Kiva Loans for Fundacion Realidad A.C (FRAC), a partner of World Vision International

Las Hormiguitas Group : Mexico

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:40:02 PDT

$1,800 of $4,800 raised.

Started raising funds on May 11, 2012

This group is called "Las Hormiguitas" (The Little Ants). The members of the group decided upon this name because they are hardworking and persevering whenever they set out to accomplish something. They decided this name would match up with the qualities of their group.

The story being presented is that of Sra. Amada, one of the members of this group. She is 30 years old and married to Sr. Andrés. They have four children, three of whom are in the first, fourth, and sixth grades. The youngest one is in the second year of preschool. Amada has been preparing and selling food for 10 years. Doña Amada decided to go into this business because she was looking for a way to improve her quality of life and that of her family. She also wanted to provide a very good education for her young children. Amada will invest her loan in the purchase of supplies such as tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, oil, salt, rice, beans, corn, meat, and other ingredients.

She dreams of building a shop where she can open a small restaurant and continue her sales. Amada wants to have more inventory so that she can prepare a wider variety of dishes. This will help her generate more income so that she can continue supporting her children with their studies and help them to achieve a professional career. Amada is extremely grateful to Fundación Realidad and Kiva for their support by providing this loan. As a result, her business will begin to experience great improvement. Her life and that of her family will also change.

The members of the group and their businesses are listed below: • Celifora Inocencia sell groceries. • Yolanda manages a clothing store. • Lisbeth manages a clothing store. • Divina sells fruits and vegetables. • Amada sells food.

El Mirador Group : Mexico

Fri, 25 May 2012 09:30:02 PDT

$1,125 of $5,100 raised.

Started raising funds on May 25, 2012

This group is called “El Mirador,” and is made up of ten humble indigenous working women, dedicated to different businesses. They are originally from Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca and some of their art forms are wooden masks, machetes, wool knitting, and beaded blouses. There are a number of beaches there, the main one being the beach of Corralero. Maria is one of the group’s members. She is 54 years old and is known for wanting to improve her and her family’s lives. Ms. Mari, as she is known by her fellow group members, has been selling American clothing for a year and groceries for 14 months. What she enjoys most about her business is providing good customer service and above all giving them a nice smile. Ms. Mari says that she likes living life very much and always being happy and working very much to grow her two small businesses. She is happy because her businesses provide good earnings and in this way she can grow them, each day buying and selling her merchandise. One of the things she doesn’t like about her grocery store is that sometimes she goes out to sell in the street and the store remains closed and she loses customers. One of her dreams is to have a location where she can show her merchandise and serve people more comfortably. She requested this loan to buy more American clothing, such as skirts, blouses, dresses, Shores pants, and shirts. She is grateful to the foundation for supporting hardworking people with a desire to succeed. The other members are: Hilaria – sells Mexican snacks Maria Anita – sells bread Rosalia – sells Mexican snacks Efigenia– sells Mexican snacks Eneida – sells tacos Rosalia – sells perfumes Teresa – sells clothing Guillermina Elena – catalog salses Ingrid Arizlendi – sells perfumes They are thankful to the Vision Fund for helping indigenous people with a desire to succeed.

El Aserradero Group : Mexico

Fri, 18 May 2012 13:20:03 PDT

$1,100 of $6,050 raised.

Started raising funds on May 18, 2012

Adela is one of the members of the El Aserradero (The Sawmill), a group of 18 people who decided to give this name to their group in order to be easily identified, as this is the name of their community, whose main economic activity is growing sugar cane. This is a very charismatic, hard-working and close-knit group, and these are its members and their activities: Maria Felix, who sells clothes; Maurilia, who engages in carpentry; Adela, who runs a general store; Brijida, who sells soft drinks; Ricarda, who sells clothes; Isadora, who sells cosmetics; Maria del Socorro, who sells chickens; Berenice, who sells meat; Isabel, who sells snacks; Eugenio, who runs a grocery store; Cruz, who sells clothes; Nancy Alicia, who sells fruits and vegetables; Maria de los Angeles, who sells meals; Alma Nelly, who sells shoes; Daria, who sells snacks; Obdulia, who sells shoes; Demecia, who sells snacks; Marcela who sells snacks. Adela is 53 years old, she studied up to the fifth year of primary school; she is married with Angel, and her children are already married. She has told us she has always had to work, first to help her husband paying for their family expenses, and then nowadays, as she has to provide for their family since her husband is now disabled. Adela has told us that she started selling pig meat and meat with chili to her friends and to the neighbors of her community; however, she had always wanted to run a small grocery store, and thanks to her job, one year ago she had a small locale built next to her house where she opened her grocery store. She says that she likes keeping her store always stocked up so that her customers can always find what they are looking for. Even though she already has her own grocery store, she keeps on selling meat, and her husband helps her running the shop. She will invest her loan in the purchase of cooking oil, canned food, beans, rice, soft drinks, sweets, chips, sweet bread, biscuits, salt, sugar and mayonnaise, in order to stock up her shop. She hopes that this loan will help her activity grow, as she wishes to have a better standard of living; she will invest her earnings in stocking up her shop. This group is thankful for the support and the trust shown in granting this loan.

Gabriela : Mexico

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:10:09 PDT

$1,875 of $2,525 raised.

Started raising funds on May 23, 2012

Gabriela is a hardworking, kind, somewhat shy woman. She’s from Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca. One of the most attractive beaches for tourists there is Playa de Corralero where one can enjoy the sun and delicious grilled fish. Gabriela is 54 years old and sells lubricants for engines, pumps, chainsaws and motor vehicles. She’s been in business 20 years and what she enjoys most about it is taking care of customers with kindness. She says that her sister, Julia, also sells in the same place but she sells accessories for pumps. Gabriela is very happy to work with her sister because they support one another and they both share the dream of enlarging their business. One of the things she doesn’t like about her business is when her deliveries are delayed because she loses customers. She asked for the loan to buy more oil for pumps, chainsaws and motor vehicles to sell at retail and at wholesale. She thanks the Fundación for helping working people who want to improve their businesses.

El Atardecer Group : Mexico

Fri, 04 May 2012 11:20:02 PDT

$2,500 of $5,175 raised.

Started raising funds on May 4, 2012

This group is called “El Atardecer” (Dusk) and it’s composed of seven hardworking, indigenous people who want to improve their own, their families’ and their fellow countrymen’s lives. All are from Pinotepa Nacional. For them, their location is a land of humble, hardworking people with the desire of improving their children’s future. The local style of dress is huipil [traditional embroidered blouse] and apron and the men wear unbleached cotton pants. One of the group members is Agustina, 49. She’s noted for being an unassuming, humble person with a desire to help her family. Doña Tina, as her group members call her, has been making “memelitas de manteca” (Mexican snack) for the last 20 years. For her, her business is one of the best gifts God has given her; she works with love and dedication. She tells us that she rises very early, at four in the morning. She washes her corn and grinds it for masa since she has a mill at home (shown in the photo). Then, she takes her lard and coffee to the market accompanied by her husband, Javier, and her daughter, Guadalupe. Arriving at the market she prepares the dough in a large tray and adds the lard and salt. Then she puts the coffee on the fire while she prepares the memelitas de Manteca. Her daughter, Guadalupe, goes out to sell them among the stands in the market. At six in the morning one of her coworkers, Audelia, arrives to help her make the memelitas while Doña Tina heads out to sell them at the entrance to the market; she takes her tray of memelitas and her jug of coffee. She tells us that she enjoys her business very much; it’s something that she loves very much and that has helped her provide a better life for her family. She requested the loan to buy more ingredients to make the memelitas like: two sacks of sugar, one bag of coffee because she sells coffee to go with the memelitas, ten bags of corn, three tubs of lard and two loads of firewood. She comments that she’s very grateful to the Fundación for helping all the indigenous people and workers who earn their daily bread with their work to provide for their families. The other group members are: Alejandrina-sells food. Ana Laura-sells soft-drinks. Guadalupe-sells Mexican fast food snacks. Zeferina-sells perfume. Audelia- sells Mexican fast food snacks. German Enrique –sells costume jewelry. They thank the Fundación for helping all the humble, hardworking women with the desire to improve their lives.

Grupo La 20 Group : Mexico

Sat, 12 May 2012 20:30:03 PDT

$1,350 of $3,250 raised.

Started raising funds on May 12, 2012

This group is called Grupo La 20 and is composed of 5 unassuming, indigenous people who want to improve their life conditions. The members of this group are natives of Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca where machetes are made with etchings related to the culture of the region. Another of their handicrafts is the making of traditional clothing. The area is rich in fauna such as the prickly pear, “aguacatillo”, “palmaguapinol”, “caida” and “ámate”. Most of the citizens speak the Mixtec language. One of the members of this group is Sra. Ana Luisa, 20, who is happily married to Sr. Fredi, with whom she has two daughters, Sonia and Analiz. Ana, as she is better known, has been selling footwear by catalog for four years. She has also been selling groceries for one month. She tells us that her store still does not have much merchandise because, as soon as she opened the business, the little merchandise she has she bought from the profits of her shoe sales. Ana says that loans were how she began her shoe selling business. First she bought the catalogs, then she went door to door among her neighbors to offer her merchandise and then she bought the footwear to fill their orders. She realized that she was making a good profit and was selling so many shoes that she decided to buy extra pairs and sell them from her home but she still continued selling to her neighbors and in districts in her community. She is very happy because her earnings help her husband with household expenses and her daughters with their school expenses. Ana says they bought a plot of land in installments so that they could provide an inheritance for their daughters because, with her husband’s earnings they are paying off the land, and her earnings help with household expenses. She requested a loan to purchase more grocery merchandise such as cookies, cereal, detergent, coffee, sugar, milk, vegetables, soft drinks, juices, candy, toilet paper, soap, cooking oil, beans and rice. The other members of the group are Felipa Nery, who sells dough and ground corn, Marbelia, who sells Mexican snacks, Juvenal Adauto, who sells household articles and Berenice Janeth, who also sells dough and ground corn. They thank the Fundación for helping them improve their businesses.

El Manguito Group : Mexico

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:50:03 PDT

$1,450 of $6,775 raised.

Started raising funds on May 4, 2012

This group is called 'El Manguito'. It is made up of 13 hard-working and humble women who have a desire to do well and improve their lives. These women are from Pinotepa Nacional. They say that their community is known for being home to hard-working and humble people. One of the members of this group is 30-year-old Elizabeth who describes herself as a hard-working person who has dreams to fulfill and the strength and ability to do well in life. Elizabeth tells us that she has been selling footwear through a catalog for three years. She also works in a supermarket. She has several customers there as she offers her work colleagues the different styles of shoes that she sells. She also sells her products to neighbors and family members. Her customers recommend her to more and more people and, in this way, both her customer base and her profits increase. One of the things that Elizabeth most likes about her business is that it makes her good profits and she is very successful in selling her merchandise. Above all, there are many offers for her customers and herself. However, there is also something that she does not like about her business. Sometimes her orders are delayed and sometimes they don't arrive in their entirety. This bothers her customers. Nonetheless, she always has extra footwear to show them and they don't get too annoyed. Elizabeth requested this loan to buy more footwear and catalogs so that she can sell both retail and wholesale. She is grateful to Fundación Realidad for helping village women who would like to improve their lives. The other members of this group are: Florencia - who sells Mexican snack food Yerly Edith - who sells clothing Magdalena Luz Gregoria - who sells clothing Lucia - who sells perfume Divina - who sells footwear Francisca - who sells soft drinks Blanca Estela - who sells groceries Isabel Nicolasa - who sells Mexican snack food Abigail - who sells clothing Guadalupe - who makes catalog sales María del Carmen - who sells clothing Luz Belem - who sells clothing They would like to thank Fundación Realidad for helping all hard-working women.

San Jose Juan Group : Mexico

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:10:02 PDT

$1,000 of $1,800 raised.

Started raising funds on May 10, 2012

This group is called "San Jose Juan" and consists of four hardworking indigenous women. They are originally from a small town called San Juan Cacahuatepec, which is better known as Cacahuate. One of the traditions of this community is "La Danza de Las Mascaritas" (The Dance of the Little Masks), which is performed on the date of the Carnival celebration.

One of the members of this group is Sra. Luz Maria. She is 30 years old and known as a cheerful, friendly, and respectful woman. Doña Luz is best known among her fellow group members for selling seafood, which she has done for four years. The seafood she sells includes tilapia, sea bass, snapper, and mussels. She also sells fillets and shrimp upon request. Luz is happily married to Sr. Jesús, a hardworking and friendly gentleman who grows corn and works as a bricklayer. They have a son named Jose Antonio, who she says is her motivation to work every day and get stronger. What she enjoys most about her business is being able to sell fish in neighboring towns and talking with the residents. This loan will enable her to buy more fish and shellfish so that she can sell in bulk and in smaller amounts. She is grateful to Fundación Realidad for giving her a hand when she needs it the most.

The other members are as follows: • Laura sells shoes. • Efigenia sells chickens. • Ignacia sells food. They are also grateful to Fundación Realidad for assisting them as they seek to live meaningful lives in an effort to help their families.

Los Blanquillos Del Charco Group : Mexico

Sat, 12 May 2012 09:20:02 PDT

$1,250 of $3,100 raised.

Started raising funds on May 12, 2012

This group is named Los Blanquillos del Charco. The members selected this name because the community where they live is called El Charco. Several of the members sell fish and eggs. This story is about Francisco because he is the group representative. He is 40 years old, married to Rosalba, and has three children. One is in the second year of high school, one is in the second year of middle school, and Adolfo is in fourth grade. Francisco has been buying and selling livestock for 15 years. He decided to start this business activity because he wanted to look for the way to get his children ahead. He also wanted to give them a better education, to give them a better quality of life, and to enjoy good financial solvency. He will use the loan he was given to buy cows, calves, and corn. The goals that Francisco has set are to make his business grow a lot more, to constantly invest in order to increase the number of animals he has, and to have better sales and production. This will improve and increase his income so that he can give his family a better standard of living. Chico (as he is better known in his community) thanks FRAC and Kiva because it is thanks to them that he has been able to make his business grow little by little. This changes his life and that of his family. His colleagues are Delfino, Francisca, and Leticia. They devote themselves to different activities like selling fish and marketing livestock (buying and selling cows and calves, etc.).

El Recuerdo (Flat) Group : Mexico

Thu, 10 May 2012 19:40:02 PDT

$875 of $1,250 raised.

Started raising funds on May 10, 2012

The group called "El Recuerdo" consists of four women who engage in their respective businesses. They live in a neighborhood called "Tejería", which is also known as the neighborhood of "Los Kaitudos".

The person being interviewed is Alma Yerania, who is 22 years old. She is in a common-law relationship with Mario Alberto and they have a three-year-old son. Alma sells Tupperware utensils through catalogs. She has been in this business for one year and says that she is doing well. This business enables her to help her husband with the household expenses. A neighbor suggested that she sell merchandise, so she decided to go and sell utensils. This business inspires her to work because she is able to earn an income and help her husband maintain their home. Together they are able to provide for the most important needs of their young son. What she wants most is to eventually have a stable location where she can sell utensils to her customers.

The other members of the group "El Recuerdo" are as follows: • Marlene will invest in the purchase of Avon cosmetics. • Sra. María Leticia will invest in the purchase of Avon cosmetics. • Sra. María del Rosario will buy and sell Avon cosmetics.

Juquilita 1 Group : Mexico

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:30:03 PDT

$775 of $2,400 raised.

Started raising funds on May 11, 2012

This group goes by the name "Juquilita 1". The members of the group decided upon this name because they are extremely devoted to the Virgin of Juquila. For this reason, they selected this name.

The story being presented is that of Sra. Jazmín Gisela, who is the group representative. She is 33 years old and married to Sr. Jorge who works as a merchant. They have two children, Daniel and Armando, who are in the first and second grades. Jazmín has been managing a grocery store for four years.

Doña Jazmín decided to start this small business because she needed to improve her quality of life and that of her children. She also wanted to help her children get ahead, but she did not have sufficient financial resources to provide them with a better education. The loan she will receive will be invested in the purchase of more merchandise such as oil, milk, soft drinks, cookies, soups, sugar, beans, eggs, and other items. Jazmín wants to continue investing in her business so that it can grow even more. She plans to expand the facilities of her grocery store so that she can increase and improve her sales and her income. In addition, she would like to continue supporting her children with their studies so that they can pursue a good profession and have a better quality of life.

Jazmín is extremely grateful to the Kiva lenders and to Fundación Realidad. Thanks to their help, she has been able to move forward and have her own business. Her fellow group members are Verónica, Yolanda, Patricia, and Modesta. They engage in different business activities such as selling groceries, selling household products, making candy, selling cheese, and operating a sewing workshop.

Las Animas Group : Mexico

Sun, 06 May 2012 09:30:09 PDT

$375 of $4,200 raised.

Started raising funds on May 6, 2012

Josefina is a hardworking woman who is 43 years old. She is happily married to Erasto, and her husband works in the fields. They have 3 children: Cristian, aged 6, who is in pre-school, Erubey, 12, who is in 6th grade, and Argeni, who has a high school degree. Josefina is content with her business, but she needs more merchandise. She is planning to invest her loan in products from the Jafra and Fuller brand, so that she will have actual products to display rather than selling only from a catalog. This way her customers can get to know the products. Josefina has had her business for about 9 years, and she wants to buy more products because her sales depend upon this and also because there are bonus gifts. She says that these gifts are a great help because they are good gifts, for example, refrigerators, blenders, etc. Josefina is a member of the group "Las Animas," which has 9 members that will be mentioned below. They are: Leonarda, Gregaria Salome, Evangelista, Marena, Ma de Jesús, Ma Victoria, Rafaela, Gregaria, Miriam, and Josefina, and they specialize in the sales of: perfumes, chicken, flowers, vegetables, shoes, food, cosmetics and fruit.

El Lirio Group : Mexico

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:10:03 PDT

$475 of $5,350 raised.

Started raising funds on May 10, 2012

María Santa is another member of the “Lirio” (Lilly) group. She’s 29 years old and did not have the opportunity to attend school. She’s married to Vicente and they have two children. María Santa relates that ten years ago she was anxious to go to work to help her husband with household expenses so she opened a little grocery store. She says that she likes her business very much because it doesn’t require too much of her time and she doesn’t neglect her family. She’s very happy that as time has passed she’s acquired many customers who come by to make their purchases. Despite the store being small, it’s very well stocked so that her customers always find what they are looking for and won’t have to go to other stores. Her business has taught her family teamwork because they all take turns tending to it. She will use the loan to buy oil, canned food, beans, rice, soft-drinks, candy, Sabritas [brand of snacks], sweet bread, cookies, salt, sugar, mayonnaise, soap and chlorine bleach to stock her store. She hopes with this investment that her store will acquire more customers so that her profits will increase and she will be able to offer her children more schooling and a better quality of life. The rest of the group members are: Celia – sells clothes Irma – sells chicken Laura – sells chicken Felipe – chair rental María del Carmen – food sales Emmanuel – tire repair shop Ernesto – food sales

Patria Nueva Group : Mexico

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:10:03 PDT

$375 of $2,950 raised.

Started raising funds on May 12, 2012

This group is called Patria Nueva and consists of seven hardworking, unassuming, indigenous women who want to improve their businesses. They are natives of a town called Patria Nueva where citizens are dedicated to cattle, agriculture and mining. Their dances are Chilean and they celebrate the festival of San Martín on the 21st of January. This is an area rich in fauna and flora. One of the members of the group is Sra. Josefa, 71, who is known for her friendliness. She is happily married to Sr. Isaías, a kind, hardworking man, who is a farmer. Doña Josefa has been selling clothing for five years, chickens for three years and perfumes and cosmetics for five years. She says she sells her perfumes in neighboring towns such as Nueva Esperanza, El Santo, El Guayabo and El Platanillo. She decided to start her businesses because she enjoys working and being an independent woman. One of her dreams is to grow her business. She wants to sell perfumes wholesale to make more profit. For being one of the best sellers of perfume, she had the experience of winning a six burner stove. That has motivated her to continue selling since they have recognized her work. She requested this loan in order to purchase more perfumes to sell retail. The other members of the group are: Hilda, who sells Mexican snacks, Lucrecia, who also sells Mexican snacks and Josefa, who sells Mexican snacks, as well; Ignacia, who sells tacos; Irma, who sells soft drinks and Lorenza, who also sells soft drinks. They thank you for helping them to improve their businesses and provide their children with a better life.