Guadalupe Uno Group

In many Guatemalan communities, women are seeking new ways to support their families and improve their finances. Floridalma, forty-three years old, is one of them. She is married and a mother of three children, aged fourteen to twenty-two, who have only studied up to the sixth grade. She did not have access to education because her parents lacked the resources. Her husband weaves traditional skirts, known as "cortes."

Floridalma has been selling snacks as a street vendor for ten years, and her daughter helps her prepare the recipes. She also raises broiler chickens; when they are ready, she butchers them and sells the meat by the pound from her home.

Floridalma is seeking her first Kiva loan to start a second business: a tortilla shop. She will use the loan to buy a table, corn, cloth napkins, and firewood. Her goal is to establish a formal business, as there is good demand in her community, which will allow her to generate higher income for her household.

Floridalma and six other Maya K’iche’ women make up the "Guadalupe Uno" Communal Bank, a Friendship Bridge group located in the department of Quetzaltenango. These women run various businesses, ranging from hand embroidery on textiles to selling snacks, raising domestic animals, and managing convenience stores. The women will receive various training sessions through the "Microcrédito Plus" program, which will help them move forward firmly on this path.

Thank you, Kiva lenders!

In this group: Guadalupe Anabela, Maidy Noemi , Rosario , Victorina , Maria Florinda , Floridalma Marisol , Rosa Angelica

Translated from Spanish by Kiva volunteerMichelle Herrera Garcia. View original language description.