Trinidad (cuenca) Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Trinidad (cuenca) Group, consisting of ROSA AMELIA MELGAR RUMIPULLA , MARIA CARMEN PAUCAR PUCHI , BLANCA AIDA DUTAN RUMIPULLA , MARIA ROSA ELVIRA DUTAN RUMIPULLA , JULIA ANGELITA MELGAR RUMIPULLA , MARIA ZOILA DUTAN RUMIPULLA , MARIA DOLORES GUAMBANA PAUCAR , MARIA LUZMILA MAITA MELGAR , ROSA MARIA MELGAR PAUCAR, ZOILA CECILIA MELGAR RUMIPULLA , ANA LUCIA MERCHAN GUAMBAÑA, MARIA PRESENTACION MORA CHIMBO 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.

English: We spoke to three members of the Trinidad Village Bank to see how they are doing since receiving their Kiva loans.

JULIA ANGELITA MELGAR RUMIPULLA

Julia tells us that this is her first loan from Fundación ESPOIR. She used the money to buy materials like wood, sandpaper, rubber and a few tools for her carpentry workshop. She and her husband work very hard, starting very early in the morning and finishing late at night, so that they can get ahead in life, pay off their debts responsibly, and never get a bad reputation with anyone, fail to finish each order they receive, or miss a payment to ESPOIR. Julia needs money because she incurred a great expense when her son became ill with pulmonary bronquitis. He was hospitalized for a week, and the bill came to $1,500. He is still in treatment so that he doesn’t relapse. Julia hopes that the bad luck will quickly pass, that the good days start to shine on their lives, and that God gives them the health and strength to help their family get ahead in life.

ZOILA CECILIA MELGAR RUMIPULLA

Zoila is 18 years old and just got married 6 months ago. This is her first loan, and she is very happy to know that foundations like ESPOIR are helping them get ahead and helping them make their dreams reality, bit by bit. Zoila is 8 months pregnant, and thanks to sonograms she has discovered she will be having a little girl. She is very happy, since this is her first child. Her husband is a carpenter and treats her well, they haven’t had any problems at home and are a very stable couple. Zoila used her loan to buy chickens, and her business is doing very well, since not a single chicken has died. She is very excited about the life she is starting. She plans to continue with her business so that she can help her husband with household expenses and continue to grow as a couple and economically.

ROSA MARÍA MALGAR PAUCAR

Rosa is married and has a great source of support in her husband, since they get along very well and are working together to get ahead in life. They have 7 children who are 22, 20, 17, 13, 9, 7 and 3 years old. Her oldest daughter is married and lives independently with her new family. Her 20- and 17-year-old children study and work so that they can help pay for household expenses. Rosa has been a member of Fundacion ESPOIR for 4 loan cycles, and feels that she has benefited from the loans she has received, which have allowed her to buy animals like chickens, cows, guinea pigs, and pigs. Her animals are doing very well, since she has good luck with animals. She is not very healthy at the moment, because she has had broncopneumonia for the past 3 months, the result of a nasty flu combined with personal neglect, since she didn’t seek treatment when she should have. The cold climate has also made it difficult for her to recover—it’s cold in the city of Cuenca, but it’s even colder in the rural area outside the city where Rosa lives. About 15 days ago, Rosa’s bones started to hurt. She is already getting treatment for this, and says that health is the first thing a human being should take care of. She saves her money so that she can pay her loan installments, so that she doesn’t get a bad reputation among the friends and neighbors in her village bank. It is a great group of enterprising women who are trying to overcome the difficulties they face in life.

Note: The video shows last night’s meeting of the Trinidad Village Bank, held at a local child care center (this is why all of the tables and chairs are very small). The young man in the video is Pedro Salvatierra, ESPOIR’s new Kiva interviewer, who wrote this journal update. His original version, in Spanish, follows:

Español: Hablamos con tres socias del banco comunal Trinidad para preguntarles cómo les ha ido con los préstamos que recibieron gracias a Kiva.

JULIA ANGELITA MELGAR RUMIPULLA

Julia nos cuenta que es su primer crédito y el dinero prestado por la FUNDACIÓN ESPOIR lo ha invertido en la compra de material como es madera, lijas, goma y un poco de herramientas para su carpintería, trabajan muy duro junto con su esposo desde tempranas horas de la mañana hasta altas horas de la noche para salir en adelante, para pagar las deudas responsablemente y nunca quedar mal con nadie ni en las obras que deben entregar, tampoco en los pagos a la fundación, a Julia le hace falta dinero por que tubo un gasto grande debido a que su hijo se enfermo de bronquitis pulmonar estaba una semana en la clínica y le costo 1500 dólares y aun esta en tratamiento para que no vuelva a tener una recaída, solo espera que todo lo malo pase rápido y que los días buenos lleguen a brillar en sus vidas y que dios les conceda salud para llegar a tener fuerzas y sacar su hogar en adelante.

ZOILA CECILIA MELGAR RUMIPULLA

Zoila esta casada hace 6 meses, tiene 18 años y es su primer crédito le da mucho gusto y alegría saber que fundaciones como ESPOIR les ayudan a superarse y les ayuden poco a poco hacer sus sueños realidad, se encuentra embarazada de 8 meses y en los ecogramas que se a realizado le han dado la buena noticia que va a tener una mujercita y esta muy contenta por que es su primer hijo, su esposo es carpintero y la trata bien no han tenido problemas en su hogar y son una pareja muy sólida, el crédito que realizó lo invirtió en comprando pollos y le ha ido muy bien por que hasta ahora no se a muerto ni un solo pollo y se encuentra muy emocionada por la vida que va a concebir y seguir con su negocio por que así puede ayudar a su esposo en la economía del hogar y seguir creciendo tanto como pareja y también económicamente.

ROSA MARÍA MALGAR PAUCAR

Rosa esta casada y tiene un gran apoyo en su esposo por que se llevan muy bien y juntos tratan de salir en adelante, en el lazo matrimonial tienen 7 hijos de 22, 20, 17, 13, 9, 7, 3 años de edad, la primera de sus hijas ya es casada y vive independiente con su nueva familia, sus hijos de 20 y 17 años estudian y trabajan, ayudando económicamente en casa, es socia hace 4 ciclos en FUNDACIÓN ESPOIR se siente beneficiada con los créditos que le han entregado y se ha logrado comprar animalitos como son pollos, vacas, cuyes, chanchos y le va muy bien en la crianza por que tiene mucha suerte para los animales, en su salud no se encuentra muy bien por que hace 3 meses se encuentra enferma de broncomonía por la gripe y un poco de descuido de su parte, por no hacerse tratar a tiempo y el clima ayuda mucho para que no se pueda recuperar pronto por el frío que hace en Cuenca y mucho más en las zonas un poco alejadas a la ciudad, hace 15 días también comenzó a padecer de dolores a los huesos y se encuentra en tratamiento ya que dice que la salud es lo primero que debe cuidar un ser humano, ella guarda su dinero para pagar su cuota y no quedar mal con sus amigas y vecinas del bankito, es un gran grupo de mujeres emprendedoras que tratan de superar las dificultades que tienen en la vida.

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