Lisbeth

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Lisbeth by FINCA Peru in Peru. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the next 4 months, FINCA Peru will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

Lisbeth used her Kiva loan of 1000 soles to repair the metal fence around her restaurant, to buy more tables and new burners for her stove, and to make general improvements to the space. Lisbeth sells traditional “criollo” food like noodle soup, pickled chicken, chicken soup, fillet steak, and fried rice. Her business has continued to do well, she sells; her restaurant is in a very central location on Ayacucho’s main pedestrian street and she has lots of regular customers.

This is Lisbeth’s third loan cycle with the Florecer (“to bloom”) Village Bank. She says that FINCA has made a big difference in her life by helping bring her family together. Her husband used to work in the countryside and traveled a lot, meaning that it was rare for the whole family (she, her husband and their two sons) to be together all at once. Since she started working with FINCA, her husband was able to quit his job and come work with her as a cook. “FINCA’s been a big help,” she says. It’s easy to take out loans, plus it helps her save money.

Lisbeth is pictured below with her one-year-old son, Elvis (who has grown since he last had his photo taken!).

I visited Lisbeth yesterday afternoon in her restaurant, where she was cleaning up after the lunch rush. We talked about Kiva and its lenders for a little while, she said that Kiva is doing a good thing by lending to entrepreneurs of FINCA Peru, since there are no other NGOs like FINCA in all of Ayacucho. She says that most of the female small business owners she knows are FINCA clients, since FINCA's lending methodology is good for business owners. She and other clients make small weekly repayments over the course of four months instead of one large, lump sum monthly payment (offered at several local banks). This way, it's easy for her to take the money out of her weekly earnings; she's not sure she could save up enough to make one large monthly payment.

When I asked if she'd like to send a message to her Kiva lenders, Lisbeth said, "Thanks for giving. It helps!"

Lisbeth is pictured in the kitchen; her 12-year-old brother is peeking out from over her shoulder.