Luzmila

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Luzmila is a member of the Señor de Luren Village Bank (Loan Group), which is named for the patron saint of the city of Ica. She is 63 years old and widowed with eight children. Most of her children are now adults; her youngest son is 20 years old. Luzmila sells muyuchi ice cream in Ayacucho’s Plaza de Armas on weekends and holidays. “Muyuchi” means “two turns” in Quechua (a local language). It is a traditional treat in the Ayacucho region of Peru and is made with fresh milk, shredded coconut, sesame, sugar and vanilla extract. Luzmila hand-churns her ice cream in a metal pot, which sits in a wooden washtub filled with ice. Spinning the pot in the ice water causes the liquid to splash up onto the sides of the pot and freeze up. Luzmila sells each small plastic cupful of ice cream for one sol (US 30 cents). On a good weekend, she earns 200 to 300 soles (US $65 to $100). Luzmila has been churning her own ice cream for 30 years. Her great-grandparents started making muyuchi ice cream years ago, and she has continued the family tradition.

Luzmila is requesting a loan of 2100 soles to buy sugar, shredded coconut and fresh milk. She will buy the milk from dairy farmers from the Alpachaca region, who deliver it to her the day before she plans to make ice cream so that she can mix it with the other ingredients and chill the mixture overnight.

Luzmila’s goal for the future is to finish paying off a plot of land she is buying, on which she hopes eventually to build a house someday.

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