Human Connections recruits students for microfinance trip to Ecuador

Human Connections, a non-profit organization founded by Tufts alumni, is currently recruiting students for a trip to the Sierra region of Ecuador during spring break this upcoming March.

According to faculty trip leader Adam Grenier, the upcoming trip, which is organized by both Human Connections and Tufts faculty members, will focus on microfinance in Equador. It will give students the opportunity to interact with entrepreneurs from cultures in parts of Ecuador that have been historically neglected by financial services, he said.

“We will be able to…witness and observe these entrepreneurs in their markets and be able to generate income in their livelihoods," Grenier, a Tufts Experimental College lecturer in microfinance, said. "We will be able to provide consulting…during these observations, and...we will be able to provide guidance and feedback [about] what might help their businesses thrive, and their families thrive, in that region."

Grenier said that Human Connections is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs in economically challenged parts of Mexico, Ecuador and Peru by bringing tourists to these regions.

“Human Connections provide business and language classes to entrepreneurs in economically challenged parts of Mexico and Ecuador, and they are able to support these entrepreneurs by…leading tours,” he said. “Their most common tours are your traditional tourists who are looking for a different experience, and want to participate in the local markets and learn about local cultures and indigenous cultures."

According to Grenier, Human Connections, which was co-founded by Elly Rohrer (A '11), also leads educational tours for American college and high school students.

“That’s ultimately how we got connected with them," Grenier said. "The founder…is a Tufts alum, and she reached out to me a couple of years ago knowing that I taught microfinance, and we ended up establishing this relationship and partnership with them."

Grenier previously accompanied a group, with Rohrer, who is the Executive Director of Human Connections, and three other Tufts students, on a trip last year to Bucerias, Mexico during spring break to better understand microfinance.

Senior Juan David Núñez-Hurtado, who is helping to plan the upcoming trip, said that he got involved with Human Connections while looking for opportunities with social enterprises.

“We want to connect microentrepreneurs who have taken microfinance loans with visitors, and also connect microfinance representatives from microfinance institutions in Ecuador with the students [going] on the trip, so they can have a hands-on experience with what microfinance is and see the real effects of microfinance,” he said.

According to Núñez-Hurtado, who is from Ecuador, microfinance has been instrumental in helping to de-marginalize indigenous Ecuadorian groups from traditional financial services.

“When I was working at Human Connections, we had the goal of creating a new trip with the [focus on] microfinance, so we started…doing research on which places have the most developed microfinance landscape,” he said. “We figured out that Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia were the ones with the biggest reach of microfinance … That was really exciting because I’ve always wanted to do something in my country and have an impact there, so this was an opportunity to do that.”

Grenier said that this trip provides students with an interesting alternative to a more traditional spring break trip.

“[On this trip,] we get to go some place really interesting and learn a lot and have a direct impact," he said. "You’re looking for...experiential learning, a really unique way to…see the world."

According to Grenier, having a background in finance or Spanish is not a prerequisite for getting involved with the upcoming trip.

Junior Kathleen Frost, who worked as a Human Connections intern this past summer and went on an eight-week trip to Bucerias, Mexico, said that she experienced a unique culture of entrepreneurship on her own trip.

“Everybody’s an entrepreneur, and everybody finds some way to sell whatever they are doing, which I think is really…cool and inspiring,” Frost, a junior, said. “I would 1,000 times over recommend this internship. I think it’s incredible.”