Las Salvadoras Group

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to LAS SALVADORAS Group, consisting of GIOVANA LUCÍA VIDAURRE DELGADO, MARIA ROSARIO ARAUZ ROCHA, LETICIA VIVERO PAZ, LOLLY JUANITA VILLAGOMEZ MENDOZA, ZULEMA VILLAGOMEZ VIVERO, PADY MARIELA TORREZ FERNANDEZ, BRENDA VIDAURRE ANTELO, INGRID DANIZA VILLAGOMEZ VIVERO, RAQUEL CARVAJAL CESPEDES, BETHZA ARGANDOÑA DE QUIROGA, MARÍA ESTHER MANCILLA, CLAUDIA GUZMAN VIDAURRE, MARÍA LUISA CHAVEZ PADILLA, WILMA SALVATIERRA, EDUARDO FRANCO ALVAREZ, RUBEN VIDAURRE DELGADILLO, JUAN FELIPE GUZMAN PEÑA by Emprender in Bolivia. We are excited to watch this business grow. Over the 4 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 Zulema and Lola two members of Las Salvadoras group.

Zulema and Lola are sisters and live in the same family compound in a neighborhood outside of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Zulema has a small cart which she pushes around the market selling tripe and potatoes with hot sauce. The cart has a small space for a gas tank and once she finds a good location, she starts it up and fries the potatoes fresh. Each small portion is put in a plastic bag and sold for 3.5 Bolivianos or about $.50. She used her loan to make repairs to the cart. With the income from this business she supports her four children and has built her own house next to her sister’s. She is very happy to have this personal space and independence. Her husband works in a large factory called Frejol that makes products for export and also contributes to the family income.

Lola is a hair stylist and finished her studies at a beauty school in Santa Cruz nearly 10 years ago. She takes her supplies to her clients home and styles it here. She is expert at both ironing hair straight as well as doing complex braids and twists perfect for weddings and quincineras, or the large party thrown when girls turn 15 years old. She used her loan to purchase a new straight iron since hers had started heating unevenly. She also supports four children and jokes about how her sister Zulema always copies her. Her husband is a brick layer which has been very helpful for her family since he can build their home in his spare time.

While I didn’t have the opportunity to visit all the members of Las Salvadoras, I really enjoyed meeting these two women and hearing about their specific businesses. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of batteries just before this visit, but you can see a picture here of Emprender staff in Santa Cruz that administers their loan. Thank you for supporting these women!

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