Success Story

 

The executive director and project manager of the Goodwill agency in Quito, Ecuador -- Fundación Nueva Vida (the Foundation) -- were stopped in traffic one day when they spotted a candy vendor on the street. Talk turned to the popularity of this type of business throughout Latin America. “Why don't we create local business opportunities like this for people with disabilities?” asked Dr. José Antonio Egas, then project manager and now the current executive director of the Foundation.

Soon, the men found themselves parking the car and asking the vendor about his business. The groundwork was soon laid for the United Hands Project, a partnership between the Foundation, the city government and CONADIS (the National Council on Disability) that helps people with disabilities sell candy from carts and at fixed kiosks in high-traffic areas around Quito, Ibarra, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, and La Merced.

In six years, the program has provided microenterprise opportunities for more than 250 people with physical disabilities, 70 percent of whom use a wheelchair. More than 90 percent are the primary providers in their families.

The city and CONADIS help participants obtain the necessary permits. The Foundation helps identify people with disabilities for the project and uses revenues from other programs to cover start-up costs. Foundation staff also speak to building owners so that cart owners will have a space to store their carts at night or on holidays to safeguard them from theft.

A key element to the program's success is a commitment from a family member to support the individual's progress. All participants also pledge to pay back 50 percent of the start-up costs. These funds are paid directly to a confectioners' association formed by the individuals in the program so that they can pay for a centralized warehouse and distribution center. Association members also negotiate wholesale candy prices as a group.

Once successful at managing business from a cart, participants can invest in a stationary kiosk. The individual contributes 50 percent of the cost of this business expansion while the Foundation covers the remaining 50 percent. “Our mission is to seek autonomy of the person with disability through microbusinesses,” Egas says. “For this reason, our project motto is 'Manos Unidas para una Nueva Vida' or 'United Hands for a New Life.'”

Source: Working! Spring 2003