Hillsdale High students help Central American women

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Dec 25, 2008 | by Neil Gonzales

SAN MATEO -- Hillsdale High School students hope to fight poverty in the world by helping rural women in Central America start their own businesses.

The students have launched a project to provide small, low- interest loans to women in Guatemala and perhaps Honduras who want to become entrepreneurs.

This microlending effort will give "people money and skills to carry on with (their business) and do bigger things," Hillsdale senior Addison Lewellen, 17, said Wednesday. "It helps people help themselves."

The students are raising the money to fund the loans. They have teamed up with the San Mateo Rotary Club and NamasteDirect, a San Francisco-based organization that offers loans and business education to Central American women.

The students will also travel to Guatemala in April as part of their project.

"I'm really excited to go because it's our big chance to see microlending in action," Addison said. "It will give us inspiration and knowledge to carry on our project."

The idea for the project partly grew out of the class of Hillsdale English teacher Greg Lance, who often incorporates social- justice themes in his lessons. "In a developing country, a small amount of money can have a huge impact," Lance said. "It's enough to get someone a start in business, which allows them to send their kids to school and has the power to eventually transform a whole community."

Microlending can help the women establish a business selling food products or craft items, he said.

"It's not charity," Lance added. "It really has the power to have a lasting effect, empowering somebody to provide for themselves eventually."

For details, e-mail thehillsdaleeffect@yahoo.com.

Reach Neil Gonzales at ngonzales@bayareanewsgroup.com.