Las Orruguitas Group

Seven years ago, when she was thirty, Yolanda separated from her husband, leaving her to raise two children who are now seventeen and twenty-one years old. She is proud that both of them are high school graduates! She is also a high school graduate. Ten years ago, she opened her business selling clothing, accessories, and jewelry in a locale in her community in the department/state of Baja Verapaz. One of her children helps her with the business. Her goals are to enlarge the business, offer more variety, and expand her income. She requests her second Kiva loan to buy more jewelry to resell.

Yolanda joined six other Maya Achi women and recently formed the Friendship Bridge Trust Bank, “Las Oruguitas”. These ladies are weavers of traditional clothing, manage tortilla shops and convenience stores, and raise poultry and livestock. At their monthly Trust Bank meetings, they will soon participate in interactive educational training, part of the “Microcredit Plus” program. The training, designed by a Facilitator, will cover relevant topics about health, women’s issues, family matters, and business. This training is crucial for their success because even if some of them are high school graduates, there is much to learn about the risks of over-indebtedness, not loaning one’s name to another person’s business, and prioritising expenses.

Thank you, Kiva lenders, for funding these much-appreciated loans!

In this group: Ana , Yorleni Veraly, Sara Esperanza, Karen Yesenia, Gloria , Nury Eloida , Yolanda Micaela