Journal entry for Laura Segura Brenes

Update on Laura

Laura received her loan a few months ago and used it to purchase a new sewing machine. While Laura sews a large variety of things, her favorite is sports clothing. Since much of this requires stretchy material, such as lycra, she needed this new sewing machine that enables her to sew seams that stretch with the fabric.

Laura first learned to sew from working at a textile factory. When she married, her mother gave her her first sewing machine as a wedding gift. Starting out with this small, manual sewing machine, Laura has used several loans over the years to expand her business little by little. She now has between 3 and 5 women working for her at any given time and produces clothing of various kinds for men, women, and children. Her clothing is of very high quality and she has steady demand for her products. She reports that lately sales have been a little low, but that is normal this time of year. She adds that business always picks up in October, November, and December and she is sure this year will be no different.

Please click on the video below to see some of Laura’s shop and some of her clothing. She is a little camera shy, but wanted to pass along that she is very grateful for this loan. She says that loans such as this are a big help for microentrepreneurs and she hopes that Kiva and Kiva lenders keep providing this assistance.

If you enjoyed this journal and would like to receive other updates on the work EDESA (Kiva's field partner in Costa Rica that facilitated this loan) is doing in Costa Rica, join EDESA's lending team. You can also read more about EDESA and their network of Community Credit Enterprises here. And finally, visit this link regularly to see any currently fundraising loans for microentrepreneurs in Costa Rica.