Small neighborhood convenience stores have been lifelines of support during the pandemic. Many large markets have been closed or operate with reduced hours. Brenda is a 34-year-old married mother with a 10-year-old son. She plans to work hard to keep the shelves in her store well stocked. Even though she graduated with a teaching certificate, Brenda was unable to find work. She understood that it was important to help her husband with covering the household expenses, including the cost of their son’s education. Brenda is requesting her third Kiva loan to buy canned goods, dairy products, eggs, cereals, sausages, coffee, sugar, and drinks at wholesale.
Brenda and eight other women are members of the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “Las Golondrinas”. These women manage traditional textile businesses, fruit stands, convenience stores, and other types of businesses. They learn how to manage their businesses during their monthly educational training seminars, which are offered as part of the “Microcredit Plus” program that includes loans, education, and health care services. The women learn about four specific topics: business, health, family matters, and women’s issues. One important thing they have learned is how to use social media during this challenging time to advertise their goods and services. Every other month, they have access to health care services in the “Health for Life” program. A visiting nurse offers all types of exams, screenings, and services.
Thank you, Kiva lenders!
In this group: Brenda Valeska, Rosa Elvira, Julia, Romelia, Brenda Fabiola , Amelia Pablo, Cledy Azucena , Domenica Carina , Meylin Odalis
Previous loan details
Sololá is the name of a department/state, as well as a large town in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. It is a beautiful area, well known for the magnificent Lake Atitlan with three towering volcanoes looming over it. It is the home of the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank “Las Golondrinas,” donsisting of nine members who are beginning their second loan cycle with Kiva. The women range in age from 22-64.
Rosa is 35 years old and has three children who attend school. She knows how to read and write but was only able to go to school for two years. Rosa sells typical Guatemalan foods such as tamales and a rich corn drink called atole.
Rosa requested a loan, which she will use to buy an industrial stove so that she can make pupusas, a delicious dish of tortillas or corn masa stuffed with potatoes and meat. She sees a bright future in her business with increased income that she will invest in her family and the education of her children.
Rosa and her group in the Trust Bank meet monthly to make payments on their loans and participate in educational training, which is part of the Microcredit Plus Program (loans + education) of Friendship Bridge. They learn to develop themselves (self esteem, planning for the future), their families (nutrition, health, hygiene), and their businesses (planning, budgeting, savings).
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In San Juan el Mirador, a rural community on the outskirts of the municipality of San Lucas Tolimán, Sololá in Western Guatemala, live the women of “Golondrinas” Trust Bank. San Juan is an area between Lago Atitlán and the coastal region of Guatemala, with a hot climate, on the edge of a deep canyon, refreshed by a rushing river below. Most of the Golondrinas between the ages of 25 and 65 years old, grew up in this beautiful place and the majority of them did not have access to education.
Brenda is 29 years old and has been with Friendship Bridge for 3 years. She is a motivated single mother who completed her high school degree in pedagogy and now manages her own store, selling items for daily consumption, snacks such as tamales, and also has a meat and vegetable market.
With her new loan, Brenda plans to invest in Christmas merchandise for her store such as apples, grapes and sweets, as well as dishes and other party supplies to sell. She will also buy basic daily items such as rice, beans and soda to restock her supply and satisfy the demands of her customers.
This woman is happy to be part of Friendship Bridge and now Kiva. During these years she was able to use her profit to buy a new stove for her home, improving the life of her 5-year-old daughter, who is now starting school. Brenda dreams of gaining more business and sales in her store, expanding with each loan she receives.
The ladies of “Golondrinas” Trust Bank are mothers of between one and five children who are in school. Some have husbands, and others are single mothers, taking care of their families on their own, with strength and determination. To provide for their needs and create better opportunities for their children, the women have a variety of businesses, selling snacks such as chuchitos, little tamales, ice cream and cold drinks, running tortillerías, buying and selling clothes, managing convenience stores and markets selling chicken, vegetables and dairy products.
Thanks to Kiva investors, this dream is tangible!
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