am a master students in public policy in Paris.
How can I get in contact with you? If you want, I can give your email, and then we can exchange information by email. Thanks! Mauricio