Hagan Famalåo’an Guåhan (IHFG), Inc. has launched the project, I Metkao Famalao’an Guahan Para Sinestienen Ekunomiha (The Women of Guahan’s Marketplace for a Sustainable Economy), which aims to strengthen indigenous CHamoru women’s economic capacity.
The program has three objectives: creating a virtual cooperative marketplace, creating a non-cash/bartering site based on traditional chenchule’ (reciprocity) practices, and offering microloans to CHamoru women whose products are rooted in traditional livelihood practices.
The project is made possible through a grant from the Pawanka Indigenous Fund.
The over-arching goal of the project is to empower CHamoru women to engage entrepreneurial projects and reduce poverty.
The micro-lending component will offer small interest-free loans for CHamoru women as an alternative strategy to promote their economic independence and support business practices that honor indigenous knowledge, values, and life ways.
Interested individuals are asked to attend a workshop to review the loan application, discuss concepts of traditional livelihood practices, and learn about other resources from the Small Business Development Center and the Pacific Islands Microcredit Institute.
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IHFG is also calling for cultural and traditional products made by CHamoru women for the online store. Interested individuals are asked to email IHFG at haganguahan@gmail.com for more information.
The workshop will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. via Zoom. Participants can register for the workshop at: https://bit.ly/IHFG_Loan. The application form for the microloan is available at http://bit.ly/IHFG_Microloan.
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