A Walk Around Puente Alto

The comuna of Puente Alto, an hour’s metro from the heart of Santiago, feels likes its own little city, a whole other world compared with the skyscrapers downtown. The ride to the Accion Emprendedora office every morning is tranquil, with most commuters traveling in the opposite direction. Last night it rained, clearing the heavy smog that normally hides the snow-capped cordillera.

Puente Alto maintains a strong, bustling vitality against the imposing mountainous backdrop. Seamlessly connected one-story buildings, roofed in corrugated metal, line the streets. Stalls open onto the on to calle clavero, filled with everything from plug adapters to slippers, bathing suits to bananas. Walking around Puente Alto has helped me truly realize the importance of what Accion Emprendedora is doing. More striking than the mountains is the fact that everyone here is a micro-entrepreneur. Unlike other comunas of Santiago, which have their fair share of department stores and fast food restaurants, Puente Alto is almost devoid of large commercial chains (although a McDonalds is opening in the metro station). We eat lunch everyday at a picada down the street, run by a few friendly and hardworking women. We visited a center filled only with small hair salons, each employing 4-5 workers, and each searching for a way to make their salon standout. Alumni of AE that we have interviewed often work out of their own homes, and run their business by themselves. Walking around Puente Alto puts a face to the statistics about micro-entrepreneurship in Chile, and adds meaning to our work here.