Here is our monthly Kiva update for you! We are super proud to share with you that this month, with your help, we have raised $144.65 for Kiva. This has enabled us to help fund micro loans to another 6 people, helping a total of 9 so far. Please read below for more info on the profiles of the people we support.
Judith has a strong conviction in her mind that in order to succeed, she must work extra hard and always stay strong and positive in the face of any adversities that may arise. Judith is a 43-year-old farmer from Kibiricha village where she practices dairy farming. Judith and her husband are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year! The couple is blessed with 3 children.
Judith’s main source of income is milk. She co-owns a four acre land that they use to keep three dairy cows. Recently, one of her cows delivered a calf. Judith is afraid that the upcoming rainy season will be harsh on her calf who does not have a shelter. She is appealing to Kiva lenders to lend her a loan to construct shelter for her animals. Your investment will help Judith build a pen that will provide a comfortable and conducive environment for the proper development of her calf and that of future calves.
Yesica is a 19-year-old young woman, single, with no children, and her business is selling traditional drinks.
She is enterprising, happy, optimistic, cheerful, has a positive attitude, is responsible, and very hard-working. Her business is located in a sales stall outside her house, located in the southern area of the city, where the beaches of the Piraí River are located. There, are the huts that offer traditional food to eat such as majadito (dried meat), patasca (baked pig’s head), and locro (a mix of meats with corn), among others. The flavorful “horneaos” are also sold, ideal to accompany coffee in the afternoon. It has a warm sub-tropical climate with a constant temperature of approximately 30 degrees centigrade during the whole year.
Yesica’s native language is Quechua which she speaks in her family and she speaks Spanish due to the general culture and for the work she does (she is third from the left). She has her life in her parents’ house, who work in a business in the market. They live in a house they own, built of wood with a dirt floor which has drinking water, electricity and sewer service. Her desires to improve herself brought her to lead a bank of people with business such as tomato sales, sewing shop, second-hand clothing sales, woven products, fish sales, construction service, and making mattresses, to ask for a loan and improve their businesses. Her business is the sale of traditional drinks from the area such as mocochinchi (made with boiled dried peaches), chicha (prepared with a corn base), somó (similar to chicha but includes boiled corn), and more. “My business continues improving, the previous loan allowed me to start, now I need to improve…” she says. The advantage of her business is that it has regular customers. The disadvantage is the lack of money to improve the business. Her dream is to have a large food stand where she can offer a variety of traditional food and drinks. She wants to invest in the purchase of tables and chairs to be able to serve more customers. This is her 3rd loan cycle with the institution in the 6 years she has been doing this work.
For these reasons, Yesica asks for a loan to purchase tables and chairs to be able to serve a larger number of customers and improve her sales.
The communal bank “Violetas” will be starting its sixth term in Pro Mujer, part of the business center of Los Andes. It is comprised of nine members and run by a directors board where Flora is the Secretary. The members of the communal bank run a wide variety of businesses, selling everything from wool sweaters or shoes or jackets to fried snacks and other foods.
This loan will benefit all of the small business owners in Flora’s group. She herself has been a member of Pro Mujer for two years and joined at the invitation of a friend who was a client of the institution. She currently runs a business selling salchipapa, a typical snack of sausage and fried potatoes. She began this business on her own initiative.
She plans to use this loan to expand her capital through the wholesale purchase of potato and sausage, which she will get from the wholesale vendors in the city of El Alto. She will then use this material to make and sell salchipapa in her sales space. This work allows her to generate enough money to support her family economically, as she is single and has eight children.
When asked what she likes best about Pro Mujer, she said that she likes the health clinic and the training that the institution provides. (In the photo, Katty and Paola appear behind the woman in the hat.)
Thank you from us and Kiva!
If you feel inspired to help Kiva yourself or want to see more of the work they do, make sure you check out our blogpost here to find out why we LOVE helping them or go straight to their website to get lending. Every little contribution goes a long way.
