Ceraturo Irquis (cuenca) Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Ceraturo Irquis (cuenca) Group, consisting of GLORIA ISABEL LOJA PANZA , PRISCILA ELIZABETH DELEG ARIAS , CARMEN PATRICIA REMACHI ZHIZHPON , DELIA MARIA SACA JAPON , JULIO CESAR LOJA PANZA , MERCEDES DE JESUS ARIAS JOYASACA , MARIA ROSALIA CHIMBO CHIMBO , ADEMIR FRANKLIN DELEG ARIAS, ROMMEL GONZALO DELEG ARIAS , TELMO VICENTE DELEG ARIAS , JULIO ENRIQUE LOJA CABRERA , LUIS JERONIMO LOJA PANZA , MARIA TERESA PANZA SAQUIPAY , JOSE ISAIAS PEREZ LOJA , MARIA TRANSITO PULLA CHUCHUCA , LUIS MEDARDO TENESACA TENESACA , VICTOR ALFONSO TOBAY CABRERA by Fundación ESPOIR in Ecuador. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 5 months of this loan, Fundación ESPOIR will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Dear Lender,

As you may know, all Kiva loans are actually administered by local field partners. For the past couple of months, I have been working as a Kiva Fellow with Fundación ESPOIR, a brand new Kiva field partner. Over the course of the summer, I’ve had the privilege of meeting Espoir’s first batch of Kiva borrowers and hearing their stories.

A couple of the most memorable stories I heard were from two young women who are using loans to help run their small businesses while also pursuing their education. The first, Verónica Acurio, worked for years in her parents’ restaurant before deciding to open a restaurant of her own. She now has her own restaurant and uses the profits to pay for medical school. She has one year of studies left before becoming a full-fledged doctor. Despite her impressive accomplishments, Verónica is very down to earth and not at all boastful. Before her Kiva interview, most of her fellow group members didn’t even realize that she is a medical student.

Another Kiva client, Ana Lucia Chapa, lives in the rural community of Turi with her husband and her four-year-old son. Monday through Friday, she makes the long commute to and from the city of Cuenca, where she works full-time as a housekeeper. She also raises guinea pigs, sheep, and cows at home for extra income. Ana Lucia dropped out of school when she was 14 to start working so that she could help support her family, and so she never finished high school. After she got married, though, she decided that she wanted to be a veterinarian, and started going to school on the weekends to earn her high school diploma. She still has eight or nine years of education ahead of her before she can officially become a veterinarian, but she has a great attitude and is determined. Her family has been supportive and her parents and in-laws help take care of her son while she works and studies.

Both Veronica and Ana Lucia are 23 years old, just like me. When I heard their stories, I was impressed that they could juggle so many responsibilities simultaneously and overcome such daunting obstacles in pursuit of higher education, which is more than I can say for myself. Both are cheerful and upbeat despite the difficulties they face and the long hours they put in, seven days a week. I hope to return to Cuenca ten years from now and find them both in white coats, running their own successful businesses of another sort.

Kiva clients aren’t the only people at ESPOIR with inspiring stories of upward mobility. I’ve also had the privilege of meeting staff at ESPOIR’s headquarters and four different branch offices. All received me warmly and touched me with their hospitality and generosity, but I was particularly impressed by a handful of female ESPOIR loan officers who were once village bank clients themselves. For these women, becoming loan officers is an important step forward in their lives. They find the work difficult but also quite gratifying, and are happy to be helping clients because they know how it feels to be a small-scale entrepreneur in need of business capital.

It has been exciting and inspirational to see success stories like these during my fellowship with Fundación ESPOIR. I hope you continue to support Ecuadorian entrepreneurs through ESPOIR!

To search for currently fundraising ESPOIR loans on Kiva, click here . No currently fundraising clients? Please check back soon! In the meantime, you can join ESPOIR’s Kiva Lending Team.

Best regards,

Cynthia McMurry

Kiva Fellow

SRA. MARÍA TERESA PANZA SAQUIPAY

CI. 0101917557

La Sra. María Panza, vive en la comunidad de la Victoria de Portete, es una socia del banco comunal Ceraturo Irquis, tiene 56 años de edad, se encuentra casada y ha concebido 9 hijos de 38, 36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 25, 21, 19 años de edad, de los cuales 3 de sus hijos se encuentran casados y cada uno vive independientemente, sus 6 hijos se encuentran fuera del país han emigrado para darle un mejor futuro a su familia y solo vive con una hija casada y 4 nietos que les ha criado desde que eran pequeños, su esposo trabaja en la agricultura y ganadería, viven en casa propia.

María tiene una pequeña tienda la cual atiende desde las 6 de la mañana hasta las 6 de la tarde y vendiendo gas en la comunidad, también trabaja en la agricultura y ganadería ayudándole a su esposo, la leche que ordeñan de sus vacas la entregan en la comunidad, nos comenta que en su negocio le ha ido bien sin tener ninguna dificultada.

Su dinero lo ha invertido en comprar más productos para surtir su tienda, en el pago de crédito no ha tenido ninguna dificultad por lo que de su negocio a podido ir guardando para pagar, en su salud se encuentra un poco preocupada ya que siente un dolor en su espalda y no se ha podido hacer un chequeo médico por falta de dinero, su familia se encuentra muy bien de salud y por eso da muchas gracias a Dios, también da gracias ya que con los préstamos a logrado irse superando un poco en su negocio y su vida.

SRA. ROSALÍA CHIMBO

La Sra. Rosalía Chimbo con el dinero del préstamo otorgado lo ha invertido en el incremento de su negocio en la venta de los productos para la belleza femenina como son los productos Avon y nos comenta que ha sido de mucha ayuda para seguir creciendo tanto en su vida como en su negocio, nos comenta que no ha tenido ninguna dificultad en los pagos de su préstamo hasta el momento, en su vida se encuentra muy bien de salud y en lo personal nos comento que se encuentra separada de su esposo hace 3 semanas por los problemas y específicamente no existía comprensión, su familia se encuentra muy bien, se encuentra muy agradecida por los prestamos que le han entregado y espera seguir teniendo más beneficios con los préstamo.