Adding to basket
Maria lives in a very quiet community where people still speak the mazahua language and are characterized by being very kind. Maria and her family feel very lucky to live in a place full of traditions and culture.
Maria is 44 years old, she is very hard-working, kind, and smiles a lot. She is married to Brasilio, and together they have formed a family with six children, of which only three still depend on them, and only two go to elementary school.
Maria was an enemy of debts, but her neighbors encouraged her to take out her first loan. “I remember it was a very small amount, I did not like having to owe money.” But that small amount of capital helped her to start the breed and fattening of sheep, and the loans stopped being something unknown, and they were also a source of support to keep increasing the number of her animals.
Afterwards, she and her partners in the group decided to look for a better loan option, and found VisionFund Mexico. By then, Maria was realizing that she had to spend more and more time with her sheep and was distancing herself from her family, so she decided to start selling clothing.
She has been selling clothing for eight years now, in the same community and in others. Every Monday she travels to the capital to purchase merchandise at wholesale, and she has already more than 40 loyal clients who always make special orders. Maria remembers that when she started working, she spent the days walking through the streets. Now the business has grown, and with the income she was able to buy a vehicle with which she transports all the clothing. With the goal of incentivizing her sales, Maria allows her clients to pay for the garments in payments, although there are times when it gets complicated, but she does not get discouraged. “In some way, I have to take a risk to be able to get more clients.”
She and her family are very grateful to VisionFund and Kiva, because now they can purchase more clothing with the new loan she is asking for, and because it has brought great benefits. Her house has improved, and when her husband is unemployed, she can settle the expenses of her children.
“I would like to have more stable clients to be able to help my daughter who is studying. She really wants to fulfill herself professionally, I would not like that she could not achieve her dream because of a lack of economic income” says Maria, when expressing her biggest dream.
*The photograph was taken in Maria’s community, in a cornfield where maize is cultivated.
Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteer Mariana Orozco. View original language description.
