Adding to basket
The members of the “Estancia Vieja” communal bank meet every fifteen days in the city of Portoviejo’s Colon Parish’s Estancia Vieja sector. This is a place of humble people dedicated to agriculture and general commerce.
We met Mariana, 38, here. She’s married and has three children who are 18, 16 and 14 years old; all attend school. Her husband works in agriculture.
Mariana raises pigs and barnyard fowl; she has a small farm at home. Seasonly, she buys large numbers of chicks that she raises for three months which is the time it takes to get them ready for sale. After this period of time she sells them to local stores or also by the pound or live to merchants that come by her house. She’s been doing this work for five years and it allows her to help with her children’s schooling costs.
She will use this new loan to buy chickens, feed and medicine both for the chickens and for the pigs. She’s a founding member of the communal bank and is the group secretary; she’s very happy because they’ve helped her so much. Her dream is to see her children become good professionals and that’s what she strives for every day.
Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteer Sherry Bess. View original language description.
