Iselsa Lara Ramirez

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Iselsa Lara Ramirez by Esperanza International in Dominican Republic. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 6 - 6 months, Esperanza International will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Iselsa lives in the community of Chavon in the poor outskirts of Santo Domingo. Her husband died of an illness ten years ago, so Iselsa supports her own four children by herself in addition to the two neighbourhood children who also live with her. Iselsa’s group named La Solidaria has received three loans from Esperanza, including $750 loaned by Kiva investors. With this additional capital, she has been able to stock her shelves with new food items and household products. As a result, Iselsa has seen her sales increase by fifty percent, from 10,000 pesos (300 US dollars) to around 15,000 pesos (450 US dollars) every month. Isersa reflects on the improvement in the wellbeing of her family as a result of her loans, and is happy to note that her life has improved substantially with the success of her small business. Iselsa hopes that in the future she will be able to use the profits from her small store to make repairs on her home and continue to provide for her family.

To all of the friends and supporters of Iselsa, Esperanza sincerely thanks you for everything you have empowered her to do!

Iselsa is doing great, and says that her loan helped her in many ways. With the money from the loan she was able to buy a nicer selection of both new and used clothes to sell in her store-- the result was fantastic. Not only did she see increased sales with her loyal customers, but she also attracted new customers to do their shopping with her.

It was incredibly touching to see how thankful she was for your help, and most importantly, to see that your loan did indeed help Iselsa to improve her life and her business.

She says she plans to take out another loan in the near future, and she would be most thankful for your support again!

On behalf of the team here at Esperanza, thank you for your generosity and compassion.

Kayla Villnow

Iselsa has successfully paid back yet another loan, and has been an incredible example for her community and family. She has seen measurable improvements in her business, and is now deciding whether or not she needs another loan to continue expanding. The goal of micro-credit at Esperanza is that sooner or later Iselsa will be able to sustain her business independently or through commercial financing. Watching her grow and prosper has been incredible for Esperanza, but has also been a powerful testimony to her community. Iselsa wants you to know how much she appreciates your continued support and belief in her. Thank you!