b'Job Training for the Poor in Guatemala MercadoGlobal(MG)issucceedinginitsmissionof helpingpeoplehelpthemselves.Itsupplieseducation, marketaccess,andtheopportunitytoescapealevelof povertythatnoneofuscanpossiblyimagine.MG epitomizes HOTs efforts to leverage its funds and teach people to help themselves. MGgivesruralnativewomeninGuatemala,acountry where 75% of the indigenous population lives on under $2 a day and 48% live on less than $1.25 per day, the tools and skills to support themselves and their families by training themtobesuccessfulartisansandentrepreneurs.MG forms Artisan Co-ops and arranges sales to international companiessuchasJ.CrewandLeviStraussandthe artisans receive pay based on their production. The co-ops profits from sales and contributions to MG are used to teach business and financial literacy,nutritionandleadershipprograms.Thewomenusetheirincreasedwages which average $14 per day (seven times what 75% of the indigenous population lives on) to buy shoes, books, school supplies, and nutritious food for their children. Over the last 14 years HOT has made more than 50 grants including(i)payinginstructorstoteachthewomen different skill sets in ceramics, sewing and weaving (ii) funding loan programs where the women borrow money to purchase sewing machines and repay their loans with partoftheincrementalincometheyreceivefromthe increased production from the machine. Most of these loans have been fully repaid and re-loaned, further leveraging our donors gifts, (iii) paying for the ground transportationandsuppliesforaMedicalTeamthattaughttheArtisanCommunitiesthe importance of nutrition, sanitary procedures, clean drinking water, and the basics of 20th and 21st century medicine, and (iv) Emergency Assistance Program used for dire, one-time crises.Every grant we have made to MG has had an immediate impact on the artisans and their families. Health, Schoolbooks, and Foodwhat could be more important??? MGs current wish list includes:$4,000 cost of materials and on-the-ground transportation for visits by Medical Teams$5,000 upgrading computer systems for application of better tracking metrics and communication between Guatemala and US office. $8,500 for accounting software for operations in Guatemala $14,616 for six sessions in each of 28 co-ops compromising 250 women artisans being taught production quality control and basic financial literacy11'