Nancy Maria Cordova De Curi

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Nancy Maria Cordova de Curi by FINCA Peru in Peru. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 4 - 10 months, FINCA Peru will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Nancy introduced the vegetarian way of life to her community seven years ago, and up until four months ago, her restaurant was the only vegetarian one in the whole city of Ayacucho. Her delicious and creative recipes have caught on, bringing her more customers, but also competition. She says she is flattered by the increase in demand for the food she believes so strongly in, and is up for the challenge of competing against another restaurant. She recently took a gamble and moved to a larger location, where she can serve many more customers. She says this gamble has paid off, and now she has more than enough customers but needs more tables to seat them all! Nancy’s restaurant has three split-levels, the entrance level with the kitchen and a small seating area, and two staircases leading to an upstairs loft and a more intimate downstairs. With her last loan she was able to purchase six more tables and chairs that now fill the upstairs, and is hoping to buy another six to fill the downstairs.

Nancy says that each loan she’s received has been a blessing. When she joined her village bank she was at the point of desperation; she had had a bad experience with another bank that left her with absolutely nothing, but, refusing to be defeated, took the chance that Finca gave her and has come to run a successful and sought after business.

Nancy buys most of her vegetables and other ingredients in a local market, but has to get some food, like soy, from Lima, because it is not yet available in the small city of Ayacucho. Her immediate goal is to hire another cook who specializes in vegetarian food, because although her children help her run the restaurant, she is the only cook, but says it is hard to find someone dedicated to the art of vegetarian cuisine. Her long-term goal is to open another restaurant to keep one step ahead of the new competition.