Angeles Group

The members of the Angeles trust bank live in the lovely village of Santa Clara, about 1½ hour away from Sololá. The group was formed 7 years ago, and they requested 6 loans already.

The loans gave them the opportunity to start a small business and be more independent and self sufficient. It is interesting to see how they have found a way to expand their businesses by travelling outside of their own village to other markets to sell their products. By travelling to different markets in surrounding villages and towns they have expanded the number of clientele. They travel to Sololá, Nahualá, San Pedro, San Pablo and some of the women travel even as far as Quetzaltenango which is three hours away.

Most of the women are working very hard and own two businesses. The group leader Simona Soben says: many of us have a plot of land where they grow fruits and vegetables and raise some animals too. So do I. We sell our fruits in the markets ourselves. During the evenings we work on the beautiful regional embroideries. And some of us have a food store where they sell the bread they bake themselves. One of the women even has a little business making canastas: the baskets that all of the women use to bring their products to the market
Working with the trust bank has given them the opportunity to improve their living standards. This is because now they can have access to clean water and electricity. The women share a lot of their ideas in how to run their business at the weekly meetings. This way they help each other.

During their childhood many of these women could not attend school, and illness and hygiene were crucial problems. However, nowadays their kids have better opportunities and are doing well in school. If we support these women and their respective families together we are helping them, their communities and Guatemala to develop.



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