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By Julie Pachico, KF9 Mexico

FVP's mission statement: "to generate positive, durable change..."

I’ve been living in the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo for almost two  weeks now, working with the microfinance organization Fundación para la Vivienda Progresiva.  While most Fellows in my KF9 class must confront extreme jetlag, long layovers, and complicated visa applications, I didn’t even have to buy an international ticket: I flew into Laredo, was picked up by someone from FVP and then we just drove over the border. If I were so inclined, I could simply walk over the bridge to Texas and go to Starbucks. It all feels a bit disjointed here on la frontera, to say the least.

Nuevo Laredo has certainly taken its fair share of blows over the years. While it isn’t spoken of in the same horrified, awestruck tone with which people mention Tijuana and Juarez, the city and its inhabitants still come off as slightly traumatized. The streets are eerily deserted here, especially after 7pm. While driving to meet clients, the loan officers often point out locations of interest to me: “oh look, see the bullet holes in the walls there? That’s where the big shoot-out six years ago took place.” “See that apartment building? That’s where they assassinated that journalist.” It’s always the vague and indefinite “they” (”ellos”); apparently the newspapers don’t cover drug-related crimes and executions anymore. One of the accountants told me not to go to a particular gym because “the police go there,” which was definitely a first for me.

The question remains: would a merger result in Tacos Tony el Güero, or Tacos el Güero Tony?

The family atmosphere is strong at FVP, despite the hard work and long hours (9am-8pm, sometimes later). Almost every morning someone places an order to Samuel, a former Kiva client who runs his juice stand just around the corner from the office. Samuel’s wife also frequents the office to sell Veracruz-style tamales (which are wrapped in banana leaves rather than corn husks). FVP staff members can also often be found snacking on delicious tacos de carne asada prepared by Tony, another former  Kiva client who has his taco cart set up right across the street. The FVP staff informed me that after the GM-Chrysler merger, there was much discussion in the office of whether or not Tacos Tony would merge with its neighboring rival cart, Tacos El Güero (the expected merger never took place).

The informal economy abounds here in Nuevo Laredo. Clients who have been laid off from the ever present maquiladoras (factories that dot the landscape everywhere at the border) respond by opening taco stands, beauty salons and papelerias (stationary shops). Sometimes it feels like everyone who lives in Nuevo Laredo is actually from somewhere else, typically southern Mexico: Guadalajara, Chiapas, Veracruz. Gloria, who runs another taco cart a few streets away from the office, moved to Nuevo Laredo from Chiapas, where she made 40 pesos (about 3 dollars) a week working for a shoe store. When business was booming in Nuevo Laredo, she said she could make up to 700 pesos a week. However, apparently since the swine flu there’s been a campaign against eating street food, and lately her business has been struggling.

Not part of the informal economy.

Mexico has been hit particularly hard by the financial crisis (or “la crisis” as everyone calls it here). To put things in perspective of how dramatically the economy has been affected, consider these numbers: last year the exchange rate was 10.54 pesos to the dollar; today it’s 13.67 pesos to the dollar. In the same April-June period in which the U.S. economy contracted by 1%, Mexico’s economy has contracted by 10.3%.

In the coming weeks I’m going to try to learn as much as possible from clients how “la crisis” has affected their lives and their ability to pay back their loans.  Most of the clients I’ve met so far, even if they’re not necessarily behind in loan repayments, nonetheless often appear very worried about how to make basic ends meet. When I ask the question “what are your hopes for the future, for your business and family” for journal interviews, the response is usually “for ‘la crisis’ to get better, God willing.”  There’s a saying here that when the U.S. sneezes, Mexico catches pneumonia, though perhaps swine flu is more accurate in this day and age.

In some ways it feels like I’ve been here forever, and yet at the same time I know I still have so much to learn (and not just about Excel spreadsheets, as my ongoing epic struggles attest). Here’s to being a good observer, to keeping our ears and eyes (and stomachs!) open.

Don’t forget to check out the currently fundraising loans for FVP on Kiva!