Mercedes Abigail Paz Arguello

For over 15 years Mercedes Paz has sold clothing in the central market in the city of Chinandega. She sells clothing of all sizes and for all ages. Mercedes own her own portion of the market which has required a great deal of investment to obtain. These proved especially difficult because she is a single mother with one child to care for. Still, she has managed to stock the business with a large quantity of clothing.

Five yeas ago Mercedes began as a traveling saleswoman, selling clothing throughout the market, exposing herself to the sun and expending great physical energy walking all day. Slowly Mercedes began to save for the purchase of a stall inside the market, and finally purchased one. Since then she has begun to take loans from CEPRODEL. These loans have greatly helped her and allowed her to purchase large quantities of clothing to sell. Additionally, she has been able to better support her small family as a single mother with a young child.

Translated from Spanish by Casey Unrein, Kiva volunteer.

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