Don Bosco Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to DON BOSCO Group, consisting of JHOVANA, JESIKA JUANA, ROBERTO, RICARDO, MARIA LUISA, BETTY GLORIA, ELENA, NORMA, ROSSMERY, CARMEN ROSA, ROSSIO, CESAR ALEX, CRISTOBAL by Fundación Agrocapital, a partner of ACDI/VOCA in Bolivia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 4 months of this loan, Fundación Agrocapital, a partner of ACDI/VOCA will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Today, I went to visit Don Bosco, a very warm group of individuals that lives in one of the poorest sections of town.

Jhovana sells anticuchos, or a Bolivian kabob-type grilled snack on foot. She usually makes the snack in large orders for parties and weddings and has some regular clients. With the loan, she was able to buy more meat and vegetables for her business, which has allowed it to grow significantly. For example, now she has more profits which have allowed her to buy more food for her home. She has one son who is seventeen years old and is doing his one-year required military service.

Maria Luisa also sells anticuchos for big events and used her loan to buy more ingredients for her stand. This has allowed her business to grow quite a bit. Since she is a widow, she is the only provider for her four children: two study, one is doing his military service, and the other works. She has never missed her payments and has been able to provide a bit more for her children as a result of the growth of her business. In the future, she would like to build a room on to her home with another loan.

Carmen has been taking out loans with AgroCapital for three to four years and used this past loan to buy more bed covers, sports clothing, and sheets to sell in her ambulatory business. Carmen usually sells her products by order, and her profits have doubled since she started taking out loans. She has been able to buy a second fridge, a second television, and a sewing machine with her profits. She has started a sewing business on the side out of her home. Carmen has a son who is three years old. When asked about her goals for the future, she replied, “I want my own stand so I don’t have to sell on foot, a house for my family, and a car. Then, I’ll be perfectly happy.” She is hoping that she will be able to buy the home by Christmas. Right now, the family lives in an anticrético, or in a house with a legally binding contract of two years' duration, in which the landlord allows an individual or family to live in an apartment for a sum of money paid in advance, which will be returned to the tenant at the end of the contract.

Elena sells salchipapas, or a Bolivian snack made of sausage and French fries, on a cart in a high school. With her loan, she was able to buy a cart on which to sell her salchipapas. Beforehand, she used to sell fried chicken on a different stand which broke down. Since the high school is on vacation right now, Elena has been washing clothes to make some money for these two weeks. However, her business has been going well, and her profits have risen. She hopes to buy a house for her family (of five) since they are living in her mother’s house right now. After she buys a house, she’d like to have her own store adjoining her home to sell her meals. Then, she would like to open a locksmith’s shop adjoining her home for both herself and her husband. Elena’s husband has been out of work for a month, but he normally does paint jobs whenever and wherever they are needed around town.

If these entrepreneurs interested you, consider lending to more AgroCapital clients here.

Below is a video of Don Bosco group after their meeting. One of the members is preparing cow brains for her kabobs and a family member is washing potatoes for a Don Bosco group member’s food stand.