Josefa Hernández

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Josefa Hernández by AFODENIC in Nicaragua. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 6 months, AFODENIC will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Last year you helped fund a loan on Kiva to Josefa Hernandez, who makes and sells corn tortillas here in Managua, Nicaragua. Josefa repaid this loan in full earlier this year and currently has a new loan. This journal update was written for that new loan (http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=134524), but since you supported Josefa in the past we thought you might be interested to read it too. We got to check in with her yesterday to see how things have been going with her loan and her tortilla business.

With her loan, Josefa purchased the corn that is essential to making tortillas. She was also able to purchase beans—along with tortillas, she makes and sells frijoles cocidos, or boiled beans. Josefa sells her food from her house and even though she said business right now is “más o menos” (so-so), a couple of neighborhood children came by to buy tortillas while we were there. She told us she brings in about 100 cordobas on a daily basis, which is the equivalent of about $5.

Josefa works for about 11 hours every day, from 5 to 10 a.m. and from 2 to 8 p.m. She used to make fritangas – traditional Nicaraguan fast food – but decided to switch to tortillas because it’s less work, she said. Her husband usually goes to the market for her to buy the ingredients she needs, but he works in construction and is currently working on a project, so her one of her children goes instead, after school.

In the long run, Josefa would like to be able to make some improvements to her house, including building an entryway in part of the space right outside of her house where she currently does her cooking.

Thank you for reading this journal update.

To lend to another AFODENIC borrower: www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&queryString=afodenic&status=fundRaising&gender=All§ors[]=All®ions[]=All&sortBy=Popularity

To learn more about AFODENIC: www.afodenic.com or www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=98

To join the “Amigos de AFODENIC” lending team: www.kiva.org/community/viewTeam?team_id=5971