Thirty-five-year-old Raquel is a remarkable woman from Guatemala, where Maya women rarely have a formal education. She graduated as a teacher and then worked as a health facilitator, as well as a facilitator in an adult literacy program. Raquel is married with two children, ages six months and seven years. The seven-year-old is in the first grade. For three years, Raquel has had a business embroidering traditional woven clothing: "huipiles" (blouses), "fajas" (belts), and "cortes" (wraparound skirts). When Raquel has a dozen orders, she employs three other women to help. Then she sells her products door to door. Raquel also raises fattened chickens and laying hens.

She is requesting a loan to buy more boxes of skirts, blouses, and thread to increase her inventory and meet her goal of growing her business in order to have a shop to display her beautiful textiles!

Seven Maya K'iche ladies make up the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank "Indigenas de Chirijmaza 1," located near the coastal area of the department of Solola. Raquel is the treasurer and collects the monthly loan payments for the group's businesses that include embroidering traditional blouses, skirts, and belts, as well as raising chickens. Each meeting includes an educational training session in four areas: business, health care, family, and women's issues. A facilitator, from the Microcredit Plus program of loans, education and health, engages the ladies in the sessions utilizing role-playing, games, diagrams, and photos.

Thank you, Kiva investors!