Renacer Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to the RENACER group, consisting of Fanny Marisol, Anahi Andrea, Juana Lourdes, Wendy Janeth, Regina, Natalia, Diego Armando, Cindy Juana, Orlando, Juana, Rosalia Erika, Angela Milenca, Teresa, Hortencia, Delia Irene, Jesusa by Fundación Agrocapital, a partner of ACDI/VOCA in Bolivia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 6 months, Fundación Agrocapital, a partner of ACDI/VOCA will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

I made my way to the outskirts of the city of La Paz with the loan officer who was going to pick up payments from Renacer. The loan officer knocked on a large, windowless metal gate, and we were welcomed inside a tiny living area, sparsely decorated with faded photographs of Aymara (indigenous Bolivian group) festivals and one stereo system covered with peeling stickers. A little cat wandered shyly around the cramped room as I spoke with the women one by one.

Natalia Poma is a kind, elderly indigenous woman who could barely hear what I asked her. When I asked any question, another woman would immediately bellow my question to her in a simpler way. For example, “What did you use the loan for?” got screamed “What did you do with the money?,” after which Natalia smiled peacefully and murmured that she sells soup on the side of the street, and she used the money to buy more noodles. She has been able to attract more clients with her increased soup production. Natalia has eight grandchildren, which she was very eager to talk about, explaining that only three live near her, and the others live on the other side of the town.

Maruja Isabel Pai is an engaging middle-aged woman who sells used clothing and jewelry in the outdoor market. With a nostalgic smile, she explained that since she was five years old, she always sold vegetables in the market, until just five years ago when she started selling clothing since it garnered greater profits and there was less competition. She has been able to get a house for her family in El Alto, a poor suburb of La Paz, and buy more things for the house with her clothing business. She hopes her business will grow in the future.

Juana sells skirts in the outdoor market, and started this business when she was able to take out a loan with AgroCapital. She used the loan to buy more cloth. She invested most of her money into her sons’ education--both graduated from private universities (which are infinitely cheaper in Bolivia by comparison to the United States, even after taking incomes in account.) She hopes they will keep studying and working in the future.

Maria Soledad, who is in her late teens or early 20s, sells empanadas (pastries filled with meat) on the side of the street. She just started her own empanada business, since until recently she had been helping out with her parents’ empanada business. This is her first loan, and the flour she bought with it has allowed her to make more empanadas and make a slightly higher profit. Maria Soledad has a one-year-old son, Jared, so she was able to support him better and buy a few things for her room with her extra profits.

Zita Oreleana is an astute, elderly businesswoman who sells gasoline. With her loan, Zita was able to buy gasoline in larger quantity from her provider, which meant that she did not have to make multiple trips on foot to pick up extra gasoline. In that way, she saved time and did not have to close shop nearly as often since she had a larger supply in stock. In the past, Zita used to sell meat, but switched to selling gasoline when the competition got too fierce. In the next year or so, Zita foresees that she will switch industries once more since the demand for gasoline has plummeted in recent years, as customers switch from gasoline cars to natural gas-powered cars (a large, emerging industry in South America.) Zita has one daughter named Belen that goes to school.

Another member of the group, who sells glasses, was not present since he had not been able to repay his share of the loan. There had been an illness in his family, and he had been donating blood, so he had not been working as long hours as before. The women had been covering his share for a couple of repayments, but this time they promised they would come to the office the next day to repay his share.

As I spoke to these women, I got the feeling that the loans they received were vital for their survival, just helping them to scrape by day by day.