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Yente is quite rightly proud of her partners ADEX in Lima and Desarrollo y Gestión in Arequipa. What wonderful seminars with such huge audiences they had organized! In this week of events in Lima and in Arequipa (24 to 28 October) we were able to meet more than 200 women entrepreneurs who enthusiastically and actively participated in all the activities. Yvette van Dok, Ina Oostrom and Karen Kammeraat joined in as the Dutch delegation in this vibrant week in Peru. A report by Karen Kammeraat.

Media attention

The seminar in Lima instantly started off well with the opening by the 'first lady' of Peru, Mrs. Nadine Heredia. She is a charming woman with a heartfelt sympathy for the poorer population of Peru for whom she really wanted to do something meaningful - especially for the women whom she admires most: the women who fight a never ending battle for their daily existence. Apart from that there were also speeches by the former president of ADEX, the Minister of Foreign Trade, the ambassador to the Netherlands and of course by Yente. This spectacular opening provided great media attention in newspapers, as well as radio and television broadcasting, and put women's entrepreneurship well and truly in the picture. Photos and videos can be admired on Yente's Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yente/100260653355422?ref=ts

Women entrepreneurs who make a difference

In Lima as well as in Arequipa there were presentations by women entrepreneurs who proved to make an impressive difference. Like Albina Ruiz' - she comes from a rural area, went to Lima to study and was touched by the people who try to earn a living on the garbage dump. Now she is director of Cuidad Saludable (www.cuidadsaludable.org), a truly socially oriented business in service of the garbage collectors. Since then Cuidad Saludable has won many prizes, even international ones for its socially oriented entrepreneurship, and is now spreading its wings over Asia and Africa. The audience gave Albina a standing ovation!

Bolivian Sonia Gallardo also impressed the audience. Years ago she had a good job at a bank in Los Angeles but somehow felt that this wasn't what she was cut out to do. She recalled her childhood when she used to do a lot of crocheting and this gave her the idea to set up 'Knitting Peace' (www.knittingpeace.blogspot.com). Prisoners in Bolivia knit and crochet clothing, which is then successfully sold, especially in the United States.

Transmitting knowledge and fast track networking

There were also presentations and workshops about subjects like writing business plans, marketing, using the Internet, strategies, exporting to Europe, getting financial credit, etc. These presentations and workshops were very popular with the participants, which showed that there is a great need among women entrepreneurs for more knowledge about running businesses.

The fast track networking sessions were also part of the programme and offered a structured way to share information. In a hall filled to bursting, enthusiastic tips, advice and business cards were exchanged.

International participants from Bolivia, Kenya and the Netherlands

Thanks to a contribution of alliance partner ICCO, 20 women from Bolivia could take part in the events in Arequipa. It was remarkable that there were quite a lot of women entrepreneurs in this group with a good knowledge of and entry into the export market, as well as quite a few entrepreneurs who offered services like graphic design and product design. They complemented the participants from Peru wonderfully.

Then there was Eunice Onyango, Yente's coordinator in Kenya, who presented a part of the programme at the seminars. She came to the conclusion that the women entrepreneurs from Peru and Bolivia are considerably more advanced with their product design and connection to the export markets and that the Kenyan women entrepreneurs can learn a lot from them. In turn, she could teach the entrepreneurs from Peru and Bolivia about setting up and coordinating networks of women entrepreneurs, as she had booked quite a few successes in the past year.

Apart from our three-headed Yente representation from the Netherlands, there were two Dutch women entrepreneurs present at the event in Lima. They were Anika van der Kevie, who lives in Cusco and trains young people and Elva de Bruin, who will soon open her shop in Amsterdam where she will be selling urban fashions made in Peru (and other Latin American countries).

Desarrolla y Gestión signed up for the organization of the two seminar days in Arequipa. Here Yente's Ina Oostrom making women entrepreneurs from Peru and Bolivia enthusiastic about the many possibilities of MYente.

Old friends

During the seminars in Arequipa and Lima we met up with several entrepreneurs who participated in the incoming mission to the Netherlands in 2009 and 2010. How they've grown since then! Maria del Pilar Betalleluz of Native & Natural (www.nativeandnatural.com) not only extended her market in Peru but also in Europe, thanks to her visit to the food fair in Cologne that Yente had organized for her in 2009.

As a result of her visit to the Netherlands, Rocio Mantilla of Plateria Rocio (www.plateriarocio.com) decided to share her knowledge of silver processing with other women entrepreneurs in the whole of Peru.

And Dalila Gamarra of Inka Traditions (www.inkatraditions.com) is exporting her products to the Netherlands thanks to her participation - organized by Yente - in the ETFAM fair in 2010 in Eindhoven. During our visit, Dalila and her husband Cesar not only showed us their showroom but also a women's textile group where they are able to copy everything from photographs. Dalila was originally a social worker and realized in a flash of insight that she could best help women by selling their products. And she does so with gusto.

A working visit at Dalila Gamarra's (third from left) and her coworkers.

And next year?

Our partner in Bolivia, Nuevo Norte, has indicated that they are 'in' to have a turn next year in organizing a similar event. They would then like to focus on bringing together women entrepreneurs who make products and women entrepreneurs who offer services. We'll keep you informed!

Yvette van Dok, the Yente coordinator for Latin America, surrounded by women entrepreneurs at the close of the seminar in Lima that ADEX was able to turn into such a huge success.