Aurelia Huillcamasco Carrasc

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

I visited Aurelia yesterday at her small stand in the Bellavista market, a massive, chaotic marketplace near the center of the city of Pucallpa. In Bellavista you can find pretty much everything from fruits and vegetables, to poultry, to all different kinds of fish from the river, to canned goods, clothing, music and medicine. Aurelia sells homemade condiments such as chili sauces and others sauces made with cilantro or garlic, as well as spices, canned goods and a few other basic grocery items.

Aurelia has been working with Manuela Ramos for 10 years and reports that her credit has helped her a lot. She has gradually expanded her business over the years. Initially she had a small grocery shop out of her home-- she used her very first loan to buy more goods for this little shop. Three years ago she purchased her stall in the marketplace and has been selling from there ever since. Aurelia is currently paying back a loan of 1000 soles (about $330) from Manuela Ramos through her communal bank, "Las Lomas de Yarina". She used her loan to buy more products for her business. Aurelia purchases many of her products in Lima-- she either makes the trip to the city herself or orders the goods to be delivered to Pucallpa.

Aurelia told me that one of the difficulties of her business is that she must work very hard for very little earnings. Aurelia arrives at her stall between 4:00 and 5:00 am. She stays all day, leaving for home at 7:00 pm. According to Aurelia, profits in her business were better a few years back but now there is too much competition. (I noticed that just down the way from Aurelia´s stand there were several other women selling the same condiments).

Aurelia is married and has three children, aged 26, 23 and 21, and one grandchild. She works hard for the sake of her children: her goal is for them to have good careers. Her oldest daughter has already completed a professional degree in administraion. Aurelia really hopes her other two children will eventually get college degrees or professional training as well.

In this short video clip, Aurelia bags some condiments for a customer. To view a list of currently fundraising loans from Aurelia's MFI, Manuela Ramos, click Here.