La Maya Group
A loan of $5,500 helps a member to buy fertilizer and have enough money to pay her six employees.
La Maya Group's story
Thirty-four-year-old Carmelina is raising her four children (ages 5 to 11) alone because her husband left to earn income in the United States two years ago. She has no formal education and earned income throughout her childhood as a farm worker. She cultivated the soil and began her own little farm ten years ago.
Carmelina grows beans, corn, and cardamom. She has six employees who help her seed and harvest the crops that she then sells by wholesale order. She also raises chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigs that she sells from her home in the department/state of Quiche.
Carmelina requests her first Kiva loan to buy fertilizer and pay her employees. Her goals are to increase the yield of her crops and earn more income. It is important for her to have enough funds to send her children to school.
Six Maya Q'eqchi women elected Carmelina to be Treasurer of their Friendship Bridge Trust Bank, “La Maya”. The majority of them are farmers like Carmelina. Since they have little or no formal education, interactive monthly educational trainings, part of the “Microcredit Plus” program, enable them to learn about health, hygiene, nutrition, family matters, and women’s issues. Recently, they learned about effective business management and how to be effective entrepreneurs. The training is part of the “Microcredit Plus” program that also includes bi-monthly healthcare services, including exams, consults, and family planning.
Thank you, Kiva lenders!
In this group: Dominga , Carmelina , Vilma , Fernanda, Elisa , Angelina , Cecilia