Summer in Guatemala

Social Entrepreneur Corp was a program I had heard about from classmates throughout last year. So when the creator and big shot in the development world, Greg Van Kirk , came to speak , I jumped at the opportunity. He spoke humbly about his accomplishments and enthusiastically about the potential in each of us, to a small group of interested students, last year over sandwich halves. By the culmination of the lunch I was ready to board a plane to some of the world’s poorest areas.

Fast forward three months and that’s just what I did. After applying and being accepted into the SEC (Social Entrepreneur Corps), I would go to Guatemala with 31 other college students from around the country for two months. Within the first two weeks I received four hours a day of Spanish training, lived with a Guatemalan family, and learned about Micro Consignment, a different take on the micro finance model that leaves money out of the equation. As modest as always Greg Van Kirk would come talk to us about how he had thought of this model while living in a remote village in Guatemala’s Northern region of Quiche and how he was being honored that summer as an Ashoka scholar, the biggest of awards in the development world. 

The next six weeks we put the micro consignment model into action, letting it’s amazing cyclical and sustainable attributes do the work. We were merely just support beams there to help in anyway needed. Of course I could go on forever about the amazing work we did, and the amazing not-work that we did as well, such as climbing the highest point in Central America, just to watch the sunrise at the peak. But I will try to leave it at this: the first step to helping is to listen to the people who want the help.

On another great note, the Office of Community Engagement and Service, was able to reward me a summer service grant, financially allowing me to fulfill my dreams in SEC.  Reminding me that if you want something here all you have to do is go after it!

Emily Schulman

Class of 2012