Virgen De Fátima Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to the Virgen de Fátima group, consisting of Delicia Vaca Moreno, Raquel Rivero, Asunta Cespedes Armendaño, Pedro Antonio Méndez Canamari, Ruth Negri Rodriguez Abariojo, Lucia Viri Noé, Graciela Añez Moreno, Aida Parada Cabello, Matilde Guataica Jare, Carmen Enriqueta Ardaya De Aguilera, María Antonia Añez Moreno, Asunta Gil Vaca, Carmen Fernandez De Chuviro, Leizy Barboza Villamor, Edith Limpias De Chavez, Nieves Vaca Domo by Emprender in Bolivia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 5 months of this loan, Emprender will be collecting repayments from this entrepreneur and posting progress updates on the Kiva website.

As a Kiva Fellow working with Kiva’s local partner MFI in Bolivia, Emprender, I recently had the opportunity to visit with the women in the Virgen de Fatima group.

The women were waiting for me to rush back from another client visit and meet them at the home of Graciela, where they meet once every two weeks to make their loan payments. At first everyone was a little quiet and timid, but soon they relaxed and I felt very welcome in this large group of friends. We went around the circle, and I learned a little about each person’s business.

Raquel has a small business selling used clothing as a vender. She has a small cart where she displays her clothes, and every day looks for a good place to set up shop. She has been doing this for the past year, and finds that she makes more money in this business than she did selling juices. She used her loan to make the change and is very happy she did so.

Graciela has a small restaurant where she sells breakfast and lunch for 10 Bolivianos, or about $1.50. Each lunch is a fixed menu and includes both a large, hearty soup, and a main course. Sometimes she offers api which is a traditional drink for cooler weather. It is made of ground corn, water, lemon juice, sugar, cloves and cinnamon and is served with some type of fried pastry with cheese.

Asunta has a small variety store for the past 3 years where she caries a large variety of pastries and packaged sweets. She has recently decided to supplement this store with make-up sales. She used her Kiva funded loan to move in this direction.

Aida makes different jams and spreads. She makes a very popular strawberry and peach jam with all natural ingredients. She also makes Manjar Blanco which is similar to dulce de leche, but it doesn’t have any additives. This is made by boiling milk and sugar until it thickens into a sauce poured onto bread and other breakfast items. She makes lots of jars of this from her house, based on different orders from her clients, which are most often friends, neighbors and family members. She is hoping to set up a contract with different elementary schools in the area and provide a fixed amount of jam weekly.

Ruth also sells perfumes and cosmetics, but needed the capital to purchase the items. Her friends are quick to add that Ruth’s creams are the nicest to be found in El Torno, a town outside of Santa Cruz, Bolivia where these women live.

I was sorry not to have time to visit with the whole group but really enjoyed getting to know these businesses better. Thank you for supporting them!

To read more about the adventures of Kiva Fellows in Bolivia check out our blog: link text

Also, check out Emprender’s website: link text

Dear Kiva lenders,

Thank you for lending with Kiva! While your loan has gone directly to the entrepreneur you selected, there have been many dedicated people along the way that help to make this possible.

Kiva partners with local microfinance institutions, like Emprender (http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=110&_te=mj), to administer these loans. These partners are local experts who provide financial services to their clients, and rely on investors like you to make their work possible. I have been working as a Kiva Fellow in Emprender’s offices for the past 3 months, and have been greatly impressed with the high quality of their staff, their commitment to the people in their community, and unique services they offer their clients.

In particular, Christian Rivera should be recognized for his work. He is Emprender’s Kiva Coordinator. He posts profiles of Emprender clients on the website for Kiva lenders to fund, keeps in touch with both lenders and Kiva staff, and helps to make sure Emprender staff understands and participates in Kiva in the best, most effective way possible.

Christian has been wonderful in this position, but will soon be passing the responsibility to another Emprender staff member, Jose Luis. Christian plans to focus his attention on a unique project that Emprender is starting. He is also a doctor, and has organized a medical program for Emprender clients.

Sadly, Bolivia has the worst health conditions in South America and is second only to Haiti in the hemisphere. In an effort to improve the health and well being of their society, Emprender, with the help of the Center for the Sustainable Development (CEDESS) and An Ber, will open free clinics for their clients and offer medical treatment at reduced costs for the members of client families. The clinics will be located within Emprender offices, making access convenient and efficient. They will even offer medical services for other community members in semi-urban and rural areas that are under-serviced by other medical facilities. These clinics will provide basic and preventative medicine, family planning, and other health education services. The first of the six clinics will open within the next three months, as soon as the final paperwork has been completed. Emprender hopes to reach 50% of their clients by the end of the first year, and 100% of their clients by the third year of the project. In addition to organizing the project, Christian will be the doctor at Emprender’s first clinic. I am constantly impressed by his ability to wear many hats and know he looks forward to this transition in his job.

It is everyone’s hope that by providing medical services, Emprender’s borrowers won’t face financial disaster caused by preventable illness. Ideally, these medical services will improve the lives of Emprender’s borrowers, increase their repayment capacity, and help inoculate the family from medical risk.

I saw first hand the ways that simple medical treatment could help an Emprender client. Alejandra and her husband Demecio purchase, raise, and then sell ducks in the small town of El Torno outside of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where Emprender has a field office. Alejandra has been selling ducks for over 20 years, and often has more than 70 ducks in her yard at a time. With the income from her and Demecio’s business, they are raising their 8 children. Unfortunately, a few weeks before I met Alejandra, she stepped on a piece of glass that cut her foot. Perhaps from working so close to animals, or perhaps due to just bad luck, the cut got infected. The infection has grown and grown and Alejandra has had trouble walking, and now spends most of the day off her feet. Her business is suffering, because she can make fewer trips each week to the market to sell, and is reliant on people coming to her home to purchase ducks. Emprender hopes to be able to help its clients by providing basic medical care that can help them feel better and continue to succeed in their businesses.

It has been a pleasure for me to get to know Emprender’s staff across the country and to learn about the many ways in which this socially focused organization provides for its clients — Kiva borrowers.

Thank you again for lending to Emprender’s clients and for believing in the power you have to make a difference. Gracias!

Sincerely,

Sierra Visher

Kiva Fellow