Friendship Bridge charity in Guatemala helps Accelerate Action for women building a better life
One of the most key ways to support women's advancement is to participate in IWD GIVING and to support the supporters in delivering their impactful work.
Friendship Bridge is a nonprofit social enterprise that helps Accelerate Action for Guatemalan women by creating opportunities that empower them to build a better life.
Established in 1990 and headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado, Friendship Bridge operates 13 branch offices in Guatemala and provides a suite of products and services including microcredit, non-formal education, and access to culturally-appropriate healthcare.
Clients are 100% women, primarily indigenous Maya, and live in rural communities with some of the highest poverty levels worldwide.
Supporting women determined to create change
Annually, Friendship Bridge supports over 36,000 women and through its programming, Friendship Bridge is changing how clients see, respond to, and overcome the protracted issues of poverty for themselves, their families, and their communities.
"While illiteracy and poverty rates are staggering in these regions, the women we work with are determined to create a change. Studies have shown that when women are successful, they invest beyond themselves, in their children, and in their communities. Investing in women is smart from both an economic and a social perspective," comments Friendship Bridge.
Providing education and medical supplies in Vietnam
Friendship Bridge’s history began with its work in Vietnam providing medical education and shipping medical supplies to impoverished populations in war-ravaged areas. While medical supplies were positively impacting the lives of recipients, Friendship Bridge was looking for a more sustainable solution to poverty reduction — the solution was microcredit.
Offering small loans to impoverished women
In 1994, Friendship Bridge shifted its focus from medical supplies to microcredit and began offering small loans to impoverished women. Friendship Bridge's clients, indigenous women who were deemed “unbankable,” started or expanded small businesses and began creating their own sustainable solutions to poverty.
Expanding work to war-ravaged Guatemala
In 1998, Friendship Bridge expanded its work to Guatemala, another war-ravaged country suffering extreme poverty and offering limited opportunities to women. Friendship Bridge shifted out of Vietnam as operations in Vietnam became unsustainable due to an unfavorable political climate.
Focusing solely on Guatemala, and aided by investment from American donors, the seeds of the Microcredit Plus program were planted.
By 2003, almost 3,000 clients were borrowing from Friendship Bridge. By 2006 the number tripled to 9,000 clients, and today Friendship Bridge reaches over 36,000 women through its Microcredit Plus programs.
Hosting an IWD benefit concert
To celebrate International Women's Day, Friendship Bridge hosts a benefit concert, Telling Her Story: Women Composers in History. Hosted at Calvary Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado, the event sees a variety of music selections from world renowned vocalists performing western classical pieces from female composers. Ticket sales help women entrepreneurs thrive in Guatemala, as they build their businesses and support their families in an extremely gender-unequal country with a high rate of poverty.
Donate to help change a woman's life
Donating to Friendship Bridge helps women build small businesses so they can increase their income, provide for their family, and create jobs in their community in Guatemala.
Support Friendship Bridge's mission to create opportunities that empower women in Guatemala to build a better life through donating today.