Francia Antonio's Group

The leader of this small group of five women is Francia Antonio. She’s in her early forties and is the proud mother of a unique daughter who goes to school.

Francia owns and operates a small grocery store, which she started more than fifteen years ago. Currently, Francia’s store is well established and dozens people visit it every day to buy lots of goods, such as rice, flour, wheat, milk and other foods.

About six months ago, Francia took from FSMA a loan to restock her business. She used the funds intelligently and she managed to make her business successful. Now, Francia is requesting another loan which she’ll share with a group of entrepreneurs who live in her community. She’ll use her funds to increase her inventory and add new items to offer to her customers. Francia says that she’s determined to improve her family’s living conditions.

The members of Francia’s group are:

• Josefina Urbaez, who will use her loan to purchase shoes to resell in her community.


• Josefa Aquino Hernandez, who will use her loan to buy women’s clothing to sell


• Inocencia García, who will use her loan to buy clothes for her small store


• María Estela Alexis Marte, who will use her loan to cook deep fried dishes

Pictured, from left to right are: Josefa Aquino, Inocencia Garcia, Francia Antonio, Josefina Urbaez and María Estela.

About Group Loans
In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a group of individuals bound by a group guarantee. Under this arrangement, each member of the group supports one another and is responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members if someone is delinquent or defaults. Learn more

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