The city of Manta is considered to be the most important, popular, and visited seaside resort in Ecuador due to its lovely, inviting beaches. It is the first deep-water port in Ecuador and South America.

Ten women and two men from this city decided to get together and form a communal bank called “Los Radicales”. They make a living from different kinds of work. With the help of the loans, they hope to improve their businesses and their quality of life.

One of the members from this group is Yulexi. She is 23 years old and is in a common-law marriage. From this relationship, she has two children, aged nine and one. The eldest is at school. Her husband is a master builder.

Yulexi is a housewife who earns some money by selling Yanbal products (beauty products, cosmetics, perfumes, and accessories for women). She sells the products door to door. She goes out every morning to do her rounds, making the most of the fact that her daughter is at school and she only has to take her one-year-old son with her. Sometimes her mother looks after the baby and it is easier for Yulexi to do her work. She sells her products on credit and she collects the money every eight days. She has been doing this work for nearly three years and it is going very well for her. She mostly sells perfumes and cosmetics.

This loan is for buying perfumes, creams, costume jewellery, and cosmetics. This is her first loan cycle in the communal bank and she hopes to keep receiving the loans for many years to come. Her dream is to keep getting ahead in her business and to give the best to her family.