Juana Bruno Rojas

Thank you for your loan. It has been disbursed to Juana Bruno Rojas 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 Juana Bruno Roja, a Kiva funded entrepreneur.

Juana runs a restaurant on the same property as a rock processing plant. There is a river that runs next to El Torno, in eastern Bolivia, and here two large companies work to pull rocks out of the river, sort and grind them for future use in construction. Juana’s husband works in one of these companies, and it was through his connection that she started this business.

The two companies Perrogon and EMC pay Juana to make two meals a day for their employees who work nearly 12 hours a day in hot and difficult conditions. Juana keeps careful record of exactly which employees come each day for lunch, and has a sign up system for dinner so she can predict the amount of food she will need. Every fifteen days she submits these tabs to Perrogon and EMC for reimbursement. She has the help of one employee and her daughter to make nearly 40 lunches a day. They do not provide the money for her supplies, and so she is responsible for finding products at good prices to maximize her profits.

She used her most recent loan to finish sections of her home, which is also a short walk from the rock processing plants. When the additional room is completely finished she will rent it to Perrogon as an office space. With her next loan, she plans to purchase a larger fridge so she can make fewer trips to buy perishable items.

Juana served Pablo and I a nice cold lemonade which was greatly appreciated after our long walk in the sun. All around the outside of the restaurant are big green parrots that had as much to say as Juana! Thank you for supporting her business and supporting Emprender!

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