 Unique Programs: Key Program Components
Overview
Structure
Miami, Florida Staging
Orientation
Select Speakers Lectures & Panels
In-Country Foundation Building
Orientation
Home stay
Language Instruction
Culture
Teaching & Training
Social Entrepreneurship Field Work
Overview
The MicroConsignment Model
Micro finance
Grassroots Consulting
Responsible Tourism
Local Enterprise Creation
Rural Education & Awareness Creation
Artisan Support
Adventure
Overview
Key program components are the individual elements of our programs that allow us to build a complete experience for all involved. While program lengths may vary, participants build a solid foundation by working through each program component while applying skills and knowledge gained directly into everyday thoughts and actions in the field. Additional emphasis might be placed on specific program components depending on the time committment of the participant and the program that he/she is participating in, however, key program components for the Eight Week Summer Internship, Four Week Summer Internship and Year Round Flex Volunteering programs are consistent and can be read about in greater detail directly on this page.
For details about key program components for Alternative Spring Break, Winter Break Programs and Alumni Programs and Benefits please visit the individual pages.
 “This volunteer program is built in a way that allows a participant to get as much or as little out of it as he or she wants. As you travel through the country there will be plenty of opportunities to become immersed in both latino and mayan culture, the world of development work, and the lives of locals. A volunteer that takes advantage of these opportunities will feel they have accomplished more than what they had thought was possible. A good balance of field work, class time, and free time will keep everyone busy but also won't burn them out.”
Tristan K., University of Connecticut |
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Structure
The eight week program is divided into six segments: pre-arrival, orientation and foundation building, initial field work, reflection and analysis, follow-up field work and conclusion, delivery and presentation. The four week program, with a more limited time frame, is divided into four segments: pre-arrival, orientation and foundation building, field work and conclusion, delivery and presentation. The flex volunteering program timeline varies for each individual volunteer, but the basic program segments are similar.
Pre-Arrival
Pre-arrival participants are provided with all itineraries, orientation, safety and project specific information. As well, per the “Virtual NGO Team Breakdown,” eight week and four week participants are divided into groups of up to nine participants based on language capabilities, area of study, age, school and interests. These groups work as short term “Virtual NGOs” (VNGO).
Orientation and Foundation Building
Upon arrival in country, all participants spend the first segment (two weeks for the eight week program, one week for the four week program and one week for the flex program) of their time in the headquarters site participating in orientation sessions, living with homestay families, studying Spanish intensively, participating in development discussions, visiting nearby development and relief organizations and participating in project content and technical training. The focus of this first orientation and foundation building segment is to provide participants with the necessary knowledge and skills for the field work segment and to begin outlining and working on pre-designated projects.
Initial Field Work
Upon conclusion of the first segment in the headquarters site, each participant travels to different satellite work sites, staying with additional homestay families, in group living settings and/or in hotels. Participants are accompanied and assisted by development professionals (local and/or expatriate) whose role it is to facilitate success in the field. VNGOs work with Peace Corps Volunteers, local community service organizations, local businesses and local Social Entrepreneur Corps entrepreneurs.
Reflection and Analysis
At the conclusion of this first segment of field work all participants return to the headquarters site for approximately five days to decompress, revisit their homestay families, take additional Spanish classes, share best practices, problem solve and work on projects.
Follow-Up Field Work
Subsequent to this, participants return to the field and visit additional satellite sites working in the same manner as the first segment of field work.
Conclusion, Delivery and Presentation
Finally, all participants return to the headquarters site for the final days of the program. At this time projects are completed and presented, Spanish evaluations are conducted and participants stay with their homestay families one last time. Participant recommendations are presented and funding decisions and allocations are made.
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Miami, Florida Staging
Both the eight week and four week program participants attend a 2-3 day social entrepreneurship orientation in Miami, Florida.
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Orientation
The Miami, Florida orientation provides program participants with a background in social entrepreneurship and international development. The orientation will consist of a program overview, development and entrepreneurship discussions and project and technical training.
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Select Speakers Lectures & Panels
The orientation will also include lectures and panels by guest speakers such as social entrepreneurship professors, social investors, authors, and Ashoka fellows.
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In-Country Foundation Building
In country, each Social Entrepreneur Corps program begins with an orientation period that focuses on cultural issues, language development, teaching and training.
Orientation
Upon arrival in country, Social Entrepreneur Corps participants begin a multi-day orientation session covering areas such as security, health, culture, family living and the essential “do’s” and “don’t’s” of work and life in a new culture. This orientation session is led by development professionals and local leadership alike and is structured in a way that is both informative and enjoyable. Following are a few examples of activities that prepare participants for different environments and situations that they may encounter throughout their time in Guatemala.
La Pila (Guatemala): This exercise is an educational dramatization presented by the staff to explain the significance and proper use of the Pila (a washing area used in all Guatemalan homes) participants will learn the importance of the Pila and its uses as well as what to do and what not to do in the Pila. Appropriate use of the Pila is extremely important because improper use can be seen as disrespectful.
Personal Security: There are a series of skits performed by Social Entrepreneur Corps staff. These skits cover a variety of safety tips. Scenarios of possible situations are demonstrated and each skit ends with an explanation of what to do in the dramatized situation.
Gestures: This activity consists of teaching the most important and frequently used gestures. . Gesturers are an important part of Latin American culture and are used on a daily basis to relay information.
Market Visit: The idea of this activity is to provide the participant with an opportunity to experience a typical Guatemalan market. Each participant is given a list of specific items to look for and investigate. This encourages the participant to converse with different venders and become familiar with different types of goods and services and begins to foster an understanding of the local business and living conditions.
 "Social Entrepreneur Corps is about the local touch. It creates the opportunity to live, talk, play, and bond with local Guatemalans. From whom better could I have learned about the needs that development serve?"
James M., Columbia University |
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Homestay
Spanish immersion is all about having contact with the local population and practicing Spanish with native speakers as much as possible. To that end, all of our Social Entrepreneur Corps. participants will have the opportunity to live with host families. All home stay families are trained by Social Entrepreneur Corps and many have been hosts to Peace Corps Volunteers. As such, these families understand the needs of the participants. The home stay is an essential step in helping participants gain an understanding of how local people live and work. It is an invaluable way to improve on classroom Spanish. The vast majority of participants end up forming great friendships during this process and decide to stay with host families when not designated by the program. Many participants speak to this as one of their most valuable parts of the experience.
Living in a home stay with a host family has many linguistic and cultural advantages:
- participants will have close contact with native Spanish speakers, which will give them plenty of opportunities to practice Spanish in realistic everyday situations with people who are patient with and willing to help participants learning Spanish
- participants will be able to participate in their host families daily lives, gaining unique insights that cannot be taught in a classroom.
- participants will not only learn about but will be able to experience first hand the customs and culture of Guatemala
- eating with the host family will provide participants with delicious, nutritious, inexpensive, and safely cooked daily meals.
Overall, our families are happy to help you practice your Spanish, and to give you tips and advice to make your experience a uniquely memorable one, and will do their best to provide you with a pleasant "home away from home."
 "Social Entrepreneur Corps approaches the sensitive nature of international development with enthusiasm and humility. The organic growth of the organization is apparent as each participant is warmly welcomed by Guatemalan families and partner NGO's. I strongly recommend the program for anyone interested in the operations side of development work".
John H., McGill University |
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Language Instruction
Classes are designed based on individual participant needs/desires so that all participants can be effective in the field as soon as possible and leave with a much greater command of the language. Both beginners and advanced Spanish language speakers alike are able to improve their capabilities through our intensive program.
Because each participant arrives with a unique background and understanding of the Spanish language, participants are placed with one teacher that they will remain with the entire time, but often have the opportunity to participate in activities with a variety of teachers, as well as other participants. Teachers begin with general concepts and move towards more specific concepts as comprehension increases. This is accomplished by creating a strong base in Spanish grammar and vocabulary comprehension. As well, the readings that participants and teachers discuss provide cultural information and enforce a specific grammatical concept.
Depending on the theme of the day, the teachers will provide different types of exercises, taking into account the preferences, as well as, strengths and weaknesses of the participant. Something that is very important in our program and daily planning is that all the activities focus on multiple modes of learning: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. Our activities are a combination of classroom activities and exploratory activities. The main idea of all the lessons is for the participant to develop real life knowledge of the Spanish language.
 "The SEC team approaches development by respectfully providing Guatemalans with the opportunities and support to improve their own communities. As well, it imparts leadership and responsibility to its corps members through real field experience. Having gone on the trip without any prior knowledge of Spanish, within two short weeks I was out talking to hundreds of locals in a rural town convincing them to come in for a free eye exam. The skills and rare insight that you gain as a corps member are invaluable for your life and career, in development or anything else."
Tara M., Barnard College |
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Culture
All countries in which Social Entrepreneur Corps programs exist offer rich and unique cultural experiences. For more information on each country, please click here.
 "The Social Entrepreneur Corps models epitomize sustainable development. Following in depth and informative discussions of business models I was immediately immersed into the culture and began collaborating with Guatemalan entrepreneurs. The program focuses on working with local Guatemalans to discover their specific business needs and wants, while maintaining and honoring a respect and interest in the local culture."
Racheal W., Columbia University |
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Teaching & Training
During the foundation segment and continuing during the field segments, participants will take part in dynamic discussions that build their familiarity with common relief and development models/practices. The goal is that participants gain a strong basis of understanding so that they can engage in the critical thinking and creativity necessary during the field work segment of the program.
The following key topics will be covered (amongst others):
- Country specific development challenges
- Analysis of current development solutions
- Use of the Logic Model Framework
- Survey of development and relief work
- Outcomes measurement philosophies and tools
- Needs assessment practices
- In-depth discussions about the MicroConsignment Model
- Analysis of micro-finance solutions
- Keys to effective social entrepreneurship
- Case studies of select development organizations and projects
Some of the highlighted previous consulting engagements of Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership can be found on the "Leadership Expertise" Page.
 “As a native of Haiti, where so many development projects have gone awry, Social Entrepreneur Corps was a breath of fresh air. Social Entrepreneur Corps is an introduction to development done properly without the usual accompanied paternalism. The team is humble- they realize that they too can make mistakes, and of great importance they are not afraid to change tactics or step away when the situation dictates. As well, the language training was phenomenal. The teachers were qualified and customized the lessons to fit my needs. In just one month, I went from barely speaking any Spanish to feeling comfortable enough to "regatear" in the “mercado” and to give a "charla".“
Audrey D., Swarthmore College |
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Social Entrepreneurship Field Work
 "As a Kenyan national, I thought I had witnessed enough organizations in my home country to know what effective development work was all about. Therefore, I took the journey to Guatemala anticipating to be part of just another development organization. Instead, I found a family. A family whose passion for their work is truly what constitutes effective development. It is the genuine hearts of all those individuals that continues to drive the organization. The success of the Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership is depicted in the ability of its staff to give hope to so many men and women. For example, watching Guatemalan women working with the organization make their very first journey for a conference to a city only a few hours away from their own homes. Or watching what would have appeared like a 'miracle' to local Guatemalans when given access to a simple pair of eyeglasses. The organization endeavored to give responsibility and support to local Guatemalans to carry out the work needed to revive their own communities. This kind of empowerment is what gives people real hope. Hope that liberates and enables both men and women to stand on their own two feet with the opportunity of a brighter future. It is the sincerity of genuine hearts that has made and will continue to make Social Entrepreneur Corps and Community Enterprise Solutions the success that they are. Looking back on the experience now, I can truly say that I could not take in enough of the country's beauty, but most of all; I fell in love with the people I met there."
Elsie M., Tufts University |
Overview
The field work part of the program is the most challenging but also the most rewarding both personally and professionally. Social Entrepreneur Corps participants directly and measurably contribute to economic development. Participants work within a modified “Logic Model Framework” to design and implement their projects. The field work that participants conduct within their projects is always designed using community based desired outcomes as the starting point. Once the desired outcomes have been specified along with the participant goals, indicators of succeess, and indicators of measurement techniques then and only then, participants’ activities are decided upon. It is this “cascade” of decisions starting with community impact and ending with participant deliverables that is central to our model.
In general, participants engage in six categories of field activities. These are needs analysis, feasibility analysis, project launch, support, expansion and evaluation. With certain projects there is a linear progression of these activities and with others the activities are highly integrated and interdependent.
This is always the critical first step in any program. This entails investigations, surveys, analysis and recommendations about how to best address community, organizational and individual challenges.
- Design and feasibility analysis:
This is undertaken when the real and perceived needs have been ascertained and a potential response to a challenge or set of challenges has been identified.
This refers to the initial implementation of a project.
This entails providing assistance to beneficiaries as they launch a new project and/or execute an ongoing project.
This is an effort to geographically replicate a project that is working effectively and to attempt to do so in an efficient and appropriate manner given limited time and resources.
This is an ongoing process during every phase from needs analysis to expansion.
Participants execute their work in country within the following two strategic initiatives:
- Soluciones Comunitarias (SolCom):
Soluciones Comunitarias (SolCom) is the primary initiative created by Community Enterprise Solutions/Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership to design and implement innovative, practical, efficient and effective entrepreneurial and educational solutions with and for our constituents in rural, developing world communities. Participants work within SolCom as short term consultants to achieve social, economic, health and environmental impact within its programs described in the following section.
As participants travel and work throughout the country supporting the work of the SolCom initiative both participantally and for specified clients, they act as Virtual NGO’s (VNGO’s). VNGOs are tasked with the following capstone project: choosing one or more individuals, organizations and/or small businesses to be recipients of $400 of funding provided by Social Entrepreneur Corps. VNGOs’ work within this project includes identifying, investigating and assessing organizational/entrepreneurial/individual strengths, weaknesses and needs in order to decide who they want to support with funding. This work focus requires that participants individually and within their VNGOs as a team, think critically about how to best invest limited resources and to ask the necessary questions and conduct the necessary investigations. VNGOs are provided with 100% freedom to designate their funds as they deem appropriate. The only restrictions placed on VNGOs is that they can only fund up to three initiatives and that they have to explain and justify their funding desires in Spanish at a presentation in front of the Social Entrepreneur Corps team at the end of the program.
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Intern/Volunteer Roles
Both local and expatriates alike work in specified regions as “Coordinadores Regionales”(Regional Coordinators) to identify, train, resource, support and evaluate the work of the two primary community implementation partners; Asesores Comunitarios and Socios Comunitarios (both described below). These field leaders work to facilitate the success of participants during their time in country.
- Social Entrepreneur Corps participants:
Social Entrepreneur Corps participants work during specified times in country on specified programs/projects under the guidance of Field Leadership in order to support the SolCom initiative on an internal basis and in its client efforts.
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The MicroConsignment Model
ParaSuBienestar (Our Signature “MicroConsignment Model”)
Desired Outcome
Rural constituents will have gained appropriate and respectful access to essential products, services and information through locally owned, managed and sustainable (profitable) entrepreneurial solutions.
Summary Description
ParaSuBienestar is the signature program of the SolCom initiative and is implemented through the innovative MicroConsignment Model (MCM) that was originally designed in 2003 by CE Solutions/Social Entrepreneur Corps leadership. MCM is a sustainable, replicable means of delivering health-related and economically beneficial goods and services to remote villages using entrepreneurship; empowering the villagers to help themselves. It is a social entrepreneurship approach that is built to organically and opportunistically respond to endemic challenges.
The MCM creates access to health care-related goods and services in isolated rural communities. The key to the MCM is that local women (ACs) and organizations (SCs) are given the opportunity to become entrepreneurs by selling goods and services in their communities using a consignment mechanism. Unlike the traditional approach of giving handouts to rural communities, the MCM is scalable, replicable, and sustainable.
We are continuously studying, vetting and field testing appropriate products and services to be implemented within the ParaSuBienestar program through the MCM. Social Entrepreneur Corps plays a lead consultative role in this effort. We work with local leadership to create access to high quality products and services on a local level by training rural entrepreneurs (Asesores Comunitarias) and organizations (Socios Comunitarios) and consigning them a "basket of goods" to be offered for sale at an appropriate price in communities. Social impact is measured by the number of villages served, beneficiaries impacted, and products sold. Economic impact is measured by the financial benefits to entrepreneurs and clients (purchasers). There is clearly an additional invaluable health benefit of the products, but this is unquantifiable.
As of September 2009, through the combined support of Social Entrepreneur Corps and its sister non profit, Community Enterprise Solutions, we have worked with local Guatemalan and Ecuadoran leadership to train, equip and support over 200 localentrepreneurs who have executed approximately 1,850 village campaigns and sold over 35,000 products. All told this work has benefitted over 50,000 low-income villagers.
The MicroConsignment Model entrepreneurial product offering includes wood burning stoves, reading/near vision glasses, UV protection glasses, eye drops, water purification buckets, vegetable seeds, energy efficient lightbulbs and solar lamps. The entrepreneurs we identify, train and support are the only people offering these solutions in rural areas. These solutions all have a positive economic, health and/or environmental benefit.
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Micro finance
CrediCapaz (Savings-Based Micro finance)
Desired Outcome
Informal groups and/or local community organizations will have learned how to establish savings-based community banks and will have received the technical and administrative support necessary to operate effectively and efficiently in order to spur intelligent and appropriate economic growth on a grassroots level.
Summary Description
The majority of poor families and individuals have limited available affordable financial services. In many rural areas banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions are nonexistent. The formal financial institutions that do exist do not consider the poor creditworthy, because the poor lack collateral to secure loans.
The CrediCapaz program seeks to offer an opportunity to receive training and support to help informal and formal groups form saving -based community banks so that they can create a new or additional financing and counseling mechanism to generate family income.
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Grassroots Consulting
AsesorPorFavor (Organizational/Small Business Consulting Program)
Desired Outcome
Local individuals, entrepreneurs, organizations and small businesses will have received consulting services, educational talks, resources and/or information to help them achieve their respective missions in a more effective and efficient manner.
Summary Description
There is a pervasive need amongst individuals and entities throughout the country for consulting services and capacity building. Due to an overall lack of resources, the poor education system and a very limited training support structure within communities, individuals, entrepreneurs, organizations and small businesses are in great need of advice, training and support in a of myriad ways. As a response to this need, we have developed the AsesorPorFavor (Consultant, please) program whereby field leadership and community partners both engage in and benefit from activities that empower local beneficiaries to strengthen their knowledge, abilities and skills. The goal is that, in response to needs, we can provide hereto for unavailable free services that help beneficiaries efficiently survive, adapt and thrive in their missions within their communities.
The services that we provide through the AsesorPorFavor effort may include support in leadership, strategic/tactical development and execution, SWOT analysis, administration, human resources, financial management program development and implementation, income generation, partnership development, evaluation, marketing, positioning, planning, technical skills, organizing skills, and other areas of organizational and individual development. Typical activities of participants implementing personnel include one-on-one consulting, group trainings, community outreach/marketing development, website design and implementation and short term human resource assistance and support.
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Responsible Tourism
Turismo Ixil (locally owned and managed group of tourism businesses)
Desired Outcome
New jobs will have been created and the Ixil Region of Guatemala will have a continuous influx of “new money” by attracting tourists to visit the region and purchase from local service and product providers.
Summary Description
Initially, while working in Nebaj as a Peace Corps Volunteer, Greg Van Kirk recognized that tourists regularly visited Nebaj, but they quickly left, as there was no adequate tourism infrastructure. There were no quality restaurants or other tourism business needs for tourists to fully experience the rich Mayan culture and beautiful landscape of the area. Opportunities to create local jobs and income existed, however they were being lost due to a lack of establishments that would attract and serve individuals looking to visit the region.
Turismo Ixil, which began as the El Descanso Restaurant, now consists of five tourism businesses that offer travelers the opportunity to experience the natural beauty and distinct culture of the Ixil region in a manner that supports the local economy and creates well paying and sustainable jobs for local individuals.
These businesses include:
- The restaurant El Descanso
- The hiking and trekking business Guias Ixiles
- The hostel MediaLuna MedioSol
- The Nebaj Language School spanish language school
- The Internet café La Red
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Local Enterprise Creation
Community Partners
Desired Outcome
SolCom will have effectively partnered with local individuals and organizations and small businesses through the implementation of its various initiatives.
Summary Description
Within the SolCom initiative we serve two distinct categories of clients who in turn implement programs for the benefit of rural constituents. These community partners are:
- Individuals - Asesores Comunitarias (ACs):
These are mostly women who are identified, trained, equipped and supported by leadership. ACs work on a full or part time basis primarily conducting village outreach, awareness building and service/sales campaigns through the ParaSuBienestar program outlined below.
- Organizations and Small Businesses - Socios Comunitarios (SCs):
These are primarily community service organizations (NGOs) working in areas of health, micro-finance and education. They may also include small businesses with a social mission. An entity becomes a SC upon participation in any one or more of the programs of the SolCom initiative described below. It is important to note that these entities may work to assist the SolCom initiative in the implementation of a program (i.e. ParaSuBienestar and SolCom Newsletter) and/or may be the beneficiaries of a SolCom service (i.e. AsesorPorFavor)
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Rural Education & Awareness Creation
The Centro Explorativo (educational resource center and after school program)
Desired Outcome
The Centro Explorativo will have provided the tools and resources necessary to develop a love for learning, reading, and research through exploration and will have created a long-term solution to the long-standing educational inadequacies of the Ixil Region.
Summary Description
There was/is a complete lack of access to appropriate educational techniques, resources and leadership in rural Guatemala. This is no truer than in the Ixil Region. Children, therefore, do not receive the quality education necessary for them to create opportunities for themselves and end the cycle of poverty within their family. Public schools are poorly equipped and under funded, often consisting of nothing more than a bare concrete room with a dirt floor and a couple of desks. There are no computers, no books, and no crayons or markers; often there is not even a chalkboard for the teacher to write upon. Libraries are even rarer than public schools.
The Centro Explorativo is a library/school that provides the inhabitants of Nebaj, the Ixil region’s major population center, with access to books, the Internet, high quality research materials, and after school classes. The “Exploration Center” has achieved some remarkable successes over the past several years while providing computer training and after school classes to hundreds of local children. In addition, “The Exploration Center” has provided both internet and library access to thousands of local young people all while employing three full time local teachers.
Through the combined efforts and passion of CE Solutions leadership, motivated local educators who are now owners of the Centro Explorativo Association that we have established as a long term implementation mechanism and generous donors, what began as small library has developed into a full service library and education center in the small village of La Pista, Guatemala and a library and resource center in the town of Nebaj, Guatemala.
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Artisan Support
GoodStuffGoodWorks.com
Desired Outcome
Local Guatemalan artisans and in-country social initiatives will have been supported by connecting U.S. individuals, groups, and retailers with hand crafted Guatemalan products whose sales improve the lives of the local artisans while also creating sustainable impact for social projects in rural Guatemalan communities.
Summary Description
Good Stuff Good Works, a Social Entrepreneur Corps initiative, was started in 2009 by staff members when, while working with artisan groups, it became apparent that nearly all of them wanted the same thing: access to the U.S. market. Combining this need with the need many social initiatives have for more funding, Good Stuff Good Works was born. It is a unique social initiative that combines the sale of "good stuff" with a funding program for "good works" to form a holistic social model from which every party benefits.
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Adventure
Each Social Entrepreneur Corps program incorporates various adventure activities into its schedule, from zip lining to coffee cooperative tours to climbing the highest volcano in Central America. For more information on each country, please click here.
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